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Toulouse Travel Guide
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Toulouse,
with its beautiful historic centre, is one of the most vibrant
and metropolitan provincial cities in France. This is a
transformation that has come about since the war, under
the guidance of the French state which has poured in money
to make Toulouse the think-tank of high-tech industry and
a sort of premier trans-national Euroville. Always an aviation
centre – St-Exupéry and Mermoz flew out from
here on their pioneering airmail flights over Africa and
the Atlantic in the 1920s – Toulouse is now home to
Aérospatiale, the driving force behind Concorde,
Airbus and the Ariane space rocket.
The
national Space Centre, the European shuttle programme, the
leading aeronautical schools, the frontier-pushing electronics
industry… it's all happening in Toulouse, whose 110,000
students make it second only to Paris as a university centre.
But it's not to the burgeoning suburbs of factories, labs,
shopping and housing complexes that all these people go
for their entertainment, but to the old Ville Rose –
pink not only in its brickwork, but also in its politics.
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Cite de l'Espace (La)
Take exit 17 from the ring road to access this spectacular
museum. Wander through the maze of the astronomic park before
going in to see the exhibition. The latter explores astonishing
technological inventions with interactive displays, but
the museum's highlight is the Planetarium. There's a restaurant
and shop.
Basilique St. Sernin
This is the largest remaining Romanesque church in the world.
It takes its name from Saint Saturnin, a Christian martyr,
who was tied to a bull and dragged to his death in 250 AD.
In 402 his remains, previously kept in the du Taur church,
were moved here and a small church, Saint-Exupère,
was built around them. Work on the present basilica started
around 1080. It is worth visiting for the exterior brickwork,
the two crypts, the tympanum over the main door depicting
Christ's ascension, and the 800 sculpted column heads.
Musee des Augustins
This monastery, which dates from the 14th and 15th centuries,
exhibits the town's largest selection of medieval sculptures
(Romanesques and Gothic) and paintings. The collection contains
works from the Italian, Flemish and Dutch schools including
pieces by Rubens and Le Perugin and French artists from
the 16th-20th centuries (Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, etc.).
The monastery itself has a chapel with two beautiful cloisters
as well as a unique collection of Romanesque capitals. The
museum also organizes guided tours and lectures.
Couvent des Jacobins
This magnificent monastery and its peaceful cloister have
had a stormy history. In 1234 Pope Gregory IX made one of
the Dominican friars Inquisitor, and in the same year, four
other brothers lit the first fire of the Inquisition. Disgusted
by their behaviour, the population threw the monks out of
the city in 1235. But they were back a year later. There
is plenty to look at in this extraordinary Gothic edifice.
The floor is black marble, and the apse, called The Palm
of Jacobins is quite famous. On the head of one of the columns,
a bull's head symbolises the martyr, Saint Saturnin.
Occitania (L')
Open all year round, this boat is air-conditioned in summer
and heated in winter. It caters particularly for groups
and families, but everyone is welcome. The three-hour cruise
down the hundred-year-old Canal du Midi begins opposite
the Matabiau Station. The menus are prepared on board and
change every fortnight. Dishes to try include spicy bread
moulds, potted foie gras, squid kebabs, and layers of nougat
with strawberry sauce for desert. On Saturday evenings an
orchestra accompanies your meal.
Capitole (Le)
Formerly the head office of the old town magistrates, the
city hall is impressive, with its white marble columns all
along the front. Today it houses the Capitole Theatre and
the Town Hall. As you go through the Henri-IV courtyard
you can admire the work of local 19th-century artists such
as Jean-Paul Laurens or Henri Martin, while the Hall of
Fame contains busts of Toulouse celebrities. The Square
is surrounded by red-brick buildings and the ground is marked
with the Toulouse Cross, a symbol of the town's historic
past.
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