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Toulouse
The regional capital of the Midi-Pyrenees region of the south of France, Toulouse is known as “La Ville Rose” or “The Pink City” in reference to the warm bricks made of reddish clay earth used in most buildings lining the city.
Originally part of Roman Gaul of ancient Roman civilization, Toulouse became an Episcopal see in the 4th Century and served as the artistic and literary center of medieval Europe, bringing traveling poets from all over Southwest France.
Today the fourth largest city in the country, Toulouse, is one of France’s cultural and commercial centers.
Known, more recently as the center of the European aerospace industry, the city is the birthplace of the Concorde jet and the commercial airplane Airbus that radically altered the present day air travel industry. It sources its energy needs for its high-technology commerce on hydropower from the Pyreness and natural gas from Lacq.
For visitors wanting to see Toulouse’ more artistic haunts, the Vieux Quartier is a particularly charming choice. A stroll through its narrow alleyways reveals a range of smoky cafes, oyster bars and squares such as Place Capitole where locals congregate and celebrate joie-de-vie.
Renaissance palaces line the streets built by merchants who grew wealthy from the trade of woad, a blue textile dye. Sunday mornings are for adventurous shoppers who know where all local patrons go, such as the weekly fleamarkets at Place St-Sernin.
There are several exotic must-see places in Toulouse and nearby areas such as the Cite de L'Espace, the space museum that a comprises a planetarium, a cinema and interactive exhibits, the 12th century Cathedrale Ste-Marie, the Martres Tolosane which features hand-made pottery in production by local artisans since the 18th century, and the Exofleur-Culture D'Orchidees, a beautiful orchidarium in Cornebarrieu.
