Its funny that you can live so close to a town but for whatever reason hardly ever visit it. Or when you do it is because you need to do something or are just there shopping.

That’s how Castres has been for us until just recently, when the arrival of family visitors prompted us to have a proper look at the town. It was actually quite a pleasant surprise. The day was sunny and warm and the River Agout looked like a mill pond.

As you explore you discover all sorts of things, for example that Castres has the second most important Spanish art museum in the country, second only to the Louvre. That the town started to get established around the 9th Century and that it has been a stopover for the pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostella for hundreds of years. The pilgrimage starts at Arles which is the furthest south of the pilgrimage routes.

Actually I discovered there was so much to share with you that I decided to make it a stand alone article on a publishing platform I use. I called it a Region of the Midi Pyrenees and you can have a look at all the other things I discovered about Castres following the link. You will find a few more photos as well, including the Goya art museum based in the Episcopal Palace designed by Louis XIV’s principle architect. Another little project he worked on was the Palace of Versailles. Not so shabby really, so go take a look.