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Albi Get Promoted to the Top 14 for
the First Time in Their History |
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3.
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Full name |
Le
Sporting Club Albigeois |
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Emblem |
Club initials over shield |
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Colours |
Black and yellow |
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Founded |
1906 |
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Sport |
Rugby union |
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League |
Ligue Nationale de Rugby |
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Ground |
Le
Stadium municipal |
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Official website |
www.sca-albi.com |
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4.
Sporting Club Albigeois is a professional
French rugby union club currently competing in the
French league system.
On 4
June 2006, Albi beat Dax in the second place play-off of the Pro D2 (the
second division) to go up to the TOP 14 (first division) for the 2006/7
season.
Founded
in 1906. They play at the Stadium municipal d'Albi (capacity 12,000).
They wear black and yellow.
They are
based in Albi in Midi-Pyrénées. |
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6. Albi 15 : 9
Montpellier
Match Report
ALBI :
encore maître chez lui (7ème épisode), mais Montpellier a
arraché le point de bonus.
Score
final : 15/9 (10/6 à la mi-temps)
A Albi
(Stadium), temps agréable, bon terrain, 8000 spectateurs.
Albi :
2 essais de Serre (2° et 46°), 1T (2°) et 1 P (40°) de Hough
Montpellier : 3 P Todeschini (8° et 33°), Lespinasse (75°)
Ils
reviennent de loin les Montpelliérains et ils peuvent
savourer le point de bonus défensif arraché « in extremis ».
 Ils
reviennent de loin car ils furent dominés devant
pratiquement tout le match. Albi, face à une forte mêlée
(qui céda quand même sur la fin) fit donner la cavalerie.
Résultat : 2 essais magnifiques, tous les deux signés Serre
et...beaucoup d’occasions laissées en route. Tant pis, on
retiendra qu’Albi sait pratiquer un jeu complet et que les
lignes arrières affichent d’évidents progrès – ce n’est pas
rien.
En
face, Montpellier, très fort devant, fit front pour contrer
Albi en employant tous les moyens (licites et autres…). Il y
réussit en partie après avoir concédé un essai superbe dès
la deuxième minute.
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7.
Albi pensa-t-il
alors que ce serait facile ? Les Montpelliérains firent voir qu’ils
étaient touchés mais pas coulés ! Ce ne fut donc pas facile mais la
victoire est au rendez-vous une fois encore. Comme le spectacle fut de
qualité, Albi n’a perdu qu’un point en route. Mais E. Béchu regrettait
le bonus offensif qui s’offrait à son équipe, qui l’aurait mérité. Les
progrès sont là, la maîtrise finale va venir. Albi sait qu’il peut
pratiquer un jeu complet et qu’il progresse à chaque sortie.
Maintenant place à
la fête du rugby tarnais à Castres.
Texte:
R. VEDEL
Photos: J.P. CARAYON
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The City of Albi |
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12.
Administration
Albi is the
chief town of 6
cantons, covering 18
communes, with a total population of 67,728.
History
The first human settlement in Albi was in the Bronze Age.
After the Roman conquest of Gaul in 51 BC, the town became "Civitas
Albigensium", the territory of the Albigeois, "Albiga". Archaeological
digs have not revealed any traces of Roman buildings, which seems to
indicate that Albi was a modest Roman settlement.
In
1040, Albi went through a period of expansion with the construction of
the Pont Vieux (Old Bridge). New quarters were built, indicative of
considerable urban growth. The city grew rich at this time, thanks to
trade and commercial exchanges, and also to the tolls charged for using
the Pont Vieux.
In 1208, the Pope
and the King joined forces to combat the
Cathars who created their own variation of
Christianity (an outrage to the dominant Catholics power). Repression
was severe, and many were burnt at the stake throughout the region. This
region, until then virtually independent, was reduced to a state that
enabled it to be annexed to the French Crown.
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13.
After the upheaval of the
Albigensians crusade against the Cathars, the
bishop
Bernard de Castanet,
in the late 13th century, completed work on the Palais de la Berbie, a
Bishops' Palace with the look of a fortress, and ordered the building of
the impressive cathedral of Sainte-Cécile starting in 1282.
Location within
France
From 1450 to 1560, Albi enjoyed a period of
commercial prosperity largely due to the cultivation of "Isatis
Tinctoria" commonly known as
pastel. The superb town houses of the
Renaissance bear witness to the vast fortunes
amassed by the pastel merchants.
Albi has conserved
its rich architectural heritage which encapsulates the various brilliant
periods of its history. A great deal of improvement and restoration work
has been done, to embellish the old quarters and to give them a new
look, in which brick reigns supreme. |
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Albi grew up around the original cathedral and episcopal group of
buildings. This historic area covers 63 hectares. Red brick and tiles
are the main feature of most of the edifices.
Along with Toulouse and Montauban, Albi is one of the main cities built
in Languedoc-style brick .
Among the monuments of the town is the Sainte
Cécile cathedral, claimed to be the world's largest brick construction.
This monument is a masterpiece of the Southern Gothic style. It it is
characterized by a strong contrast between its austere, defensive
exterior and its sumptuous interior decoration. Built as a statement of
the Christian faith after the upheavals of the Cathar heresy , this
gigantic brick structure was embellished over the centuries : the
Dominique de Florence Doorway
, the 78 m high bell tower the Baldaquin over the entrance (1515–1540).
The roodscreen
is a veritable filigree work in stone in the Flamboyant Gothic style. It
is decorated with a magnificent group of polychrome statuary carved by
artists from the Burgundian workshops of Cluny and comprising over 200
statues which have retained their original colours. |
Older than the
Palais des Papes in Avignon, the Palais de la Berbie, formerly the
Bishops' Palace of Albi, now the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, is one of the
oldest and best-preserved castles in France. This imposing fortress was
completed at the end of the 13th century. Its name comes from the
Occitan word Bisbia, meaning Bishops' Palace.
The Old Bridge (Pont
Vieux) is still in use today after a millennium of existence.
Originally built in stone (in 1035), then clad with brick, it rests on 8
arches and is 151m long. In the 14th century, it was fortified,
reinforced with a drawbridge and houses were built on the piers.
Albi is the home
of the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. More than 1000 works, including the 31
famous posters, are kept within the walls. This body of work forms the
largest public collection in the world devoted to Toulouse-Lautrec.
Famous people
Albi was the birthplace of:
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Henri
de Toulouse-Lautrec
(1864–1901), painter
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Gérard
Onesta (born 1960), politician
and Member of the European Parliament
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Pierre Benoit (1886-1962),
novelist
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Albi, a city wich will seduce you
a landmark for tourists in the
South-West of France, near Carcassonne and Toulouse, Albi stands proudly
on the banks of the river Tarn, bright with the red bricks wich
symbolise the city,
a city marked by the slings and
arrows of history, and the crusade against the Albigensians or Cathars,
a city with a remarkable artistic
and architectural heritage, the jewel of which is Sainte-Cécile
Cathedral,
a city of talented citizens, from
Toulouse-Lautrec to the explorer Lapérouse, who have carried the name of
the city far and wide,
a city where art and history stand
side by side in one of the best preserved old towns in France, the”
Vieil-Alby” (The Old Alby),
a city built along the river Tarn,
important site for the city economy since the Midle-Age, whose the banks
rencently restaured, revive thanks to all the activities like the local
sailing-barges (flat bottomed-boat) and to their illuminations.
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Albi, History on a human scale
In the old town, the heart of the
city, Saint Cecilia Cathedral (13th-16th C.) is an astonishing contrast
between the outer rigour of its defensive architecture, and the inner
riches of its sumptuous decoration. Built as a testimony to the
Christian faith in the aftermarth of the crusades against the Cathars or
Albigians, this fortress cathadral is a masterpiece of Southern Gothic
architecture.
What to see
Outside : Dominique de Florence’s gate (14th C) - The bell-tower and the
baldachin (16th C.)
Inside : Coloured frescoes on the vault (16th C.). Painting of the
Last-Judgement day 15th C.) Rood-screen, choir and polychromatic
sculpture (15th-16th C.) Monumental 18th-century pipe-organ.
SAINTE - CÉCILE |
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MUSÉE
TOULOUSE - LAUTREC
The former archbishop’s palace,
built during the 13th. century, is the unexpected site for the artistic
work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, born in Albi on november 24th 1864.
More than 1000 paintings, drawings and lithographs by the Albi-born
artist are housed in the Museum, including all of the 31 posters he
designed.
From the works of his youth to the world of entertaimment, depicting the
characters in the theatres and cabarets, the vast exhibition is the
largest publicity-owned collection dedicated to Toulouse-Lautrec in the
world.
What else to see :
ancient art : La Tour, Guardi
modern art : Bonnard, Matisse, Degas, Vlaminck...
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Albi, every sight and scene
Theatre, classical music, jazz and fringe festivals make
spring end summer come alive in a city where the show is from dawn till
dusk.
Exhibitions, international symposia and highly varied programm of
Athanor, Scène Nationale, Théâtres, Scénith (exhibitions park), have
made the city a meeting place for people from all walks of life in
France and abroad.
Albi, alive all year round
Albi, the southern City proposes you a
calendar
of all the events planned for you, for the next three mounths
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The Tarn River and Gorge |
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Origin |
Lozère mount |
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Mouth |
Garonne |
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Basin countries |
France |
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Length |
375 km |
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Source elevation |
1,550 m |
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Avg. discharge |
200 m³/s |
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Basin area |
15,700 km² |
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The
Tarn River (tarnis in Latin; hypothetical meaning: rapid
or walled in) is a 375 kilometre (235 miles) long tributary river
of the Garonne, and flows through the départements of Lozère
(Languedoc-Roussillon région), Aveyron, and then the eponymous
Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne départements, the last three
départements being located in the Midi-Pyrénées région in
southwest France.
The Tarn River runs in a roughly westerly
direction, from its source at an altitude of 1,550 m on
Mont Lozère in
the Cévennes mountains (part of the Massif Central), through the deep
gorges and canyons of the Gorges du
Tarn (that cuts through the Causse du
Larzac), to Moissac in Tarn-et-Garonne, where it joins the Garonne River
4 km (2.5 miles) downstream the center of town.
Its basin covers approximately 12,000 km², and it has a mean flow of
approximately 140 m³ per second.
Main Tributaries
The tributaries of the Tarn include the
Tarnon, the
Dourbie,
the Agout,
and the Aveyron, and the Tarn separates the Narbonne and Aquitaine
basins. |
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Henri
Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa
Was born in Albi, Tarn in the Midi-Pyrénées Region of
France. From an old aristocratic family which had lost
much of its prestige, he was the son of Comte Alphonse
and Comtesse Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec. Henri was their
first child. A brother was born on August 28, 1867 but
died the next year. His parents were first cousins and
much inter-marriage had already taken place within the
families. This was done to preserve the family wealth,
but led to genetic defects as the result of inbreeding.
At age 14, Henri fractured his left thigh bone, and at
15, his right thigh bone. A genetic disorder prevented
his bones from healing properly, and his legs ceased to
grow. He reached maturity with a body trunk of normal
size but with abnormally short legs, described by Jean
Bouret as having "developed the torso of a grown man on
the legs of a small boy; and his handsome face changed
gradually into a thick-lipped, monstrously masculine and
sensual mask covered in black stubble." He was only 1.5
m (4' 11") tall.
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 Unable
to participate in the activities a normal body would
have permitted, Toulouse-Lautrec lived for his art. He
became an important post-Impressionist painter, art
nouveau illustrator, and lithographer, and recorded the
bohemian lifestyle of Paris at the end of the 19th
century. In the mid-1890s, Toulouse-Lautrec contributed
illustrations to the humorous magazine, Le Rire.
He
was deemed "the soul of Montmartre", the Parisian
quarter where he made his home.
His paintings portray life at the Moulin Rouge and other
Montmartre and Parisian cabaret and theaters, and in the
brothels that he frequented (and where he perhaps
contracted syphilis). Two of the well-known people he
portrayed were singer Yvette Guilbert, and Louise Weber,
known as the outrageous La Goulue, a dancer who created
the "French Can-Can."
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Toulouse-Lautrec Museum |
Toulouse-Lautrec
taught painting to and encouraged the efforts of Suzanne Valadon, one of
his models and probably his mistress. He is believed to have been
contracted syphilis from her.
An alcoholic for
most of his adult life, shortly before his death he entered a
sanatorium.
He died from the
complications of alcoholism and syphilis at the age of almost 37, at the
family estate in Malromé; he is buried in Verdelais, Gironde, a few
kilometres from his birthplace.
His last words
when he died were "Vieil imbécile!" ("Old fool"), in reference to his
father who was present.
After his death,
his mother, The Comtesse Adèle Toulouse-Lautrec, and Maurice Joyant, his
art dealer, promoted his art. His mother contributed funds for a museum
to be built in Albi, his birthplace, to house his works.
Toulouse-Lautrec
is said to have been a genius of an artist whose remarkable powers of
observation were matched by a profound sympathy with humanity. He never
exhibited any regret at his deformities. He lived life fully, made many
friends, and was accepted in spite of his short stature.
Before 2005, his
paintings sold for as much as $14.5 million. |
Depiction in Films
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He is portrayed by John Leguizamo in the film
Moulin Rouge! and by Jose Ferrer in the John
Huston classic Moulin Rouge (without the
exclamation point).
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In both Revenge of the Pink Panther and
Casino Royale, a character portrayed by comedian
Peter Sellers tries on a Toulouse-Lautrec costume.
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On an episode of Bottom (Dough) Rik Mayals character
Richie drinks a pint of absinthe and says "and they
said Toulouse-Lautrec used to drink this, no wonder
his legs fell off and his paintings were crap".
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There is an episode of The Inspector entitled
Toulouse La Trick (an obvious play on words
on Lautrec's name). In the episode, The Inspector
must guard a villain named Toulouse Le Moose, whose
only similarity to Lautrec (besides the first name)
is that he has a large upper body set on a small
pair of legs.
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In the episode Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost
of SpongeBob SquarePants, SpongeBob carries
Squidward on a palanquin, Squidward complains that
it's "too cold" in one spot, so SpongeBob moves him
to another that is "too hot", than finally to a spot
that is "Toulouse-Lautrec" (complete with sting),
the background a parody of Lautrec's "La Troupe
de Mlle. Eglantine".
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I hope you enjoyed this
potted history of Albi, it is a very beautiful City in a georgeous area
of France
Why not take this
opportunity to visit support the Warriors and meet new friends |
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JP's
Services
for : Web Design and Maintenance - Printing Services -
Brochures, Newsletters, Posters - Least Cost Routing
Telephone: 01905 767462 - E-Mail:
JP@sixwaysrugby.co.uk
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