We had a little apartment for our wonderful week in Toulouse in the Saint Cyprien district on the gauche side of the Garonne river, which according to the apartment owner used to be a very poor area and is now known as ‘bo-bo’ (bourgeois-bohemium) and a ‘champagne-socialist’ area – I like the connotations of this last phrase and I would be happy to embrace a champagne-socialist society if it means free champagne for all! We had the most delicious Cyprien boulangerie around the corner where we’d grab our daily baguette and raspberry tart after our morning run along the Tarn river and then at night we had the inexpensive, egalitarian Chez Jazz cafe for the plat du jour/soir at a shared table with the locals.
Saint Cyprien district photos
We started our stay in Toulouse with a ‘Historical walking tour’ with Guru walks and a Scottish guide called Harry who imparted his 4 years of research for his spy novel set in Toulouse on us over 3 hours wandering through the town. It was a great introduction to Toulouse and enriched our experience of the town. Here’s some of the titbits we learnt, along with some info from plaques and tourist brochures.
The architecture:
Toulouse is nicknamed the ‘pink city’ because of the terracotta bricks harvested locally to build the town. It’s more of a salmon pinky-orange than rose pink and the hues come out in the late afternoon sun. Back when the city was built between the 11th and 13th century, the only locally available material to build with was bricks which the Romans made from the red-pink clay found in the nearby hills of Jolimont and Pece-David. They built the Basilica Saint-Sernin (a UNESCO site and the largest Romanesque church in France) and the Jacobins Convent (built as a school for training inquisitors – a.k.a torturers) these were both early examples of large structures built entirely with terracotta brick stone.
At the time, limestone was considered the more valuable stone, and it was a sign of status if you could build part or all of your home/church/structure using limestone. It was thought that if you could afford to cart limestone all the way to Toulouse to use in your construction then you must be wealthy! As status was all important then (as sadly it is to some still now) people began to add limestone features to their existing terracotta dwellings (like the arch over the entrance to Jacobins cloisters above) or in window frames or as base blocks.
In the 15th century the trend for building houses was to adopt the English Tudor style. As Toulouse was always interested in economical construction, they embraced this architectural style. The frames were made from timber, the walls from dung and straw and the roofs from thatch. As the only form of heating and cooking was fire it is no surprise that most of the houses burnt down. It became illegal to build in the Tudor style – although a few have been retained around the city as a nod to history.
The more affluent residents of Toulouse built ‘hôtel particuliers’ to replace their Tudor homes – these large ‘apartment’ style homes were made with the more fire-resistant terracotta bricks. They had a single solid gate entrance and a balcony on second floor so they could see from above who was calling and internal gardens that grew their own food and had their own water wells. So, they were self-sufficient and secure if the city was invaded. About 200 of these ‘hotels ‘were built by nobility around Toulouse and many are still standing and have been converted into apartments (see 3rd pic above). Some feature tall towers (see first pic. above) as it was deemed that the higher your building was the higher your status was (like those star-reaching spires on churches). These towers were often built so high and thin they posed a danger of toppling so they restricted who could build a tower on top of their ‘hôtel particulier’ to the mayors of the town.
The last commentary on architecture is the abundance of 16th century Georgian architecture – such as the ‘striped’ Le Capital in Capital Square, the Pont Neuf and The Archive tower and the Hôtel de Guillaume de Bernuy – all good examples.
Industries that made Toulouse wealthy and famous
Toulouse is a savvy city that has been at the forefront of innovation and industry for centuries. In the 16th century they set themselves up in the dye making industry and grew rich from making pastel dye from the plant Istis Inctoria. Dubbed, ‘blue gold’ pastel was used a bit like limestone in buildings, to symbolise status. If you painted your shutters in pastel, had cushions or drapes in your home dyed with pastel or wore pastel dyed garments, it was a sign you had wealth end ergo, status.
Pics of examples of blue pastel features and the Violet products
The dye extracted from the plant is the same dye chemical extracted for Indigo from the plant indigofera tinctoria grown in India. Fierce competition brewed between the Indian plant’s indigo dye and the European pastel one and laws were passed in some parts of Europe to protect the pastel industry from the competition of the indigo trade. In France, Henri IV, in an edict of 1609, forbade under pain of death, the use of “the false and pernicious Indian drug” and Napoleon decried that all the uniforms of his army should be dyed using pastel.
In a related way, at least colour wise, another industry that made Toulouse rich was violets. The French noticed that Italy was profiting from the violet trade and explored if the plant could be grown locally – and it could! The variety called the Parma from Northern Italy was imported into France by a soldier in Napolean III army in 1850. The urban myth says an officer brought home a violet to his fiancée in Toulouse from his travels in Parma, Italy. Violets have heart shaped petals and symbolise decency and modesty – offering someone a bouquet of violets says: “I secretly love you”. There are more than 300 species of violet grown in Toulouse now – and as the violet only propagates with human intervention (kinda like IVF for plants) it is a precious plant indeed. Shops around Toulouse sell violets in variety of forms: delicacies, decoration, fragrances, textiles and cosmetics…and the purple hue is only slightly darker than the famous pastel blue that made Toulouse so wealthy in the 1600s!
Canal du midi: In the17-18th century Toulouse became immensely wealthy when they built the 242 km long canal that connected Toulouse to the Mediterranean- which enabled ships to avoid the Strait of Gibraltar which was notorious for pirates that routinely ransacked ships and stole their load. Dug with shovels and pickaxes by thousands of workers for 14 years from 1667 to 1681, the canal transported people and goods safely – and charged highly for it. The luxury goods merchants became the only ones who could afford to use the canal and many Chateaus were built at the ports were the taxes were collected for using the canal.
The arrival of the train unfortunately shut the canal trade down – although it still carried freight until the 1980s. Now it’s only used for pleasure and tourist boats. We took a 90-minute cruise down the canal and through three of the locks which was a good way to see the city from the canal and learn more about this amazing engineering feat!
Aviation: Toulouse has a long, rich association with the aviation industry. The army commissioned Clément Ader, an engineer from Toulouse to build the fist aircraft in 1890. During the First World War, Pierre-Georges Latécoère mass-produced military aircraft in Toulouse and when the war ended, he converted them into civilian and delivery transport. In 1921, Émile Dewoitine created a company dedicated to building fighter aircraft which was nationalised in 1937, and later, integrated into the group now known as Airbus. The city has three aviation-museum-experiences: L’envol des Pionniers (The flight of the Pioneers) museum, Aeroscopia Museum where you can board a Concorde (we tried to go here but the trams were on strike!), and Cité de l`Espace – where you can board a rocket ship! Our tour guide told us a story about the Toulouse pilots during WWII which I can’t verify but sounds plausible so will repeat it here as it was quite fascinating – apparently Toulouse had the largest concentration of pilots (700) in Europe given their aeronautical industry and when the Germans occupied France, they headed straight to Toulouse to capture all the pilots to prevent them from flying for the allies. The French Resistance hid all 700 pilots in a small church for 6 months, sneaking them out by 4-6 at a time to cross the border to safety.
Sites not to miss in Toulouse
There’s a great numbered walking map of Toulouse available at the Tourist bureau – which is in the old DonJohn – a site to see in itself. This is a much easier way to find out what to see than have me list it all here. However I will mention a few highlights:
We enjoyed wandering the heart of the old town from Place du Capitole to Esquirol along the pedestrian only streets (watch out for scooters and cyclists!) exploring the shops and restaurants as we went. Just next to Esquirol, the Carmes district has lots of cute narrow, curved streets and orange facades. In the Middle Ages it was the district of trades as the street names suggest rue des Couteliers (cutlers), rue des Marchands (merchants), rue des Filatiers (spinners) etc. An interesting side note: the streets bear two names – one in French and the other in the l’occitane dialect, the language of the Troubadours who were the travelling story-teller/performers, (kinda like the internet/social media of today) sharing ‘news’ from town to town.
Toulouse has plenty of great food markets – here’s a list of the biggest ones.
- Marché Victor Hugo – we had lunch here after our ‘historical tour’ and loved the vibe. People standing around shucking oysters, sipping rosé and breaking baguettes.
- the Marché des Carmes – we shopped for our picnic here early Friday morning and found the food displayed was fabulous.
- The Marché Saint-Cyprien – our local market close to where we stayed, this is a smaller market but has some great produce.
- The Marché Cristal – we didn’t visit this one but hear its big and bustling!
There’s plenty of amazing boulangeries and viennoiseries (pastry shops in the ‘Vienna’ style) and patisseries all over Toulouse. Interestingly, the pain au chocolate (chocolate croissant) is called a chocolatine here. As Toulouse is a tourist town it also has a lot of cheap, fast food – called French Tacos. Despite the Mexican namesake, French tacos are not tacos – but what we call in Australia a wrap, using a pita bread or a flour tortilla, slathered with condiments, piled with meat (usually halal) and other things (often French fries), doused in cheese sauce, folded into a rectangular packet, and then toasted on a grill. So, a cross between panini, kebab, and burrito. Tacos shops might also serve kebabs and rice dishes, are often Halal, alcohol free and populated with mostly men.
The people of Toulouse
Toulouse was originally a Catholic stronghold, and the town has a very chequered history with the Pope resprting to some pretty nasty tactics to maintain Catholicism in the region – particularly in the 11th – 13th century when it was threatened by a sect called the Cathars. The Cathars had ‘perfects’ (like monks – no meat, no sex etc.) and ‘believers’ – the latter had equal male and female status, and everyone was encouraged to become literate (unheard of at the time when literacy was only for religious leaders and nobility to ‘control’ populations.) The Pope tried many ways to quash the Cathars. He built the massive Jacobins Convent in Toulouse and filled it with thousands of Monks and trained them to be ‘inquisitors’ (forget the Spanish inquisition, apparently it all started here!) and sent them on a mission to convert the Cathars to Catholicism and if they refused, to torture them into submission. The inquisition training schools the Pope built are now the Colleges and universities of Toulouse, and some might say they are still being used for torture! Toulouse has more students than any other city in France (except Montpellier) and of the 1.3M population – 250,000 are students. It’s considered one of the most affordable places to study in France and people come here for all over the world to study making it a very multi-cultural town.
The Parks of Toulouse
There are many beautiful, verdant, flower-filled gardens in Toulouse. They are well maintained and in Spring looked beautiful. We ran/walked through the trio below – that are all connected, numerous times and loved the different layouts and plants in each.
- Jardin des Plantes – lots of beautiful garden beds and a little kiosk for coffee.
- Grand Rond – a beautiful historic park with winding paths, rolling lawns, and a beautiful gazebo. There’s a large fountain in the center, with a beautiful flower garden surrounding it.
- Jardin Royal This small garden has well-manicured lawns and vibrant flowers. And a central fountain with ducks.
- Jardin japonais – this pretty garden set out in Japanese fashion with pergolas, painted bridges, raked stones and a lake is trés tranquile. It’s a bit out of the old town -tucked up behind the Université Toulouse.
- Parc de la Poudrerie du Ramier – this ‘natural’ park on Ramier island in the middle of the Garonne river has meandering paths that take you past the old ruins of the Powder Mill where they made explosives.
Around Toulouse: Hill towns and villages of note.
We enjoyed driving out to the pretty villages peppered around Toulouse and highly recommend these for a day trip or two.
Auch (pronounced Orsh) – 1 hour west of Toulouse lies this super pretty hilltop town with one of the biggest and most beautiful cathedrals we’d seen sitting smack bang in the centre of the old town.
The Cathedral Saint-Marie is a UNESCO listed cathedral and is 100 metres tall and 35 metres wide and is flanked by two big beautiful towers and ornate gold rimmed gates. Also of not in town is the Hôtel de France, run by the famous French chef, André Daguin (he invented the dish Canard de Margret) and the Eglise Saint Jerome Cuzin – with a very pretty flowered terrace to sit on and gaze over the valley.
Carcassonne – everyone knows this famous town as its a picture perfect example of a fortified town still in good nick. It was our third visit in thirty years and unfortunately whilst the town structurally is still gobsmackingly beautiful, it has been spoiled by a plethora of cheap touristy trinket stores, and too many candy, ice-cream and crepe shops on every corner. We were there on a wet week-day in late April and it was crowded – I’d hate to see it in summer.
We parked at the base and walked up and loved the windy little streets and pretty squares and views from the wall (you have to pay to walk on a tiny section of the wall now) and had a picnic sheltering under the eaves of the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire.
Four fabulous fortified towns within an hour of Toulouse
Later in the week we did a quadruple medieval town loop taking in these four amazing ‘Les plus Beaux Villages de France’. They were all old ‘bastides’ or fortified towns built in the 13th and 14th century. They also featured a distinct style of Tudor homes with timber batons and creamy coloured bricks. The churches in these towns are very ornate inside with deep blue and gold ceilings and richly coloured murals and stained-glass windows. They are located in the wine appellation of Gaillac and we bought a nice local bottle of red called Florent which has a mix of Syrah, Braucol and Merlot. These towns have an earthy feel about them with softer caramel colours with pops of burgundy and tan on teh sgguters or eaves – my kind of colours! We started with the smallest town first and worked our way up to the largest.
Puycelsi (pop. 450) – nicknamed ‘fortress in the woods’ this little gem of a medieval town is perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Grésigne Forest. We found a petite maison for sale built into the walls of the old town right above the main porte and were very tempted!
Sal turrets, Mainson vendre and Tudor houses
Cordes–sur-Ciel (pop. 950) – nicknamed the ‘town in the sky’ with its name literally meaning ‘rocky heights in the sky’ it sits atop a 320 m high hill and has amazing views on a clear day. The town was established by wealthy traders and signs of their wealth can be seen in the ornate architecture with lots of gothic decorated arches and doorways and there’s beautiful gardens and of course, churches too.
Castelnau-de-Montmiral (pop. 1050) This is a really well-preserved town sitting on a hill overlooking the Vere river valley. The highlight here is the central square – the Place des Arcades which is rimmed by medieval houses in the Tudor style and a stone pilori.
Albi – one of the oldest bastides in the Tarn (founded in 1222) and known as the red city, due to the abundance of red brick used in construction, this townis nestled on a ridge overlooking the Tarn river. The centre-piece here is the imposing Saint-Cecile cathedral – the highest brick monument in the world. What strikes you is just how high the base of the church is – built to be defensible and austere – it belies the rich beauty inside. You need to take a flight of stairs just to enter! Also striking is the Pont Vieux over the river tarn, which we crossed to have a sunset drink while we admired the town from the other side. Albi is famous for its Saturday market which sells food until 1pm then jewellery, clothing etc. until 4pm.
