Being known as one of the largest brick buildings in the world is a pretty banal accolade. But then you look at the cathedral at Albi in the south west of France, the birthplace of the man who almost beat Cook to Botany Bay, La Perouse, and it blows your mind. Large and brick it certainly is but what grabs you is its extraordinary shape. If you're used to medieval cathedrals being all flying buttresses and pinnacles, Albi will let you down. It's more like a great ship, rounded at each end, with its upright walls undulating thanks to its buttresses encased within semi-circular columns. A gigantic tower at one end completes the exterior.