The retired traveller: Spanish Influence - Goya in Castres

May 28, 2024

Today is Judy's last day with us, so we're heading an hour and a half north to the city of Castres to visit the Goya museum.

Castres is an old city. Thanks to its 9th century abbey of Saint-Benoit, it was a stop along the route of Saint Jacques de Compostelle, the famous medieval pilgrim walk that sometimes seems to go through every city in France. (In fact, there are 10 or more historical routes that cross through the south of France.) It was prosperous with a large middle class, thanks to the textile industry - weavers, dyers, and leather workers. Their houses can still be seen along the Agout River.

But Castres also seems to maintain its 17th-18th century look when the cathedral, bishop's palace (built by Mansart), and "modern" bridges were built.

the theater

Cathedral Saint-Benoit

Judy and fountain

15th century house of a lawyer and judge

entrance to the Goya museum in the former bishop's palace

Designed by André le Notre (Louis XIV's gardener), the bishop's palace garden is a classic French design with lots of shaped shrubbery and a few flowers. Nevertheless, it is a lovely and inviting place to stroll.

Judy in the bishop's garden

The national Jean Jaures museum is located here, Castres being his hometown. Jean Jaures (1859-1914) is considered one of France's national heroes. He was an influential politician who became the founder and leader of the French Socialist party. A pacifist, he was opposed to France entering WWI. He was assassinated just before the beginning of WWI.

statue of Jean Jaures

A short civics lesson: At lunch, we saw posters for the June 9 election of the European Parliament (that's the European Union governing body).

We had been noticing numbered metal boards near village town halls this past week. There are 38 panels at each site, each one for a campaign poster for one of the parties running for election. I haven't seen any boards with more than 10 or 12 different posters, so it's not clear how many parties are vying for seats. Of course, each party advertises its website where its platform and other information can be found.

In France, election campaigning is limited to only a few weeks. These town boards are the only place where political advertising can be placed, so both the time and spread of political campaigning are short. It is the same for the European Union's Parliament for which France is delegated 81 of the 720 parliamentary seats. French citizens will vote for one party only and the number of delegates from each party will be proportional to the percentage of votes the party wins. Each ballot has 81 names on it, so if party A gets 1/3 of the votes, they would seat the top 27 delegates from their list. Here are some examples of the posters:

the Animaliste party's slogan is "animals count, your voice does too"

just so you know there are serious candidates

After lunch, we headed to the Goya museum. Housed in the former bishop's palace, this museum has the biggest collection of Spanish art in France outside of the Louvre, and includes 3 paintings by Goya, one by Velasquez, and one by Murillo.