Albi - General View and St. Cecilia Cathedral

I've already shown you pictures of Albi taken in the 21st century. I'll show you more soon, but here is one taken more than a century ago.

Jean Sazy sent it to his wife Jeanne while he was stationed in the town before being sent to the front.

The handwritten part says 'Dépôt d'Albi', which roughly translates as 'Albi's Military Operating Center' or something like that (I'm not very fluent in military jargon, either in English or French).

Here is what the back of the card says:

Sunday, 15 November 1914
Dear Jeanne and family,
I am writing a card on the (?) to let you know that we had a good trip. As far as the package that I brought is concerned, we attacked it in Saint-Sulpice and I can assure you that it didn’t suffer much (it didn’t last long). Well, there's not much else to say. Regarding our departure, I think it will be next Tuesday, but I’m not sure. I’m in good health.
Your husband who sends you kisses for afar and to you all.

I think this is one of the first cards Jean sent after being drafted. Albi is relatively close to my dad's home village, which was also Jean's, and far from the front. I can easily imagine everyone drafted in that region being sent to Albi first to register, get equipped, and so on, before being sent north to the fighting.

I wish I could post all of Jean's cards in chronological order; their evolution is shocking. The tone of this card is pretty lighthearted. The package that was "attacked" and "didn't suffer" is a joke about how the food inside was happily eaten. He had no idea what awaited him later. His handwriting is also nice and easy to read. That won't last, though.