Come and experience toulouse métropole ! so toulouse

Come and experience
TOULOUSE MÉTROPOLE!
The gateway to an exceptional region
Toulouse and Urban Area Travel Book
2015
©D.Viet
©Boigontier©K.Lhémon
©J.M.Herrador

Contents
4 Toulouse in ﬁgures
5 Toulouse in full
6 Map of Toulouse city centre
7 Map of Toulouse Métropole urban area
9 From Riquet to the “Laté”.
Toulouse, metropolitan melting-pot
13 Toulouse, the city that transports you
17 Epicurean Toulouse
21 Tapas Time in Toulouse
24 Around Toulouse: the major UNESCO sites
25 Toulouse, gateway to an exceptional region
27 Toulouse, European capital of aeronautics and space
31 Toulouse, city of culture and heritage
35 Toulouse beats to the rhythm of live shows
38 The unmissable rendezvous in Toulouse
41 Toulouse, capital of the Oval Ball
43 Toulouse, sporting city
45 Toulouse Convention Bureau:
the congress, seminar and incentive industry
46 Index
TOLOPÉDIA
Every article is
accompanied by a section
called “Tolopedia”, a fact
box that expands upon the
subject covered.
3
©K.Lhémon
©GrandsSitesdeMidi-Pyrénées-P.Thebault

Tourist numbers
• 453,200 visitors to the Donjon du Capitole (Tourist
Office - 2014).
• 1,135,500 visits to the 10 most popular tourist sites
(2013).
• Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (2014): 7,517,736 million
passengers, nearly 80 international connections, more
than 80,964 individual ﬂights (Number 1 business
airport in France).
• Toulouse-Matabiau Railway Station: 9 million
passengers, 18 TER stations in the metropolitan area.
Average length of stay
for leisure tourism visitors:
4 days.
4.7 million hotel nights
(57% paid accommodation and 43%
non-paid accommodation/ Euroêka
surveys –Tourist Office), 68% French
visitors, 32% visitors from abroad.
Figures for the Toulouse urban
area (2013): 172 hotels, 40 tourist
residences, 14,412 rooms and 3,711
apartments
European capital of innovation
(aeronautics, space, research)
• European City of Science in 2018
• N°1 in Europe for the aeronautics industry, N°2 in the world
• N°1 in Europe for the space industry
• N°1 in France for on-board electronic systems
• 10,500 people work in more than 400 research centres
4
Toulouse in ﬁgures
4th largest city in France after
Paris, Marseille and Lyon
• 461,190 inhabitants in the city, 727,016 inhabitants in the metropolitan
area (37 communes), 1.2 million in the wider urban area (73 communes).
• 30 open-air markets
• 16 show venues and 40 cinemas
• 550 sports clubs, 6 of which are professional.
• 160 gardens and parks in the city centre, over 1,000 hectares of green
spaces, 400 hectares of developed green areas.
3rd largest university city in France:
+ 100,000 students.
2nd largest urban centre in France:
19km of shopping streets, 1,600 shops.

Forget all the clichés about the “Ville Rose”. Toulouse cannot
be summed up by its artisanal bricks or by its title as European
capital of aeronautics. Seen from above, the ancient city of
the Counts of Toulouse stretches far beyond the banks of
the River Garonne in all directions and into the surrounding
countryside.
Gateway to the entire South-West of France, this regional
metropolis pushes outside of the historic boundaries of the
province of Languedoc. It speaks English with a flamenco
accent. It bounces in unexpected directions, just like a rugby
ball. It conquers nature with the colourful Canal du Midi
flowing to the Mediterranean Sea, whilst its River Garonne
rises in the Pyrenees and yearns to reach the Atlantic Ocean.
What awaits you is the setting sun and the aroma of the lime
trees in the Place Saint-Sernin in the spring. You can finish off
with a mint tea under a marquee planted in the meadow of
the Prairie des Filtres. Start the day off with a coffee under
the arcades of Le Capitole and finish gazing at Mars in the
Cité de l’Espace. Your feet on the ground, but your head in the
clouds.
TOULOUSE in full
Attractive
and
festive
ff
f
r Young and
dynamic
Accessible
Innovativeandconnected
5
©VilledeToulouse-P.Nin

6
Map of Toulouse City Centre
©D.Viet
©Imapping

7
Map of Toulouse
Métropole urban area
©GrandsSitesdeMidi-Pyrénées-P.Thebault©K.Lhémon
©Imapping

In 1918, his
company employed
800 workers that
produced up to 6
aircrafts every day.
TOLOPÉDIA
Latécoère
Pierre-Georges Latécoère (1883/1943) studied
engineering at the Ecole Centrale de Paris.
He took over the family joinery that was
established by his father in Bagnères-de-
Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrénées) and built tramways
and carriages for the railway company of the
Midi. During the First World War, he contributed
to the war effort by opening a bomb factory
and an aircraft factory in Toulouse. In 1918, his
company, based in the Montaudran district,
employed 800 workers that produced up to
6 aircrafts every day. After the armistice, he
employed pilots such as Mermoz or Saint-
Exupéry to handle air mail ﬂights to Dakar,
and then to South America. The entrepreneur
then transferred the management of the
Latécoère Airlines to Aéropostale, the
precursor of Air France, and they continued
manufacturing aircraft. In order to cross the
Atlantic, he became increasingly passionate
about seaplanes. In 1939 he sold his company
to Bréguet and set up a new factory in their
current premises on rue de Périole in Toulouse
in order to launch the world’s biggest seaplane,
the Laté 631. The company has only built its
own craft since the 1950’s, but it remains an
important subcontractor for Airbus, Boeing,
Bombardier and Embraer. The runway and the
Montaudran assembly plants have been listed
as Historic Monuments since 1997.
www.memoire-aeropostale.com
8
©BNF-AgencedepresseMeurisse
© L’Illustration - Anonyme
© L’Illustration - Anonyme

Each year, mischievous acrobats climb the statue of Pierre-
Paul Riquet in order to stick a red nose on his face. This
former tax collector was, nevertheless, knighted by Louis
XIV for having built the Canal Royal du Languedoc. This
waterway that is flanked by greenery and flows on and
on was listed in 1996 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
(www.canal-et-voie-verte.com / www.toulouse-visit.com/
Interested-in/Discovery). The crowds of walkers, cyclists
and roller-bladers that take to the banks of the Canal du
Midi every day surely do not even know that Baron Riquet
died in poverty in 1680, a few months before his master
work reached his home town of Béziers. He is buried in
Saint-Étienne Cathedral in Toulouse, just a short hop from
the former Port Saint-Étienne where a modest brick building
houses the precious archives of the canal.
As surprising as it may seem, there is indeed a port in
Toulouse; several in fact, proof of which lies in the great
fresco created by the painter Henri Martin in Le Capitole.
Here you see the illustrious Jean Jaurès strolling along
the left bank of the River Garonne during the last century.
Opposite this, the Port de la Daurade is still in use. Today,
the boats of the “sand fishermen” have left the river and
the old canal barges now transport tourists or have been
turned into restaurants. British or Dutch pleasure boaters
stop at the Port Saint-Sauveur, awarded a “Pavillon Bleu”
label in 2014 just like the very best seaside resorts along the
coast (www.toulouse.fr/web/environnement/port-saint-
sauveur).
Behind Riquet, the Marengo Arch overlooks Matabiau
railway station. This building prefigured the future face of
the Toulouse Euro-Sud-Ouest district that will welcome the
TGV in the run up to 2020 (www.toulouse-eurosudouest.
eu). High speed trains from Spain’s RENFE network have
stopped at the station since December 2013, putting
Barcelona just 3 hours from Toulouse. With over 9 million
passengers, Matabiau welcomes more visitors every year
than Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. This traffic is essentially
made up of regional trains. The station, listed as a Historic
Monument in 1984, remains one of the main points of
entry for the inhabitants of the neighbouring departments
when visiting the region’s capital (www.toulouse-visit.com/
Prepare-your-stay/Practical-guide).
You have to keep following the meanderings of the canal
until you reach the scientific complex of Rangueil and
explore the birthplace of Toulouse’s aeronautical industry.
The vestiges of the Latécoère plant can still be seen here
and there beside the railway line that crosses a Montaudran
district that is now undergoing profound changes. In 1918,
the industrialist revamped his aircraft and pilots, creating
Aéropostale. A remembrance site will be created in the
former airport of “Latécoère Airlines”, whilst the artist-
engineer François Delarozière will display his performance
machines on the runway (www.toulouse-metropole.fr/
projets). Rendezvous in 2018.
From Riquet to the “Laté”
Toulouse, the metropolitan melting-pot
9
©VilledeToulouse
© Ville de Toulouse - P. Nin
© Grands Sites de Midi-Pyrénées - P. Thebault

TOLOPÉDIA
The Port de l’Embouchure
During construction of the Canal Royal du
Languedoc (1666/1681), which was renamed
“Canal du Midi” following the French
Revolution, a lock allowed boats to access the
River Garonne. Under the reign of Louis XVI,
Cardinal Loménie de Brienne commissioned
the building of another canal in order to bypass
the Bazacle causeway that bars the river as it
passes through Toulouse.
A bas-relief sculpted in Carrare marble adorns
the two brick bridges that span the canals. It
depicts an allegorical celebration of the union
of the Languedoc and the Garonne under
the auspices of Occitania. In the XIX Century,
a third canal was constructed alongside the
River Garonne, which is difficult to navigate,
stretching right up to the Gironde.
The dream of Pierre-Paul Riquet, who wanted
to link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean,
was finally realised. But it vanished amidst the
steam and smoke of the locomotives of the
Bordeaux-Sète railway, which was inaugurated
in 1858. In the 70’s, the Garonne lock
disappeared during construction work for the
ring-road and the Ponts-Jumeaux interchange.
www.toulouse-visit.com/Interested-in/Discovery
La
“Ca
Re
Riv
Ca
the
the
pa
A b
the
de
of
the
31 “Greeters” for Toulouse
They are Toulouse “born and bred” or by adoption, they love travel and
storytelling and they are happy to accompany tourists in order to share
their good ideas and their passions. The “Toulouse Greeters” network
has been growing since 2012, following the example for this new form
of alternative and not-for-profit tourism service that started life in New
York. Today, 31 well-intentioned people are listed on the mini-site that
was put on-line in 2013 by the Tourist Office. All of them are bilingual,
or even trilingual.
www.toulousegreeters.fr
Did you know?
Sleep in Saint-Exupéry’s bedroom.
Le Grand Balcon, a family run boarding house where the Aéropostale pilots used to stay, just
a short hop from Le Capitole, is nowadays a 4*hotel. The legendary room 32 belonging to
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was restored during renovation works.
www.grandbalconhotel.com
Riquet’s hydraulic machine
Pierre-Paul Riquet, designer of the Canal du Midi, had water basins constructed in the park
of his château in order to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the water supply system to
be used in these works. The estate and the house were purchased by the small commune of
Bonrepos-Riquet, 20km from Toulouse in the Girou Valley. Château de Bonrepos-Riquet, open
to the public from May to September.
www.bonrepos-riquet.fr
The Grand Balcony of Marengo
The top floor of the Marengo Arch is equipped with a kitchen and reception rooms. Overlooking
the city, this 1000m² space and its 300m² terrace can be hired by businesses or by individuals.
Espaces Vanel: www.espacesvanel.com
10
©LeGrandBalcon

Riquet was born in Béziers, Jaurès in Castres,
Latécoère in Bagnères-de-Bigorre: over
the centuries, the metropolitan area has
expanded and has welcomed the inhabitants
of the whole region, stretching from the
Pyrenees to the Mediterranean. This wave of
immigration gathered pace with the exile of
Spanish republicans in the 1930’s, and then
with the arrival of workers from the Maghreb.
It continues nowadays with Airbus employees
that come from Germany or Great Britain.
The university, for its part, attracts students
and researchers from across the globe. Every
year, 100,000 people sign-up to attend a
higher education establishment linked to the
academy and 20,000 extra inhabitants set
up home in the area. One in four people in
Toulouse is a student, 75% of the population
of the urban area was not born in the city.
From Riquet to the“Laté”
Melting-pot on the Garonne
One in four
people in
Toulouse
is a student.
11
©D.Viet
©AirbusSAS
© D. Viet
©D.Viet

The 38 stations
of Toulouse’s
metro system
are unique in
that they all
house works of
contemporary art.
TOLOPÉDIA
The VAL
Toulouse was the second city to establish
an automatic light rail transit system (VAL)
in 1993, which was designed in Lille and
developed by the company Matra. The
ﬁrst line (A), running between the Mirail
district and Jolimont, was extended out to
Balma-Gramont. A second line (B) has linked
the Borderouge district with Ramonville-
Saint-Agne since 2007. It will be extended
out to Labège-Innopole. A third line is
being studied that will connect the Airbus
factories, Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, the
forthcoming TGV station of Matabiau and
the Montaudran district. Branches of the
VAL, now produced by Siemens, operate
also in Rennes, in the airports of Orly and
Chicago, in Turin, Taïwan and South Korea.
The 38 stations of Toulouse’s metro system
are unique in that they all house works of
contemporary art, which can be discovered
thanks to a guided visit organised by the
Tourist Office.
Tisséo (bus-metro-tram): www.tisseo.fr
Art in the metro: www.tisseo.fr/tisseo-
lentreprise/page-standard/l-art-du-reseau
©D.Viet
© D. Viet
12
seo.fr
isseo-
eseau
©D.Viet

Toulouse, the city
that transports you
13
In Toulouse, we walk on water. The walkway that has been
secured onto the medieval façade of the Hôpital La Grave
since 2008 provides a link between the belvedere of the
gardens of Les Abattoirs and the former Port Viguerie. It is
closed to the public when the River Garonne, which gushes
over the Bazacle causeway, swells and does an impression
of Niagara. The heavy metal doors riveted to the wall re-
mind us that the river’s tantrums can be terrible, as was the
case during the flood of 1875 that ravaged the Saint-Cyprien
district on the left bank. Walkers who love to stroll in the
evening above the quays of the right bank, as the sun sets
and illuminates the brick façades, can now easily reach the
banks of the Garonne from Place Saint-Pierre by descen-
ding the new stepped terrace that has been designed in
the form of an amphitheatre by Joan Busquets, the Catalan
architect who is gradually making the city centre more ac-
cessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
The river itself has also been given over to navigation
since the late 1980’s. Three sightseeing boats now venture
beyond the calm waters of the canal and pass through the
Saint-Pierre lock when the weather is fine. The passengers
on these new Garonne river boats share their special play-
ground with the members of the Péniche ski club, who for
a long time were restricted to the meadows of Les Filtres,
and have joined the rowers of Émulation Nautique on the
Ile du Ramier. You can even spot anglers bobbing along
on “float tubes”, a type of floating buoy that is perfect for
catching bullhead under the pillars of the Pont Neuf, helping
them compete with the local cormorants.
If you are on a bike you will feel it in your calves that the
oldest of Toulouse ‘s bridges across the Garonne – the
Pont Neuf – has a slight, uneven slope in order to tackle
the height difference between the two riverbanks. The
first horse-drawn omnibus services started in 1683, cros-
sing this bridge that was inaugurated by Louis XIV. The new
tram lines now cross Pont Saint-Michel, which has been
strengthened for the purpose, and will run as far as Tou-
louse-Blagnac Airport from April 2015. The automatic metro
system, opened in 1993, passes imperceptibly underneath
the Garonne thanks to two separate tunnels. It only sur-
faces once it has gone beyond the ring-road, a new mo-
torised belt that marks out the city limits as neatly as the
ancient ramparts once did, although they have since been
transformed into boulevards and planted with plane trees.
Only a select few electric minibuses can meander through
the intricate network of narrow medieval streets in the city
centre. The “home port” of these free shuttle buses is lo-
cated in the Cours Dillon, a pleasant and shaded promenade
that is a favourite with boules enthusiasts who gather to
push the jack just a stone’s throw from the former Château
d’Eau, one of the leading art galleries in France dedicated
to photography.
©D.Viet
©Boigontier
© D. Viet
© Grands Sites de Midi-Pyrénées - P. Thebault

TOLOPÉDIA
The Hospices de la Garonne
Plague victims, beggars, prostitutes,
orphans and paupers have succeeded one
another through the centuries as residents
behind the brick walls that rise from the left
bank of the River Garonne right back to the
medieval era. Up until 2003, generations
of Toulousains were born in the shadow
of the dome of Saint-Joseph de La Grave.
The transfer of the maternity ward, and
then the geriatric ward in 2010, marked a
turning point in the history of healthcare
in Toulouse. The neighnouring Hôtel-Dieu
Saint-Jacques is now home to the CHU
teaching hospital of Toulouse. Like the
basilica Saint-Sernin, this building was
listed by UNESCO in remembrance of the
time when pilgrims that were on-route to
Compostella would be lodged in the Hôpital
Sainte-Marie-du-Bout-du-Pont.
http://www.chu-toulouse.fr/-histoire-des-
hopitaux-de-toulouse-
Pl
or
an
be
ba
m
of
of
Th
th
tu
-
s--
So Toulouse Tourism Pass:
A combined pass that covers transport and museums
Even better than the Toulouse residents that climb aboard public
transport without a ticket and can visit museums with their Carte
Pastel, passing visitors can also travel freely on the entire Tisséo
metro-bus-tram network throughout the urban area and get free entry
to, for example, the Augustins Museum or the Bemberg Foundation
with the Tourism Pass. The card, valid for one, two or three days, gives
free access to 8 museums and offers reduced rate entry to major
tourist attractions, organised tours, matches and concerts, boutiques…
On sale at the Tourist Office and from Tisséo agencies.
24 h/19,50 euros; 48 h/26,50 euros; 72 h/33,50 euros.
www.toulouse-visit.com
Did you know?
A tour of the city aboard a panoramic minibus
Since June 2013, an open-topped minibus has toured most of the historic sites and monuments
of the city. The visit lasts 75 minutes and has commentary in 13 languages via audio-guide. A
child version is also available.
www.citytour-toulouse.com
Segway Tours
If you want to explore every corner of the city without getting tired, Segway gyro-pods are
perfect. After 15 minutes of instruction on how to operate the machine, you strap on a helmet
and set off for a fun discovery tour of Toulouse. Circuits from 30min to 2h30.
www.mobilboard.com/fr/agence/segway/toulouse
Sail along the canal
A small electric boat with a solar panel that can be operated without a licence made an
appearance during the summer of 2014 at the Port de l’Embouchure. The rental company,
who set up base at the Ponts-Jumeaux in 2013, provides these silent and non-polluting craft
for those who want an initiation into sailing on the Canal de Brienne. They also have a ﬂeet
of house boats available for hire from the motorway services at Port-Lauragais, half way
between Toulouse and Carcassonne.
http://navicanal.com
These activities can be reserved on-line at the Tourist Office website www.toulouse-visit.com14
©D.Viet
©K.Lhémon

From the beaches of the Atlantic to those
of the Mediterranean, this is a new and
enchanting cycling itinerary with accents of
the Midi that awaits lovers of two wheels.
They can pedal along the Canal de Garonne
and the Canal du Midi, listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site, before enjoying a
thousand and one stop-offs with a cultural
or gastronomic flavour. Toulouse, the Ville
Rose, lies at the heart of this cycling route
that is financed by Toulouse Métropole and
the Tourist Office.
There are two major stages to ride:
■ The Canal de Garonne by bike from Agen
to Toulouse (113km)
This section of the Canal des 2 Mers by bike,
entirely on greenway routes, allows visitors
to appreciate the richness of the lands that
they cross. Deviating from the Canal de
Garonne, visitors can discover a landscape
with Tuscan airs. Moissac and Montauban,
“Cities of Art and History” that overlook the
Tarn, provide an attractive and gastronomic
detour. The beautiful and vibrant city of
Toulouse, a regional capital with multiple
flavours and riches, invites visitors to stroll
among its numerous monuments and its
districts that are lively by day or by night.
■ The Canal du Midi by bike from Toulouse
to Carcassonne (138.5 km)
From Toulouse to Carcassonne, this section
of the Canal des 2 Mers by bike plunges
riders into the fabulous history of the Canal
du Midi, built in the XVII Century to link the
River Garonne to the Mediterranean. This
stage offers a tour that is full of charm in
the heart of the Pays de Cocagne and in
the footsteps of the Cathars from Toulouse
to Carcassonne. It should be noted that
the section to the south of Port Lauragais,
in parts neither paved nor sign-posted,
requires cyclists to be vigilant and to have
the necessary equipment.
www.francevelotourisme.com/base-1/
itineraires/canal-des-deux-mers-a-velo
V80: the cycle route for the Canal des Deux-Mers
lllll
eee
-1/
elo
VélôToulouse
Inaugurated in November 2007, the Vélô Toulouse self-
service cycle hire scheme is loved by locals.
30,000 people have signed up to use these red and grey
bikes provided by the company Decaux, with a network that
extends to 283 stations throughout the city. The first half
hour is free. The city is looking into extending the scheme
to the outlying communes. It is also possible to hire bikes
for short rides or for even longer breaks from the Maison du
Vélo, based in a former lockkeeper’s house that sits opposite
Matabiau train station or even an electric bike near to Le
Capitole. Two bike-taxi companies have been set up in the
city. Their electric tricycles transport tourists as well as locals,
or even express parcels.
www.velo.toulouse.fr
www.maisonduvelotoulouse.com
www.happymoov.com
www.alternmobil.net
15
Toulouse, the city
that transports you

The “Véritable
saucisse de Toulouse”
red label protects
local sausage
production since
1992.
TOLOPÉDIA The specialities
Sausages and Cassoulet
Toulouse sausage is a charcuterie speciality made
up of lean and fatty chunks of pork, roughly
chopped and stuffed into natural casings. The
original recipe has become the general appellation
for frying sausages that are made by the kilometre
in every corner of France. The “Véritable saucisse
de Toulouse” red label protects local sausage
production since 1992, covering those that have at
least 75% of lean meat (shoulder, leg), and contain
no colourings or preservatives. Toulouse sausage
figures prominently in the recipe for cassoulet, an
emblematic dish that is also claimed by Carcassonne
and Castelnaudary. The recipes may have local or
family variations, but it invariably centres on the
slow simmering of meats in a “cassole” pot that
also contains dried beans, preferably of the Tarbes
variety. This stew can be made using lamb in
Carcassonne or confit goose in Toulouse, and should
be cooked for a long time in the oven, with the
golden crust that forms on the surface being cracked
several times before it is eaten. The invention of
methods to conserve food has meant that this
popular and traditional dish has been exported all
over the world.
www.toulouse-visit.com/Interested-in/Gastronomy
The Toulouse violet
The little flower that has been cultivated in Toulouse
since 1854 is a cousin of the fragrant Parma violet,
but one which only flowers in winter. This variety,
which does not produce any seeds but rather
reproduces by means of runners ( like strawberry
plants), has become a speciality of market gardeners
in the north of Toulouse, who established a “co-
operative of violet and onion producers” in 1908.
They in turn supplied around 600 producers
that sent up to 600,000 bouquets per year by
train throughout the whole of Europe (!) before
experiencing a downturn… Nowadays, we can
only find around ten producers. Under threat from
years of propagation through cuttings, new hybrid
plants have been readied in-vitro by the Chamber
of Agriculture, with the help of the city of Toulouse.
130 international types of violet are preserved in
beautiful municipal greenhouses and are exhibited
every year at the start of February in the Place du
Capitole during the Fête de la Violette. The Berdoues
company has been making a perfume from violets
since 1936 in Cugnaux, the Benoît Serres company
produces 15,000 bottles of violet liqueur for two
generations in Villefranche-de-Lauragais and the
crystallised flowers, sold in sweet shops since the
XIX Century (produced in Toulouse most notably
by Candiflor), are still popular today, to be enjoyed
on the Maison de la Violette barge, for example
(boutique/exhibition venue/tea room), which is
moored on the Canal du Midi.
www.parfumsberdoues.com
www.benoitserres.com
www.candiflor.fr
www.lamaisondelaviolette.com
rss
©CRTMidi-Pyrénées-D.Viet
©K.Lhémon
©MaisondelaViolette
©K.Lhémon
16

On sunny days in Toulouse, we gather on the streets for din-
ner with our neighbours. The “repas de quartier”, launched
in 1991 by the Occitan musician Claude Sicre at his den in
the Arnaud-Bernard quarter, have spread everywhere. In
the style of a “Spanish Inn”, everyone brings a dish, a drink,
sometimes a guitar, and everything is shared with those
on your table. The city, that stops traffic and supplies tables
and chairs for the occasion, lists no fewer than 300 of these
micro-events in the area from May to October. This formula
has since been exported throughout the rest of France.
This culture of conviviality in the open air can be found in
the dozen or so outdoor markets that bring the different dis-
tricts of Toulouse to life every week. The biggest and most
popular, known as the Cristal, is held every morning (except
Monday) beneath the plane trees of the boulevards. It has
kept the name of the great Café Cristal, which is no longer
there, where the market gardeners of Blagnac or Saint-Jory
would come to warm up after having sold out of vegetables
on their stalls. Small producers from the region make the
Sunday market in the Place Saint-Aubin a sure fire success,
the last “farmer’s” market where you can still find a few
live chickens in the midst of the troupes of musicians that
provide the ambiance. Tuesday and Saturday mornings it is
the turn of the producers at the Esparcette organic market,
created more than 30 years ago (www.marchebiotoulouse.
org), to bring life to the garden at the foot of the Donjon
du Capitole. More focused on delicatessens and food pro-
fessionals, three covered markets are also on hand to de-
light gourmets that have no time for “junk food”. Squeezing
together to enjoy lunch at one of the five restaurants on
the first floor of Victor-Hugo market will allow visitors to
understand the real soul of the city, just like a rugby ball
underneath a melee of Stade Toulousain.
With over 1,700 places to eat that are listed by the Chamber
of Commerce and Industry of Toulouse, the city has reputa-
tion as one of the country’s best served in terms of restau-
rants. Traditional restaurants or world cuisine, there is so-
mething to suit all tastes. Michel Bras, since 2014, has tried
his hand at running a quality fast food establishment in the
city centre with Les Capucins (Janus Design Pize in 2014).
Young chef Yannick Delpech is also an innovator, leaving his
gastronomic restaurant (L’Amphitryon in Colomiers, two Mi-
chelin stars) to one side for a moment in order to open San-
dyan, a tea room on the rue Alsace-Lorraine where guests
who are in a rush will find burgers and Japanese bento
to take away, as well as the pastries of the house. Michel
Sarran, another pair of safe hands for gastronomy in Tou-
louse, also leaves his kitchens that lie opposite the ancient
ramparts (two stars, boulevard Duportal) in order to spruce
up the menus of other restaurants (ex: Toulouse airport,
brasserie at the Stade Toulousain, Café Emma in Barcelona)
and television programmes (like Top Chef). Toulousains can
award their very own stars every year thanks to the Prix Lu-
cien Vanel. For its 7th
edition in 2014, 161 restaurants took up
the challenge. In any case, every year Toulouse throws itself
into the Fête de la Gastronomie (www.fete-gastronomie.fr)!
After the success of spit-roast beef during the Toulouse
à Table event in September 2014, Toulouse provides a new
rendezvous for lovers of good food and festivities with a 5th
edition of the Fête de la Gastronomie on the 25th
, 26th
and
27th
September 2015, which promises to be full of surprises.
www.toulouse-visit.com/Interested-in/Gastronomy
Epicurean Toulouse
17
©K.Lhémon
© Boigontier
© D. Viet

TOLOPÉDIA
These small liquorice sweets that are
flavoured with English mint were invented
in 1880 by Léon Lajaunie, a pharmacist
from Toulouse. The yellow metal box, the
size of a pocket watch and that contributed
greatly to the commercial success of this
herbal recipe, was designed by one of his
friends, a watchmaker from Isle-Jourdain
(Gers). The Sirven brothers, printers from
Toulouse and makers of the packaging,
bought the brand in 1905 and sold the
Catechus in tobacconists. Production at the
time was 320,000 boxes, but is nowadays
more than 10 million. Having passed through
several different hands, the company today
is owned by the Kraft Group, who also
produce Hollywood chewing gum and Kiss
Cool sweets.
TOLOPÉ
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One fair
for the products of the terroir
The Toulouse Agricultural Fair gave way in 2003 to SISQA, the Food
Quality Fair. Halfway between the Parisian agricultural fairs and
food fairs, the biggest farm in the Midi-Pyrénées serves as the shop
window for quality regional products. From Roquefort to foie gras “of
the South-West”, 120 products are labelled thanks to their quality and
their certified origin in the region. The Midi-Pyrénées region has been
a pioneer in the field of developing quality chains since the 1990.
www.midipyrenees.fr/SISQA
Did you know?
A chef at the museum
After having picked up stars in his gastronomic restaurant, Gérard Garrigues set up Moaï in
2008, a self-service restaurant at the Muséum. This former Michelin starred chef passed
the baton to his former apprentices in 2012 in order to concentrate fully on Hémicycle, the
restaurant-cafeteria at the Musée des Abattoirs.
www.lemoai.com
www.restaurant-lhemicycle-toulouse.com
Focus on farm produce at the centre for agriculture
Since September 2014, the Chamber of Agriculture has provided residents of Toulouse with the
chance to order farm products on-line every week, before they themselves head out to the
banks of the Canal de Brienne or to the agricultural centre at the Domaine de Candie to collect
their order. This “geek” formula by AMAP brings together around forty producers who deliver
over 200 products.
www.drivefermiertoulousain.fr
Violets on the banks of the canal
A farm in the Lauragais produces Toulouse violets in greenhouses. Focusing now on agritourism,
the Viola 2000 farm in Renneville provides accommodation for walkers and offers canoe and
rickshaw hire for those wishing to explore the banks of the canal in summer.
www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/haute-garonne/ferme-viola-2000-193072/contact_plan_acces18
Lajaunie’s Catechus
©VilledeToulouse
©OTToulouse

Some people consider the Ways of St James
to have been the world’s very first wine
routes. In fact, as a drink that was essential
to mankind (water was very often unsafe to
drink) and sacred in the Christian faith, wine
rapidly acquired considerable importance.
The planting of vineyards quite naturally
developed right across the South-West,
most notably thanks to the Benedictine
and Cistercian monks, along the Ways of
St James upon which Toulouse was a major
stopping point – with its basilica of Saint-
Sernin and the Hôtel-Dieu de Toulouse
being listed as UNESCO World Heritage
Sites. Its river, the Garonne, and the Canal
du Midi have been used for a long time to
transport the wines of the South-West to
the port of Bordeaux. Due to this history
and its geographical location, Toulouse
provides the perfect showcase for the wines
of the South-West. The wine bars, cellars
and restaurants of Toulouse are veritable
ambassadors of good living thanks to the
gastronomy and the fine wines of the
region.
Toulouse is the only large city in France that
has been growing its own vines since 1976.
In the Domaine de Candie, 26 hectares are
organically cultivated in front of the Thalès-
Alenia satellite factory. The development of
the urban area has pushed the city right out
to the vineyards of Fronton (their unusual
local grape variety, Négrette, surprises
people with its flavours of violet) or Gaillac
(Tarn). From the hillsides of Gascony to the
wines of Cahors, the region boasts over
300 listed grape varieties, 14 protected
geographical indications and 29 protected
appellations of origin that are regrouped
under the banner of the association
“Interprofession des vins du Sud-Ouest”
(IVSO). To distinguish themselves from
the wines of Bordeaux or the Languedoc-
Roussillon, the IVSO focuses on innovation.
The Domaine de Candie is set to become
a site where visitors can discover a unique
local heritage and will also serve as a
laboratory for the 120 native grape varieties
of a wine-growing region stretching from
the Basque Country to the Aveyron.
www.france-sudouest.com
The wines of the South-West
19
©K.Lhémon
©IVSO-P.Poupart
Epicurean Toulouse
©IVSO-P.Poupart

Le Bibent provides
some of the last
evidence of the
great cafés that
bordered the
central square of
Toulouse.
nt prot r
TOLOPÉDIA
CAFÉS in their original state
The paintings on the ceilings and stucco
decorations call to mind the ceremonial
chambers of the neighbouring Le Capitole. Le
Bibent (“drink well” in Occitan) and Le Florida
provide some of the last evidence of the great
cafés that bordered the central square of
Toulouse during the last century. The brasserie,
listed as a Historic Monument since 1975, was
bought in 2011 by Christian Constant, a cook
who was originally from Montauban and is
well-known in Paris, made famous by the
programme Top Chef.
Le Père Louis is another institution well-known
by Toulousains. Between Le Capitole and the
Place Esquirol, this wine bar can boast of being
the oldest bistro in the city. It has maintained
its ancient ensign on its narrow façade, which
has indicated its speciality since 1889: Quinine
Wine.
Whether it is time for an aperitif or a croissant,
the zinc counter at the Bar du Matin and its
sunny terrace have been features of the Place
des Carmes for generations. This is the popular
café par excellence, where regulars are sure to
meet old friends without even having had to
arrange a rendezvous.
A little further out, the café Chez Authié,
a short hop from the Halle aux Grains on
Place Dupuy, and the Bar de la Concorde, in
the road that shares its name in the Chalets
quarter, have also known how to preserve an
atmosphere of the start of the last century.
www.maisonconstant.com/bibent
www.leﬂorida-capitole.fr
www.au-pere-louis.fr
www.chezauthie.fr
www.facebook.com/CafeDeLaConcorde
20
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©D.Viet

In its historic centre or its surrounding districts, the city
provides some unforgettable strolls along well-preserved
narrow streets flanked by ancient façades with remarkable
décor, brick walls that are shrouded in leaves and branches
that leave gaps through which you can spot pleasant
gardens. A stroll through the narrow streets of the Saint-
Étienne quarter, between Les Carmes and La Dalbade or
in the pleasant Chalets or du Busca districts in order to feel
the atmosphere of Toulouse is an authentic way in which
visitors can immerse themselves in the city. Place Salengro,
Place de la Trinité, Place Boulbonne, Place Olivier, Place de
la Concorde, here and there, in an architectural setting that
is typically Toulousain, little squares dotted with refreshing
fountains that provide a lively place to stop where it is a
pleasure to savour the sweet life of Toulouse.
It is when the sun goes down that the poetic brilliance of
Claude Nougaro is confirmed: Spain has “pushed its horns”
so far into the city that it now sets its watch to Madrid or
Barcelona time. When aperitif hour arrives, the tapas come
out. The terraces of the bars fill up and the drinks are always
accompanied by a few things to nibble on. Most bars serve
their own tapas, often created using regional products.
The 100,000 students now set the tempo for the city just as
the old Spanish refugees used to. They are “sous, sous, sous
la place Saint-Pierre” (on, on, on the place Saint-Pierre), as
Nougaro himself might sing. The terraced steps that now
descend towards the River Garonne provide a new open-air
amphitheatre for them to enjoy. The bars in the square fill up
every night and the terraces overflow more often than the
river, especially when rugby matches are shown on the big
screen at the Bar Saint-Pierre. Pastis lovers head for Chez
Tonton, who has served it by the metre for generations,
whilst lovers of beer get in a froth at Bar Basque. The rue
Pargaminières, linking this hotspot for student parties with
Le Capitole, is the new “thirsty street”, with its kebabs that
ease nocturnal hunger pangs. The rue des Blanchers is
more like “hungry street”, with around ten small restaurants
in the space of just a few metres. The terrace at the Café
des Artistes, Place de la Daurade, is the place to go in order
to catch the last rays of sun as its sets across the Garonne.
At one end of the Pont Neuf, the crowd stands on the
pavement outside Le Filochard to enjoy the very last rays
of sun. On the other side, the left bank, the Saint-Cyprien
quarter provides a village atmosphere that is a big hit on
the Place de l’Estrapade (tapas bars like Vasco Le Gama and
l’Extrapade, Le Temps des Vendanges wine bar and cellar)
or Place du Ravelin (The Dispensary pub, the restaurant Le
Bistrologue, Le Ravelin wine bar), without forgetting the
Place Olivier that has been recently renovated.
Tapas Time in Toulouse
21
©D.Viet
© D. Viet
© D. Viet

Cafes-theatres
Outside of the Printemps du Rire, the comedy
festival that celebrated its 20th edition in
2015, Toulouse knows how to entertain
itself all year round. The Chevaliers du Fiel, a
comic duo that have travelled the theatres
of France and of Navarre since the 1980’s,
opened their very own show venue in their
home town in 2010. The 300 seats at the
Comédie de Toulouse adds to the city’s already
impressive café-theatre offer. A pioneer in
this ﬁeld, the 3T cabaret, opened in 1986 on
the banks of the Canal du Midi, presents a
number of pieces every evening in its three
studios. The Minimes café-theatre opened a
second venue, a short hop from the 57 on the
boulevard des Minimes. The Fil à Plomb has
seen a procession of comedians through the
generations in its pocket-sized neighbourhood
theatre in the Arnaud-Bernard quarter and the
Grand-Rond theatre has even more aperitif-
shows in its two, more “classic”, rooms.
www.toulouse-visit.com/Interested-in/Outings
www.printempsdurire.com
www.lacomediedetoulouse.com
http://3tcafetheatre.com/
http://lesminimes.com/
www.le57.com
http://theatreleﬁlaplomb.fr/
http://grand-rond.org/
Shows at the Casino
The banks of the Garonne have been home to a casino since 2007,
built on stilts at one end of the île du Ramier. A veritable multi-leisure
complex that is festive and cultural, with slot machines, gaming tables,
bars and restaurants (including Le Fouquet’s), the casino theatre
Barrière de Toulouse boasts a beautiful contemporary concert hall
seating 1,200, which most notably provided a home to the Théâtre
du Capitole during its recent renovation and hosts around 150 shows
every year. Free shuttle bus every day (including Sundays and Public
Holidays) from 10h40 to 18h, every 30 minutes (no service from 13h55
to 15h), and from 18h45 to midnight every hour.
www.lucienbarriere.com/fr/Casino/Toulouse/accueil.html
TOLOPÉDIA
22
©ComédiedeToulouse
©CasinoBarrière

23
The quays of the right bank are not the only ones that come
to life in the evening. Between the boulevards and the
Canal du Midi, night life thrives all around the rue Gabriel-
Péri. Old barrels that now serve as tables ensure that it is
always packed at the Connexion Live, a former audio-visual
hire shop located in the garage of a multi-storey car park
that hosts concerts on the ground floor. On the pavement
opposite, the beautiful building that used to be home to the
Télégramme newspaper at the start of the XX Century has
been transformed into a restaurant and tapas bar across
three floors, with concerts and DJ sets every evening until
2am. The nearby rue de la Colombette is narrower and is
quickly taken over by the clientele of the Café Populaire,
popping out with little plastic cups to smoke a cigarette. The
average age is higher and the ambiance is more relaxed
around the pretty Place Saint-Georges and its Wallace
fountain. From the rue Boulbonne to the rue Saint-Antoine-
du-T that links the oasis of Saint-Georges to the Place
Wilson and its cinemas, right up to the Place Victor-Hugo
(with its unmissable J’GO), wine bars offer cheese platters
“à la française” as an alternative to the Spanish tapas. All
along the rue des Filatiers, up until the Place des Carmes,
people of all ages come together joyfully, sitting at a table
in a trendy restaurant or sipping a drink on a terrace. Sushi
madness has also taken on the challenge of usurping the
Iberian model of enjoying a nibble with your aperitif, with
notable “afterwork” sessions organised on the roof terraces
of Galeries Lafayette every Friday, from 17h to 21h. Here, they
serve “tapas Japanese style” with a glass of champagne
whilst admiring the view of the “sprinkling of roof tiles” that
Nougaro sang of.
Tapas Time in Toulouse
The city lights
A “lighting plan” launched in 2004 led to most of the city’s monuments
being illuminated at night with coloured, low-energy bulbs. Thanks
to this scheme, a great many monuments and historic sites are
illuminated: the Pont Neuf, the Dôme de la Grave, the church of Croix-
Daurade, the Jacobins convent, the Augustins museum, Saint-Étienne
Cathedral, the municipal electricity company, the EDF Bazacle factory,
the Pont des Catalans, the Place Saint-Georges...
The city has also signed up to the charter that protects the night sky
set up by the Pic du Midi, which aims to fight against light pollution.
©ConnexionLive

1 - The Canal du Midi
This 240km work was built under the reign
of the Sun King from Sète to Toulouse
and was listed as a World Heritage Site in
1996. The listing extends to its derivations
and additional sections (among them
the Canal de Brienne) and its 328 works
of art, including the barrage-reservoir
of Saint-Ferréol in Revel and the “supply
channels” in the Black Mountain. UNESCO
wanted to recognise in particular that the
“care that its creator, Pierre-Paul Riquet,
took in the design and the way it blends
with its surroundings turned a technical
achievement into a work of art”.
www.canal-et-voie-verte.com
2 - The City of Carcassonne
The ramparts of Carcassonne have been
on the World Heritage list since 1997 as
an example of a medieval fortified town.
The site includes the Comtal château
from the XII Century, the gothic cathedral
and the walls that date right back to
Roman antiquity. The classification also
highlighted the “lengthy restoration
campaign undertaken by Viollet-le-Duc, one
of the founders of the modern science of
conservation”.
www.tourisme-carcassonne.fr
3 - The Episcopal City of Albi
UNESCO included the city centre of Albi
on its World Heritage list in 2010. The
classification includes the cathedral of
Sainte-Cécile and the episcopal palace of
La Berbie, which houses the Toulouse-
Lautrec museum, as well as the medieval
town of Saint-Salvi and the suburb
of La Madeleine, linked by the Pont
Vieux across the River Tarn. An “urban
medieval landscape that is well-
preserved and extremely authentic”,
claimed UNESCO’s experts.
www.albi-tourisme.fr
4 - The Cirque de Gavarnie
This site of the Pyrenees National
Park was also classified as a “cultural
landscape” by UNESCO in 1997. The experts
saw it as “a pastoral landscape reflecting
an agricultural way of life that was once
widespread in the upland regions of
Europe”. The Gavarnie classification also
included two other, less-frequented cirques
on the French side and the canyons of
Anisclo on the Spanish side, in the heart of
the Mont Perdu massif.
http://ete.gavarnie.com/
5 - The Port de la Lune
in Bordeaux
The classification of the 1,731 hectares of
the Port de la Lune in 2007 highlighted
“an outstanding urban and architectural
ensemble, created in the age of the
Enlightenment, whose values continued
up to the first half of the XX Century”.
UNESCO were particularly impressed by the
protection given by the city to 347 buildings
that were listed or classified, the largest
number of historic buildings in France after
Paris.
www.bordeaux-tourisme.com
Albi
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5 - The Port de la LLunnee
in Bordeaux
The classification of the 1,731 hectares of
the Port de la Lune in 2007 highlighted
24
Around Toulouse: the major UNESCO sites
5
4
1
3
2©Boigontier
©OpenStreetMap
©OTBordeaux-C.Bouthe

25
The bronze Occitan cross that is carved into the granite
of the Place du Capitole also flutters above the region’s
hotels, from Toulouse to Montpellier. Well before the merger
that was announced for 2016 linking the Midi-Pyrénées
and Languedoc-Roussillon regions, the city has shared
common roots that are a combination of history, geography
and culture. The eight pink marble columns that have
adorned the façade of Le Capitole since the XVIII Century
were themselves extracted from the quarries of Caunes-
Minervois. “Languedoc marble” can also be found in the
Place Carnot in Carcassonne and in the Opéra Garnier in
Paris, as well as in the Great Mosque in Cordoba.
In less than two hours, a car that leaves the car park at
Le Capitole can pull up at a seaside resort along the
Mediterranean coast or in a ski resort up in the Pyrenees.
In winter or in summer, it is possible to jump on a train at
Matabiau with your skis for a day on the Beille Plateau,
the slopes of Ax-3-Domaines or Andorra. Alternatively,
you could grab your swimming costume and head to the
beaches of Leucate or Collioure. The sea and the mountains
are both within reach so that weekends in the country can
be enjoyed by all. Do your shopping under the arcades of
an ancient fortified town in Gascony or Rouergue, climb
up to the hilltop village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie after a stroll
in the Causses du Quercy Regional Nature Park, cross the
Lauragais by bike along the Canal du Midi until you reach
Castelnaudary: the playgrounds of the Toulousain back
country are better than any modern theme park. The Canal
des Deux-Mers cycling route, the V80, will delight lovers of
two wheels who will be able to pedal right along the Canal
de Garonne and the Canal du Midi, stopping off in Toulouse.
Less than one hour from Le Capitole, discover the “little
sisters” of the Ville Rose: the chasselas grape variety and
the cloister of Saint-Pierre Abbey in Moissac, the Place
Sainte-Cécile in Albi or the Place Nationale in Montauban
with its superb double row of brickwork arcades. The narrow
medieval streets of Albi surround a cathedral that has the
allure of a fortress and overlooks the Tarn. They share the
same history as the stone ramparts of Carcassonne, taken
by storm by Simon de Montfort during the crusade against
the Cathars and restored by Viollet-le-Duc. The architect, a
friend of Prosper Mérimée, also saved the Jacobins convent
in Toulouse from destruction. It belonged to the Dominican
order and was founded in Toulouse in order to combat
“heretics”.
Toulouse, gateway to
an exceptional region
Is Toulouse to be
classified by UNESCO?
The mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, announced
in September 2014 his intention to get the city centre
classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO “in the
next ten years or so”. The city’s bid will centre on the
217 hectare protected area that was defined in 1986.
Stretching as far as the Saint-Cyprien quarter on the left
bank of the River Garonne, “the historic escutcheon”
marked out by the ancient ramparts is the largest
protected zone in France. To this day, only the Canal
du Midi has been classified by UNESCO in Toulouse, in
addition to the basilica of Saint-Sernin and the Hôtel-
Dieu that are listed within the framework of the Ways
of St James. Assizes relating to this heritage should,
in 2015, outline the project and inform all public and
private landowners concerned.
©J.M.Herrador
©D.Viet
©D.Viet

In 1890 Clément
Ader registered a
patent for a “winged
machine for aerial
navigation, known as
an airplane”.
n
d
IIIIIIIn
TOLOPÉDIA
Clément Ader
The prolific engineer Clément Ader was born
in Muret in 1841. A plaque on the wall of the
house where he was born on the street that
shares his name describes him as “the father
of aviation”. In 1890 he registered a patent
for a “winged machine for aerial navigation,
known as an airplane”. The craft, inspired
by the flight of a bat, was christened Éole.
He made his first test flights in the park of
a château in the Paris region. The French
army, intrigued by his invention, financed the
construction of two prototypes, tested in the
military camp of Satory, next to Versailles. The
inventor broke the vow of secrecy that the
army had made him take in 1906 in order to
confirm the success of an initial flight at the
end of the XIX Century, a few years before
the Wright brothers in the USA (1903). Having
retired to a winegrowing estate in Beaumont-
sur-Lèze, Clément Ader published a number
of works on military aviation, before and after
World War One. He died in 1925 without ever
having been able to prove the truth about
these first flights. His name was given to the
assembly plant for Airbus A330 and A340 in
Colomiers and to the Clément-Ader Institute,
which is the shop window of the research
centre for Toulouse-Aerospace in Montaudran.
www.france.fr/17eme-18eme-et-
19eme-siecles/invention-de-lavion-par-clement-
ader-1890.html
www.institut-clement-ader.org
26
The return of the Bréguet XIV
As organiser of several aerial rallies between Toulouse and Saint-Louis
in Senegal, in 1992 Eugène Bellet embarked on the crazy challenge
of building a replica of the Bréguet XIV, one of the planes used by
the Aéropostale airline of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Put together by
a volunteers association, the craft made its inaugural flight on 11th
November 2003 at Toulouse-Lasbordes Airport. Certified in 2009,
the Bréguet took on the mythical route from Toulouse to Cap Juby, in
the Moroccan desert, in 2010. There is a book retelling this beautiful
adventure, which will continue in South America in 2015 with a flight
that will cover Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. It traces the historic
route taken by Latécoère Airlines, which became Aéropostale in 1927,
as a tribute to everyone who was involved in “The Airline”.
www.breguet14.org
y, y
©Mémoired’Aéropostale
©Anonyme

Toulouse, European capital
of aeronautics and space
27
The rounded fuselage of the Super Guppy vies for star billing
with the nose cone of the Concorde beneath the vast, curved
roof of the new and innovative Aeroscopia museum in Blagnac
(www.musee-aeroscopia.fr). The astonishing silhouette of this
“flying whale” is less well-known than the sleek lines of the
only supersonic aircraft to transport passengers, but it is still
very familiar to all the Toulousains that have watched the
Airbus cargo plane fly above their city every day for decades.
From 1972 to 1996, the hold of this extraordinary aircraft, of
which only four where ever built anywhere in the word, has
transported parts of aircraft constructed throughout Europe
on their way to be assembled in Toulouse. The gaping
mouth of this curious cetacean of the sky lets you see its
insides, filled with cables and pipes. A cinema has been set
up in the interior for visitors to enjoy.
Replaced by the Airbus “Beluga” cargo planes, the Super
Guppy and its four propeller engines were saved from
oblivion by the Ailes Anciennes association, who take care of
old civil or military aircraft (www.aatlse.org). The association
and all its passionate aeronautics fans petitioned for a
long time to have a place in which to keep their collection
safe from the elements, which were stored behind the
old Dassault-Bréguet factory at the end of the runway at
Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. Airbus and the local municipalities
invested over 21 million euros into Aeroscopia, which opened
its doors in January 2015 just a few steps from the assembly
plant responsible for the A380, the giant aircraft made by
this European company. The original thing about this lively
and interactive museum, which is unique in Europe, is that
it supports the collections of nine associations that are
focused on safeguarding local aeronautical heritage. This
visit can be combined with an exclusive visit to the Airbus
factory. It is a bridge between the present and the past of
an industry that ensured the economy of the whole local
area could really take off.
The 53 metre full-scale model of the Ariane 5 Rocket is in
place on the side of the ring-road that encircles Toulouse,
opposite the Toulouse-Lasbordes aerodrome. Experts
or novices, adults or children, all will be able to enjoy a
memorable day of experiences, spectacles and discoveries
in the European space adventure park. Since 1997, the Cité
de l’Espace, one of the exceptional sites of Toulouse and
unique in Europe, has sat between the Kourou launch base
and the River Garonne (www.cite-espace.com). Just like the
CNES engineers, based a few hundred metres away as the
crow flies on the Rangueil campus, the general public can
follow all the great events taking place in space as they
occur. In 2014, over 300,000 visitors came to the 5 hectare
site of this Guyanese enclave in Toulouse, also connected
to Cape Canaveral and Baikonur. The adventure and the
suspense of the Philae mission, that little robot that landed
on a comet after a journey of more than ten years, as well
as that of the Rosetta probe astonished more than 6000
members of the public and international journalists that
were invited to breakfast on the 12th November 2014. The
animated full-scale models of Philae and of Curiosity, the
NASA “rover” that explored the planet Mars, are on display
at the Cité de l’Espace until the end of 2015.
©Citédel’espace-M.Huynh
© Airbus SAS
© Airbus SAS
© P. E. Langenfeld

TOLOPÉDIA
Did you know?
Flight simulators open to the public
Close to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and the Jean-Luc Lagardère factory that is dedicated to the
A380, the Aviasim Centre in Beauzelle offers the opportunity to take command of an A320
in the company of a professional instructor. Two realistic cockpits equipped with a 180° dome
screen and Hi-Fi speakers let visitors replicate a flight of their choosing.
www.aviasim.fr
Fly aboveToulouse in an airplane
Headquartered at the former Francazal air base, Avenir Aviation is a flight school that offers
initiation flights of 20 to 50 minutes above the city on board a small Cessna 172.
www.aveniraviation.fr
These activities can be booked on-line: www.toulouse-visit.com.
The Jolimont Observatory
Historically, Toulouse is home to the second
observatory in France, after Paris. It was
built in 1841 on a hill overlooking the city,
500m up, in order to replace an observation
post that was initially installed in a tower on
the ramparts, in rue des Fleurs. This brick
building housed the first telescope and was
designed by Urbain Vitry, the city’s architect
who was also responsible for, among others,
Les Abattoirs and the neighbouring Terre-
Cabade cemetery. Generations of astronomers
have worked here, studying a map of the
stars that is made up of 10,000 images. Two
other domes would be built to house the new
instruments before scientists left this site
for the Rangueil campus in 1970. Swallowed
up by the growing city, the observatory was
abandoned in favour of the telescopes based
at Pic du Midi (2,876m) at the start of the
XX Century. The instruments are still used
today by the Popular Astonomy Society, who
organise regular science initiation soirees in a
pleasant garden that is open to the public.
www.saptoulouse.net
www.toulouse.fr/web/la-mairie/decouvrir-la-
ville/balades-d-ete/ces-architectes-qui-ont-fait-
toulouse
28
re factory that is dedicated to the
ty to take command of an A320
d
©D.Viet
©Aviasim
©P.Daubert

François Delarozière’s first giant
performance machines will re-join the
great hall that has sprung up alongside the
historic runway in Montaudran once used by
the Aéropostale fleet. The city of Toulouse
commissioned an original work by this artist-
engineer that designed the majority of the
mechanical giants for the street theatre
troupe Royal de Luxe in the workshops of
Nantes and Tournefeuille, in the suburbs
of Toulouse. His mysterious Minotaur, his
very personal interpretation of the myth of
Icarus, shouldn’t go on public display until
just before 2018 and the centenary of the
opening of the Toulouse-Barcelona route.
Until then, the historic buildings such as
the old radio tower from the city’s first
ever airport and the Château Raynal will be
redecorated in order to recall the pioneers of
aviation. A garden will link the two sides of
the old runway, once just grass and already
partially classified as a Historic Monument.
www.lamachine.fr
www.toulouse-metropole.fr/projets/
toulouse-montaudran-aerospace
The Giants’ Runway at Montaudran
29
Toulouse, European capital
of aeronautics and space
©Mémoired’Aéropostale
©StephanMuntaner
©GroupeSNC-LavalinAéroports-TaillandierArchitecteAssociés

Having earned a
fortune, the pastel
merchants had
sumptuous private
mansions built in
Toulouse.
Ha
f
H
TOLOPÉDIA
Pastel / Woad
Used for dyeing and as a medicinal plant since Antiquity,
Isatis Tinctoria was cultivated to pre-industrial levels during
the Renaissance in the Lauragais, between Toulouse, Albi
and Carcassonne. Its blue pigment, obtained from pounding
the dried leaves of this small yellow flower in mills, was
exported throughout the whole of Europe and used as a dye
for textiles. Having earned a fortune, the pastel merchants
had sumptuous private mansions built in Toulouse. The dried
balls of pastel, known as “coques” in the Lauragais language,
would form the basis of the legendary “Pays de Cocagne”.
This flourishing commerce was ended by competition from
indigo, or “Chinese pastel”, that was cultivated in India. Pastel
production slowly started to re-emerge in the region and
its curative properties began to attract the interest of the
cosmetics industry (remember: the Graine de Pastel brand
has won several awards) and of artisan craftsmen (dyeing,
prêt-à-porter, decorations). An unusual complex that com-
bines, museum-spa-boutique-restaurant has been showca-
sing this plant since 2013 in the south of Toulouse: Terre de
Pastel.
www.toulouse-visit.com/Interested-in/Discovery
http://grainedepastel.com
www.ahpy.eu
www.facebook.com/fleureedepastel
www.terredepastel.com
Saint-Sernin & the pilgrimage
to Santiago de Compostela
More well-known than the curious Saint-Etienne cathedral,
the basilica of Saint-Sernin was consecrated in 1096 by Pope
Urban II, who came to Toulouse to preach in support of the
First Crusade. The church was built in order to house the re-
mains of Saint Saturnin, the first bishop of the city. Catholic
martyrology tells us that he was tortured and tied behind a
sacrificial bull by pagan priests who tried in vain to convince
him to honour the Roman Emperor (which is where the name
of the rue du Taur originates). Boasting numerous relics, this
basilica that is maintained by canons would become an im-
portant stage on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Com-
postela (situated in Via Tolosana or the road to Arles known
as the GR 653 Arles/Pamplona), which earned it an inscription
on the UNESCO World Heritage list. In 2014, the Association
of Friends of the Ways of St James welcomed 1,250 walkers
and stamped that many “credentials” (pilgrim’s passport) in
Saint-Sernin. The basilica’s octagonal belfry, a masterpiece of
southern medieval art, has served as the template for many
others throughout the region. It also boasts a monumental
organ constructed by one of the leading organ makers of
the XIX Century. A native of the Tarn, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
made over 500 instruments throughout the whole of Europe.
Classed as a Historic Monument, this instrument is one of the
key elements of the Toulouse Les Orgues Festival, which has
been attracting organists from all over the world for the last
20 years to come and play on the city’s twenty or so organs.
The Saint-Raymond museum is the only remaining trace of
the abbey that used to surround the sanctuary in the Middle
Ages, located in the suburb that began to spring up outside
the ramparts of the city.
www.basilique-saint-sernin.fr
http://compostelle-toulouse.com
www.chemins-compostelle.com
http://saintraymond.toulouse.fr
www.toulouse-les-orgues.org
30
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on
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y
al,
pee
©D.Viet
©D.Viet
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©GrainedePastel
©GrainedePastel

In Toulouse, we don’t discard our old buildings. We find a
new purpose for them. The old slaughterhouse of the city,
built in the XIX Century in the Saint-Cyprien quarter, nowa-
days houses a museum of modern art and the region’s
contemporary art fund: Les Abattoirs (www.lesabattoirs.
org). The stock of works acquired by Daniel Cordier, former
secretary of Jean Moulin turned gallery owner, have come to
enrich the collections on the first floor of the large brickwork
nave that hosts numerous temporary exhibitions. Another
enlightened collector has entrusted his favourite works to
the city. Georges Bemberg, a wealthy Argentinian art lover,
decided in 1994 to put on display his tableaux that cover a
vast period in the history of art, from the pre-Renaissance
to the post-Impressionists, in the most remarkable private
mansion in Toulouse. The Hôtel d’Assézat, constructed in
1555 by a rich textile industrialist who made his fortune in
the pastel trade, was entirely renovated in order to house
the thousand works of the Bemberg Foundation (www.
fondation-bemberg.fr). It is also home to the headquarters
of the Académie des Jeux Floraux (established in 1323 and
thought to be the most ancient learned society in Europe:
http://jeuxfloraux.fr).
The venerable Halle aux Grains, built on Place Dupuy in 1861
for the trade in grain that was transported up the Canal
du Midi, which flows just behind it, has become the base
for the Capitole National Orchestra (http://onct.toulouse.fr/
halle-aux-grains). Since 1974 the musicians have gathered
on the site of the old boxing ring, installed when this beau-
tiful building that has the appearance of an arena made of
bricks and stone was transformed into a sports pavilion af-
ter the war. Today, the city plans to establish a new audito-
rium that will house the orchestra in what was the prison of
Saint-Michel, abandoned since 2009.
The tower that rises above the Prairie des Filtres is the for-
mer water tower, the Château d’eau, which has been trans-
formed into a municipal gallery devoted to the photogra-
phy of Jean Dieuzaide (www.galeriechateaudeau.org). The
exhibitions that hang even from the ancient pipework that
is visible on the brick walls are an echo of those that are
accessible free of charge in the bowels of the hydro-elec-
tric plant of the EDF Bazacle, on the right bank of the Ri-
ver Garonne (http://bazacle.edf.com). The old mills from the
Middle Ages no longer produce flour, but the turbines that
are visible behind the glass have been lighting up the city
since 1888. A small panel that is regularly updated lists the
types of migrating fish that travel upstream along the spe-
cially installed water staircase beneath the new panoramic
terrace.
Toulouse, city of culture
and heritage
©EDF-J.-L.Petit
©D.Viet
©D.Viet
31

TOLOPÉDIA
Picasso is back at Les Abattoirs
50 years of donations!
The masterpiece of the collection at Les Abattoirs, the immense stage
curtain created by Pablo Picasso for a theatre piece by Romain Rolland in
1936, is once more on display in 2015 on a wall that was especially reserved
for the purpose. The piece is too fragile to be on permanent display. The
artist had donated his Minotaur dressed as Harlequin to the city in 1965.
www.lesabattoirs.org
Did you know?
A new look for the Jacobins Convent!
After several months of renovation work, the Jacobins Convent (founded by the Dominican
order and the resting place of the relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas) now provides visitors
with a new « welcome and boutique » space within the superb La Vierge chapel, which has
been closed to the public until now and has been recently renovated. Another major new
feature is that, since May 2015, tourists can take advantage of an interpretation trail with
information panels and multi-media stations presenting the history and the architecture of
the site, including the famous « Palm tree ».
The Jacobins Convent still plays host to the Marathon des Mots and the Passe ton Bach
d’abord music festivals in June, as well as the Piano aux Jacobins festival in September.
2015 marks the start of the commemorations for the 8th
centenary of the Dominican order.
www.jacobins.mairie-toulouse.fr
Lightbulbs for the capitals of the Augustins
Jorge Pardo has totally reimagined the look of the capitals at the Augustins Fine Art
Museum. The artist, originally from Cuba, has designed coloured lighting, a geometric floor
and new colonnades for this forest of sculpted stone. Commissioned for the first edition of
the new Toulouse International Art Festival (FIAT), this work took six months to install and
will remain in place until 2016.
www.augustins.org
www.toulouseartfestival.com
The Museum’s Skeleton Wall
Once a year, the 75 skeletons are displayed in dynamic poses behind the 120m long curved
window, surging outwards as if in a film and illuminated by x-rays during Museum Night. This
display is unique in the world, taking years of hard work to achieve, and is one of the stand-
out features of the lengthy programme of extensions and renovations at the Muséum
de Toulouse. After ten years of work, the reopening in December 2007 of this temple to
science, housed since 1796 in the former Carmes convent and now the 2nd
museum in
France, inaugurated the redevelopment of the buildings around the faculty of medicine
and of Paul-Sabatier University (threatened with demolition). In 2015 the spotlight will once
again shine on the allées Jules-Guesde with the relocation of the Federative University of
Toulouse having been announced and the opening of a resource centre for scientific and
technical culture: The Quai des Savoirs.
www.museum.toulouse.fr
www.toulouse-metropole.fr/projets/quartier-des-sciences
Jean Dieuzaide & the Château d’Eau
32
Jean Dieuzaide (1921/2003) is a
photographer from Toulouse who
has devoted his life to promoting his
art. Working in publishing as much
as in advertising, he had his first
photographs published in the press
under the pseudonym of “Yan”. In 1974
he inaugurated in Toulouse the first ever
gallery devoted solely to photography
with an exhibition dedicated to his friend
Robert Doisneau. The sons of Jean
Dieuzaide and the daughters of Robert
Doisneau organised a joint exhibition of
their fathers’ pictures to celebrate the
fortieth anniversary of the Château d’Eau.
The city of Toulouse has committed to
purchasing the funds and archives of the
photographer, stored at present in the
studio next to his home. They should be
put on public display in the Saint-Cyprien
quarter, thanks to the opening of a new
venue dedicated to humanist photography.
www.galeriechateaudeau.org
s
nse stage
w
©D.Viet

Toulouse is without doubt the only city in the
world where the town hall is also an opera
house. The Capitouls who were responsible
for administration in the city at the time of
the Counts of Toulouse (from 1190) chose the
name of what was their common house from
the XII Century onwards. The current building,
constructed in 1759, has eight marble columns
that evoke the memory of these distant
predecessors of the municipal councillors that
each represented a district of the city. These
Capitouls wore long red and black robes, colours
that were later adopted by the Stade Toulousain
rugby club (www.stadetoulousain.fr). The
adjoining theatre has been renovated several
times over the course of history. Temple of the
“bel canto” during the XIX Century, today the
Théâtre du Capitole is a hotbed of opera.
The ﬁrst ﬂoor of Le Capitole is also a “museum”
that is free to visit, and that should not be
overlooked by virtue of its large tableaux
(by Paul Gervais, Henri Martin, Benjamin
Constant…) that cover the walls of the
sumptuous reception rooms , including the
Salle des Illustres, which depicts the major
events in the city’s history. The 29 tableaux
hanging beneath the arcades of the Place du
Capitole since 1997, known as the “Galerue”,
keep alive this tradition. They were created
by Raymond Moretti, the artist who was also
responsible for the large bronze cross adorned
with the twelve signs of the zodiac that was
erected when the square was renovated.
www.theatreducapitole.fr
www.toulouse.fr/web/la-mairie/decouvrir-la-
ville/patrimoine/l-art-dans-la-rue
Le Capitole
33
ville/patrimoine/l-art-dans-la-rue
©VilledeToulouse
©D.Viet
Toulouse, city of culture
and heritage

This great celebration
of music that is
“made in Toulouse”
is also a temporary
village.
hhis grehis g
TOLOPÉDIA
20 years of Rio Loco
Back to the source for this festival established
in 1995 on the banks of the River Garonne.
The Nile, the Danube and the Mississippi are
all invited to come and mingle on the left bank
of Toulouse’s river, just as they were when
this festival of world music was known by its
former name of “Garonne”. Claude Nougaro,
Joan Baez, Jimmy Cliff, Johnny Clegg, Youssou
N’Dour and Paco de Lucia have all performed
on the big stages that are set up on the Prairie
des Filtres as the summer solstice draws near.
The programme aims to bring together the
most iconic artists to have performed here
over the last 20 years. From June 17 to 21,
this great celebration of music that is “made in
Toulouse” is also a temporary village, with its
exhibition pavilions, restaurants and play areas
for children. Screenings of films in the open air,
circus arts performances and installations by
visual artists are also on the agenda. There is
also the return of Senegalese sculptor Ous-
mane Sow, whose Masai warriors and Nouba
fighters were exhibited during the first edition
of the festival on the Pont Neuf.
www.rio-loco.org
34
©C.Picci
©K.Lhémon
©Estudiozoveck

35
Toulouse beats to
the rhythm of live showsOn Thursday at midday there are free concerts. Every
week, musicians turn up around lunch time for a “musical
interlude” that is open to everyone, with no ticket required.
This formula, launched in September 2008 by Joël Saurin,
bassist with local band Zebda, has quickly grabbed the
public’s attention. The eclectic programme attracts a crowd
of curious spectators in the municipal hall of the Sénéchal
in winter and in the courtyard of the Ostal d’Occitania when
the weather is ﬁne (www.cultures.toulouse.fr/thematique/
toulouse-bonsplans/pause-musicale). Music lovers that
are regulars at the Halle aux Grains (http://onct.toulouse.
fr/halle-aux-grains / www.grandsinterpretes.com), a rock
crowd at the Bikini (www.lebikini.com) or French chanson
aﬁcionados at the café-concert hall Le Bijou (www.le-bijou.
net) get together here informally to share a few tunes.
Tugan Sokhiev, the young Russian conductor from Saint-
Petersburg, has quickly won over a public that was
accustomed to following the swing of Michel Plasson’s
baton, the iconic musical director of the Capitole National
Orchestra (http://onct.toulouse.fr/). The band Zebda, hailing
from the northern districts of the city, have succeeded
Claude Nougaro in singing with a Toulouse accent all over
France. The combination of cultures is a hallmark in the
city of Bombes 2 Bal and the out of the ordinary Fabulous
Trobadors, a duo of so-called “tchatcheurs” and originators
of “patois rap” that are managed by Claude Sicre (http://
escambiar.com/). The love of lyrics and the taste for rhythm
have inspired “No Landais” singer Dick Annegarn (http://
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Annegarn) to follow this lead in
organising “poetic jousts” that are improvised on the Place
du Capitole. Perched on a stepladder and armed with a
megaphone, anybody can recite a few verses or a piece of
prose, just as it was with the ancient eloquence contests
that were held in the times of the troubadours.
The young musicians of the band Cats on Trees (http://
catsontrees.com/) or the singer Manu Galure (www.
manugalure.com) have taken up the mantle of their
predecessors, the thunderous Juliette (http://juliette.
artiste.universalmusic.fr/) or Jean-Pierre Mader (www.
jeanpierremader.com), King of the Charts on the FM radio
during the 1980’s.
We also dance the tango in the streets of Toulouse once
the summer arrives. Since 2009, the Tangopostale festival
(www.tangopostale.com), founded by around twenty
associations of enthusiasts of this Argentinian musical
genre, organises open-air balls in the city of Carlos Gardel’s
birth, a veritable “star” in South America. In honour of this
son of a washer woman from the rue des Sept-Troubadours
who had to emigrate to the pavements of Buenos Aires in
1892, the Tourist Office has dedicated a touristic itinerary to
him (www.cultures.toulouse.fr/-/un-itineraire-sur-les-pasde
-carlos-gardel). In homage to another great, the Tourist
Office offers guided visits “in the footsteps of Nougaro”,
from the house where he was born on boulevard d’Arcole
right up to the mural of him that was painted by Raymond
Moretti under the arcades of Le Capitole and his statue
close to Le Donjon that was sculpted by Sébastien Langloÿs
(inaugurated in 2014 / www.sculpture-nougaro.com and
www.assonougaro.com).
©Tangopostale-D.Mayoussier
© K. Lhémon
© Ville de Toulouse - P. Nin

TOLOPÉDIATOLOPÉ
Nougaro is still with us
The Claude-Nougaro Hall was inaugurated during his lifetime by the
great Toulousain singer himself. Open to everyone, this concert hall
belonging to the Airbus work’s council programmes jazz and French
chanson performances. Cécile, the daughter to whom this artist
dedicated a very famous song, opened the Maison Nougaro in 2015. It
is at the same time a floating stage, a living museum and a riverside
café in memory of her father, located on the Sanctanox canal barge
that is moored at the Port de l’Embouchure on the Canal du Midi.
http://sallenougaro.com
www.maison-nougaro.fr
Did you know?
A circus education
The Lido circus school celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2013 in its new home in the green area
of Les Argoulets. Initially based at a local neighbourhood cinema, this municipal school is open to
amateurs and professionals alike. The circus artists can also put on performances at La Grainerie de
Balma, on the other side of the ring road (easily accessible by metro).
www.circolido.fr
www.la-grainerie.net
L’Usine: the show factory
The spectacular street performance machines by François Delarozières are dreamed up in
Tournefeuille (in the suburbs of Toulouse), in a workshop that this artist and engineer wished to
maintain when the Royal de Luxe troupe moved to Nantes. Other street theatre companies are
housed in L’Usine, a performance venue that is also home to troupes in residence.
www.lusine.net
www.lamachine.fr/visite-des-ateliers
The monthly flea market in Toulouse
On the first weekend of every month, from Friday to Sunday, 120 professional stallholders take over
the space beneath the plane trees of the allées François-Verdier, in between the Monument to the
Fallen and the Grand-Rond. It is a rendezvous that delights bargain hunters, who happily combine it
with a visit to the museums, free on the first Sunday of every month (now free every weekend for
Toulouse residents).
www.toulouse.fr/-/vide-greniers
The Rotation association floated the idea of
a free festival dedicated to electronic music
in 2001. The very first Siestes Electroniques
were held on the Prairie des Filtres, and
later in the Raymond VI gardens with the
support of the Les Abattoirs contemporary art
museum. The festival has also made use of
disused churches, the Théâtre Garonne or the
former halls of La Cartoucherie, before being
exported to Egypt, Japan, Berlin and Paris. This
Toulousain association has been involved for
four years with the Musée Branly and has also
launched a revue devoted to Pop music
In the same spirit, since 2010 the Saint-
Raymond museum has hosted a festival that
brings together contemporary art installations
and antique statues. The Jardins Synthétiques
clears out other unusual exhibition spaces for
each edition, such as the chapel of the former
Carmelite convent.
www.les-siestes-electroniques.com
www.jardins-synthetiques.org
Electronic Siestas and Synthetic Gardens
36
©K.Lhémon
©K.Lhémon

37
The gateway to France for Hispanic culture, Toulouse
also celebrates flamenco every year on the banks of the
Garonne. The “Toulouse l’Espagnole” Festival most notably
celebrated 70 years of the “Retirada” in 2009 at the Port
Viguerie, which was renamed the “Republican Exiles quay”
especially for the occasion (www.cultures.toulouse.fr/-/
toulouse-l-espagno-1).
Just like the photographs that are on display outdoors or
in unexpected venues during the “Mois de l’image” in
September, the street performances and circus festivals
come thick and fast whatever the season. This adds to the
offer provided by the 27 theatres that are dotted across the
city. In 2014, young acrobats and tightrope walkers decided
it would be fun to restage, 60 years after the event, the
famous photograph by Jean Dieuzaide that immortalised
in black and white the marriage of two tightrope walkers
at the Place du Capitole in 1954. The crossing of circus arts
and theatre has led to the creation of numerous street
performance companies, which take to the streets across
France and sometimes even further afield. The success of
the 111 company belonging to Aurélien Bory (www.cie111.
com), a stage director with the precision of a choreographer
who was trained at the Circus Arts Centre of Toulouse that is
known as Le Lido (www.circolido.fr), illustrates perfectly the
new forms of performance art created by this overlapping
of cultures that makes Toulouse bubble with life.
The renaissance of the carnival
The Toulouse Carnival was ready for the fortieth edition of its
new incarnation, which took place on 28th March to 4th April
2015. More than 100,000 people took part in the grand parade
that brought colour to the last event, with the ritual burning
of the effigy of M.Carnaval and his fat cigar on the allées Jean-
Jaurès. Toulousain artists make a new giant statue every year
that is destined to be burned at the end of the cortege, whilst
the districts, the associations and the larger schools prepare
floats and costumes. President since 2012 of the C.O.C.U that
organises this major popular event, Julien Laffont took over from
his father, who today is a lawyer but was formerly the head of the
University’s Carnival Organisation Committee, bringing life to the
city’s streets in the 1980’s, prior to a long winter of almost twenty
years.
It is worth noting that Claude Nougaro was King of the Carnival
of Toulouse in 1987 and performed a song on that occasion whilst
perched on the roof of Le Capitole.
www.carnavaldetoulouse.fr
Toulouse beats to the
rhythm of live shows
©K.Lhémon
©D.Viet
©VilledeToulouse-P.Nin©VilledeToulouse-P.Nin

C’est de la Danse Contemporaine
(CDC, January/February)
www.cdctoulouse.com
Fête de la Violette (February)
www.toulouse-tourisme.com
Zoom Arrière (March)
www.lacinemathequedetoulouse.
Le Printemps du Rire comedy festival
(March)
www.printempsdurire.com
WEAC weekend of contemporary art –
PinkPong network (March)
www.pinkpong.fr/evenements
Carnival of Toulouse (March/April)
www.carnavaldetoulouse.fr
Flamenco Festival of Toulouse (April)
www.festival-ﬂamenco-toulouse.fr
Made in Asia (April/May)
Toulouse International Art Festival
(FIAT – biannually/May)
www.toulouseartfestival.com
Museum Night (May)
www.nuitdesmusees.culture.fr
Caravane de cirques circus festival
(May/June)
www.la-grainerie.net
Passe ton Bach d’abord! (June)
www.baroquetoulouse.com
Marathon des Mots literary festival
(June)
www.lemarathondesmots.com
Rio Loco music festival (June)
www.rio-loco.org
Toulouse en piste street performance
festival (June)
www.culturemouvements.org/
Fête de la Musique (21st June)
www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr
Siestes Électroniques (June/July)
www.les-siestes-electroniques.com
Tangopostale tango festival (June/
July)
www.tangopostale.com
38
The unmissable rendezvous in Toulouse
al
ance
fr
y)
s com
©D.Viet

14th July
www.toulouse-tourisme.com
Toulouse d’été music festival
(July/August)
www.toulousedete.org
Cinema in the open air (July/August)
www.lacinemathequedetoulouse.com
Toulouse Plages (July/August)
www.toulouse.fr/web/sports/
toulouse-plages
Festoval rugby festival (September)
www.toulouse.fr/web/sports/grands-
rdv-sportifs/rugby
Heritage Days (September)
www.journeesdupatrimoine.culture.fr
Piano aux Jacobins festival
(September)
www.pianojacobins.com
On Cartoon, the festival (September)
http://festival.on.cartoon.free.fr/
Toulouse à Table food festival
(September)
www.toulouseatable.com
Mois de l’Image photography festival
(MAP, ManifestO,Biz’art Populaire…/
September) www.map-photo.fr
www.festival-manifesto.org
www.bizartpop.com
Festival Occitania (September /
October)
www.festivaloccitania.com
Cinespaña Spanish ﬁlm festival
(October)
www.cinespagnol.com
Toulouse les Orgues organ music
festival (October)
www.toulouse-les-orgues.org
Jardins synthétiques art festival
(October)
www.jardins-synthetiques.org
Des Étoiles et des Ailes – Stars and
Wings festival (November)
www.desetoilesetdesailes.com
Christmas entertainment (December)
www.toulouse.fr/web/la-mairie/
grands-evenements/festivites-
de-ﬁn-d-annee
39
©D.Viet

© D. Viet© D. Viet
19 French
championship titles
and 4 European
Cups.
h
TOLOPÉDIA
Stade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain is a club that covers all
sports, born out of the merger of the city’s
student clubs in 1907. The rugby team of
this club is the most famous and the most
successful, with 19 French championship
titles and 4 European Cups to date. The club
owns its own stadium, demolished in 1980
when the Ponts-Jumeaux bypass was built.
Reconstructed a few hundred metres away,
in the Sept-Deniers quarter, it bears the name
of Ernest Wallon, professor of law and director
of the club who invested 10,000 francs in
order to purchase the 7ha plot that was the
site of the ﬁrst stadium. The rugby club grew
in the traditional way and wearing the red
and black strip (in honour of the Capitouls).
It boasts 29 international players among its
ranks, 17 of which have been selected for the
French national team (2014/2015 season).
The Brasserie du Stade welcomes amateur
gourmets and supporters of all nationalities.
Among others, the club has opened boutiques
on rue Alsace-Lorraine in Toulouse and at
Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, selling products
related to the club. It has the biggest budget
of any Top 14 club (€35million in 2014). Its
training centre, opened in 1988, welcomes 24
trainees that play alongside the professional
team and the club’s associative teams. The
women’s team of Fonsorbes joined with
Stade Toulousain in 2014. The club also took
in the Blagnac baseball team (ex-Tigers) in
2004. The Tourist Office offers regular guided
visits entitled “Allez le Stade!” to help visitors
immerse themselves into the heart of the
melee.
www.stadetoulousain.fr
40
©D.Viet

41
Toulouse, capital
of the Oval Ball
414
Every year, the Place du Capitole transforms into a giant
rugby ﬁeld. The turf and the posts of Festoval (a fun rugby
event/www.toulouse.fr/web/sports/grands-rdv-sportifs/
rugby) remind everyone that Toulouse is the French capital
of the oval ball. The Gods of Stade are certainly from Tou-
louse when it comes to rugby, but the “Red and Blacks” are
not the only rugby gods in this land. If the players of Stade
Toulousain have already taken the Brennus Shield onto
the balcony of the mayor’s office in Le Capitole 19 times as
French champions, their rugby league counterparts from
Toulouse Olympique had the honour of plastering their
names across the façade of the town hall in 2014 (www.
to13.com). The rugby league club took home a league and
cup double. The semi-professional team also has its sights
set on Europe and has already abandoned the French
championship in order to test itself against the elite clubs
in Britain. Following the lead of the Catalan Dragons of Per-
pignan, the TO XIII hopes to join the Super League cham-
pionship after development work on their historic stadium
in the Minimes quarter has been completed, raising the ca-
pacity of the Stade Arnauné to 12,000, all seated.
On the île du Ramier, the Stadium is already undergoing re-
novation. This stadium, which regularly hosts the football
matches of Toulouse Football Club (known as TFC and foun-
ded in 1937), has been put in line with UEFA regulations and
will be able to hold 33,500 spectators by the time of the
2016 European Championships (www.tfc.info / www.uefa.
com). The city’s largest sporting facility is often compared
to a miniature version of the old Wembley Stadium in Lon-
don. It hosts prestigious matches (European cup, Top 14) for
Stade Toulousain. It will also host major open-air concerts
after its rebuilding works are completed at the end of 2015.
The construction of the Stadium started in 1937 in the wake
of the building of the Nakache swimming pool by the city’s
architect, Jean Montauriol, who was also responsible for the
ﬁrst low cost housing estates (HBM) in Toulouse. Swimmers
from the Dauphins du TOEC club, who come here to train
in all seasons, are to the history of swimming what Stade
Toulousain is to rugby (www.lesdauphinsdutoec.com). The
club, who became independent from the TOEC Omni sports
club in 1938, boasts 280 French championship medals and
400 national records. It has over 2000 members, including
a great many athletes that are regularly selected for the
Olympic Games.
4141
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015.
ake
y’s
the
ers
ain
de
The
rts
nd
ng
the
©D.Viet
© D. Viet
©VilledeToulouse

TOLOPÉDIA
Oxford/Cambridge
on the Garonne
Organised for the first time in 2013 between the Pont Neuf and
the Pont Saint-Pierre, the Garona Cup brings together more than
500 rowers from the universities and great schools of the city. This
new sporting challenge may, one day, be considered alongside the
legendary race that pitches the universities of Oxford and Cambridge
against one another on the River Thames.
http://garonacup.com
Did you know?
Water skiing without a boat
Established in an old quarry to the north of the city, the Sesquières water sports centre is equipped
with a water-ski cableway that delights fans of wake-boarding, knee-boarding and water skiing
from April to the end of October. Enthusiasts are welcome and equipment can be hired on site.
www.teleskitoulouse.com
Wild River and Nature
Based at a camp site in Merville, just before Toulouse, Patrice Sanchez, a canoe-kayak (and even
Dragon Boat) excursion guide looks for new discovery trails along the watercourses of the area.
Get active, discover, feel and learn is also the credo of Granhòta, who offer a link between sport
and nature on the doorstep of Toulouse (trails, Nordic walking, climbing, canoeing, mountain biking,
orienteering or urban rally’s in the centre of Toulouse), with half-day, after work or instructional
courses all available.
www.canoe-garonne.com
www.granhota.fr
The Nakache swimming pool is a monumental
ensemble of buildings that includes five pools,
constructed from 1931 to 1936 on the Ile du
Ramier in the middle of the River Garonne. Its
great 150m long summer pool, with its
“cascade” running over rocks, was the
precursor to the “Toulouse Plages” event at
the time of the Front Populaire. This hygienic
pool was built in order to provide swimming
facilities to as many people as possible, whilst
the swimming club at the start of the century
based itself at the Canal de Brienne or at a
floating pool that was moored on the River
Garonne at the quai de Tounis. The Dauphins
du TOEC club has trained in the Castex pool
since 1936, an 50m open-air Olympic pool.
The whole of this aquatic complex, rounded off
by the large building that houses a covered
pool, gymnasium and a great hall for municipal
events (salle Mermoz), bears the name of
Alfred Nakache, a former champion of the
Dauphins who was deported to Auschwitz.
Built by the Public Office for Low-Cost Housing,
the pool was part of a bigger ensemble that
covered 25ha and was christened the “parc
toulousain”, which was intended to be the
equivalent of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.
The pool and its curious façade, decorated with
a sort of concrete minaret, were classified as
Historic Monuments in 1993.
www.toulouse.fr/web/sports/piscines
The Nakache swimming pool
42

43
The departure of the Toulouse Métropole Marathon, which
boasts the international label awarded by the French
Athletics Federation, is traditionally held on the Pont
Pierre-de-Coubertin that links the Stadium and the Nakache
swimming pool (www.marathon-toulousemetropole.fr). The
route of this marathon, which gathers over 6,000 runners,
crosses 5 communes of the north of the metropolitan area
before reaching the Place du Capitole. To mark the occasion,
the turf laid for fans of rugby is replaced by a pink carpet.
For lovers of other varieties of team sports, rendezvous
at the André-Brouat sports centre in the Compans-Caffa-
relli quarter, close to the Pierre-Baudis conference centre.
Since 2006, after having been entirely rebuilt, it hosts the
matches of Fenix Toulouse Handball Club (www.fenix-tou-
louse.fr/3 of its players – Cyril Dumoulin, Jérôme Fernandez
and Valentin Porte – were part of the French team that be-
came world champions in 2015) as well as Spacer’s du Tou-
louse Volley-Ball Club (www.spacerstoulouse.fr). This mul-
ti-sports centre also boasts an innovative architecture: the
façades are entirely made of glass and the roof has been
covered with plants by architects Jean Guervilly and Puig
Pujol, helping to improve the heat insulation properties and
reducing noise for residents of the riverside areas.
Close to the city centre, easily accessible by
tramway, the Hippodrome de Toulouse welcomes
horseracing enthusiasts to its leafy 34-hectare site
(www.hippodrome-toulouse.com). With over 380
races every year, its programme makes it France’s
3rd racecourse, and its infrastructure allows it to
compete with the biggest and the best. Visitors par-
ticularly like the restaurant facilities, the reception
areas and, not forgetting, the festive and free the-
med soirees that are perfect for families.
y
s
e
0
s
o
r-
n
e-
84 holes in the grass
The Toulouse urban area boasts 8 golf courses across 7 different
sites. The Golf de Seilh, somewhere between Toulouse and
Grenada, has two 18-hole courses covering 140 hectares. It
regularly gathers the elite of the European golf tour for the
Toulouse Métropole Open, sponsored by Allianz. The historic
course for the golfers of Toulouse can be found on the borders
of Old Toulouse, with an unbeatable view over the city. In the
direction of the Tarn, the Palmola golf club was designed by an
English architect on the edge of the Forest of Buzet and the
Téoula course is located in Plaisance-du-Touch, in the direction of
Gers. The only course actually inside Toulouse was established
around La Ramée Lake, on a common green area of Toulouse,
Tournefeuille and Cugnaux. Two 9-hole courses in Drémil-Lafarge
(Estolosa) and Montrabé (Saint-Gabriel) complete the offer.
www.toulouse-visit.com/interested-in/leisure
Toulouse, sporting city
©J.Hociné
©MercureToulouseGolfdeSeilh
© D. Viet

Toulouse is a
benchmark with
regards to scientific
business travel.
TOLOPÉDIA
Competitiveness Hubs and Labex
(Laboratories par excellence)
Toulouse boasts 4 competitiveness hubs, one of
which is world class:
• Aerospace Valley, the global hub for
Aeronautics- Space – On-board systems (120,000
employed in the industry, 8,500 researchers/
www.aerospace-valley.com),
• The Cancer-Organic-Health Hub (3500
researchers/www.cancerbiosante.fr),
• The South-West Agricultural Innovation Hub
(5,000 employed in R & D, 121 laboratories/www.
agrisudouest.com),
• The Global Water Use Mission (present in
Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrénées and
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, €72.5 million of
projects financed/www.pole-eau.com)
The scientific and university communities
in Toulouse also boast 7 Labex, including
CIMI (mathematics/www.cimi.univ-toulouse.
fr), Toulouse White Biotechnology (www.
toulousewhite-biotechnology.com), Tulip
(environmental impact/www.labex-tulip.fr),
TOUCAN (cancer/www.labex-toucan.fr), Institute
for Advanced Study in Toulouse managed by
Jean Tirole (Nobel Laureate for Economics 2014/
www.iast.fr).
The competitiveness hubs position themselves
in terms of R & D and technological innovation,
relying on a close cooperation between public
research and private business. This research
and innovation ecosystem and the presence of
numerous advanced technology companies make
Toulouse a benchmark with regards to scientific
business travel.
Did you know?
ESOF: Toulouse, European City of Science in 2018
Toulouse proudly bears the title of “European City of Science” in 2018 by welcoming the European
science meeting EuroScience Open Forum, to be held for the very first time in France.
www.euroscience.org
www.esof.eu/media-room/press-releases/press-release/toulouse-organizes-esof-2018.html
44
e
4/
s
,
f
ake
c
©P.Nin-LaNovela
©Diagora
© Espaces Vanel

The European capital of the aeronautics and space industry,
headquarters of Airbus Industries, Toulouse is proud of its
place as a destination par excellence in terms of research
and of innovation, recently awarded the French Tech label
(www.frenchtechtoulouse.com). In 4 years, Toulouse has
experienced a meteoric rise as a congress city in the latest
league table published in 2013 by ICCA: 79th
at world level,
42nd
in Europe and 3rd
in France!
This destination has known how to innovate when it comes
to business travel thanks to its distinctive positioning
brought about by the So Toulouse Convention Bureau
that values unity and synergy in terms of all the supplier
partners that operate within this sector (www.so-toulouse.
com). In fact, this body has reorganised and federated the
sector since its inception in 2009. A telling factor is that
Toulouse launched the Alliance GSCA (The Global Science
& Convention Alliance) at the end of 2011 in order to unite
the convention bureaus of Adelaide (Australia), Hyderabad
(India), Daejeon (Korea) and Prague (Czech Republic), sharing
the same scientific positioning on itinerant congresses.
In addition to the current facilities, the future establishment
of a new exhibition park (70,000m² of built-up surface area
and 40,000m² of outdoor exhibition space) should confirm
how accessible Toulouse has become for the major congress
and corporate events market (www.toulousemetropole.fr/
projets).
Among the destination’s major projects, Aerospace Valley
and the Montaudran Aerospace hub will occupy 355,000m²
and bring together 2 research centres in the fields of
aeronautics, space and on-board systems. In terms of the
Cancer-Organic-Health Hub, as well as a new conference
centre on the site of Purpan Hospital, Toulouse boasts a
major European centre for the fight against cancer: the
Oncopole, unique in France (www.oncopoletoulouse.com).
Inaugurated in November 2014, it brings under one roof the
private and public sectors, research, care and teaching.
Since January 2015, Aeroscopia, the new museum dedicated
to aeronautic and scientific discovery that is home to some
legendary aircraft, completes the incentive travel offer with
an unusual 506m² events space that can be privatised in
the evenings (www.musee-aeroscopia.fr).
45
Toulouse Convention Bureau:
the congress, seminar and incentive industry
the evenings (www.musee-aeroscopia.fr).
So Toulouse Convention Bureau:
A one-stop service for event organisers!
Before your event:
• Help with venue finding and sourcing suppliers
• Assistance contacting the relevant professionals
• Organisation of study trips
• New tool dedicated to requests: “Intranet Client”
During your event:
• Mobile Application
• Supply plans and documents
• Access to an image database in order to illustrate the
event support materials
• Dedicated signage at the reception sites
After your event:
• Satisfaction survey via the app
So Toulouse Convention Bureau
Arche Marengo - Allée Jacques-Chaban-Delmas
31500 Toulouse
Tel: +33 5 81313020/Email: infos@so-toulouse.com
www.so-toulouse.com
©VIBArchitecture-S.Chalmeau
© VIB Architecture - S. Chalmeau

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