is albi interesting?

Suggest you get the Michelin Green Guide to the area and figure out what interests you.

Yes Albi is interesting, with its red-brick cathedral and Toulouse-Lautrec museum http://www.museetoulouselautrec.net/
General info at http://www.albi-tourisme.fr/us/pagesEditos.asp?IDPAGE=304&sX_Menu_selectedID=MGauHt_60809ED9

yeah, I liked Albi a lot, there is quite a bit to see there, but any guidebook will tell you what there is

oh, I also suggest the Michelin as a routine guidebook geared to American tourists or an overview won't have much info on places like Albi, although probably a bit

If you go north to the area around Rodez the scenery is stunning. Last Fall we spent time in Belcastel and Sauveterre de Rouergue. They are both in the prettiest villages of France. Both villages have wonderful accommodations and restaurants. in this area ..the Aveyron.... Although it can be very rural in. Places , there many Michelin-starred restaurants.In Belcastel there is the Vieux Pont and in Sauveterre there is Le Senechal. Both are wonderful for a special occasion and the villages are wonderful. in Sauveterre there are many artisans working in the village.

Cahors (north of Toulouse) is also good on market day...there's a couple of nice restaurants for lunch, and the cathedral and Pont Valentre are worth looking at.

Albi is super, IMO; there are a plethora of small villages, bastides and castenaus all of which merit a visit. You're about 2 hours from the mountains- ditto. Auch is beautiful and Agen is a bit interesting.

The South West wines are not to everyone's taste, but a visit to Buzet, or Gaillac might be fun, as might a visit to Condom or Eauze for armagnac stuff.

I know the area well, and it's not, I think, about big attractions, but day to day French country life; mooching about breathing in the ambience (and the warmth), discovering hidden treasures.

There's a lot of Roman history plus the Cathar stuff and the Hundred Years War stuff. The Cadogan guide and the Blue Guide are both excellent, I think