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Toulouse - The Pink City
Toulouse is one of the largest cities in France, only overshadowed by Lyon, Marseille and of course Paris. The city is located in the Department of Haute Garonne and is also administrative center of the Midi-Pyrenees. The name Toulouse derives from the old Occitan name, Tolosa. The city is also remarkable for being traversed not only by the river Garonne, but also the Canal du Midi.
Toulouse is one of the largest cities in France, only overshadowed by Lyon, Marseille and of course Paris. The city is located in the Department of Haute Garonne and is also administrative center of the Midi-Pyrenees. The name Toulouse derives from the old Occitan name, Tolosa. The city is also remarkable for being traversed not only by the river Garonne, but also the Canal du Midi.
The French also have a special name for the city of Toulouse, they call it “la ville rose” (the pink town). And when visiting the city the reason is obvious - most of the buildings are build with a typical local pink brick!
The climate of Toulouse can be considered to be temperate, primarily due to its location mid-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. Its climate is therefore characterised as being warm and dry in summer with relatively mild autumns and winters.
There are three important winds which blow across the city: firstly there is the west wind, which brings with it a lot of moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. Then there is the wind known as the “Autan” which blows from the south-east. This wind is hot and dry. Finally there is the wind coming from the north, blowing much less frequently, but it is cold and dry. The Autan is often called by the locals “the maddening wind” or “the devil’s wind”, since it affects everything in its path, apparently affecting the normal calmness of the inhabitants, both human and animal, making them much less calm!
Toulouse isn’t just a thriving, bustling city, it’s also a major European center of technology, home to industries including aeronautics, aerospace, medicine and also telecommunications. Indeed Toulouse is considered to be the European capital of the aerospace industry. Yet the city continues to diversify into ever more areas. Much of this is of course due to it being home to a major university, the second largest after that of Paris.
Two key features of the city are the Pont-Neuf and the Canal du Midi which were completed in 1632 and 1682 respectively. Then there is the Capitole, constructed in the eighteenth century. In the 1920s, Toulouse was the pioneering center of the aviation industry, with the key Aerospatiale company being established in 1927, with such notable names such as Antoine de Saint-Exupery and Jean Mermoz.
The national center for weather prediction in France was established in Toulouse in 1982, which is responsible for forecasting the weather for the whole of the country.
Another feature of Toulouse, as witnessed by the many little shops found throughout the city, is that it a center for violets. Violets are cultivated around the whole Toulouse region both for the flowers themselves and for their perfume. Violets, violet sweets, violet flowers and violet fragrances abound throughout the city.
With regard to festivals, Toulouse is one of the main centers in Europe, hosting a variety of internationally-known festivals throughout the year, particularly in the musique domain. Yet another reason the city is an important tourist destination. Then there are centers and concert halls such as the Zenith, the Mediatheque and the Congress Center. More recently constructed are the Abattoirs modern art museum and the impressive Cite de l’Espace.
As for the “Cite de l’Espace”, it will uncover for you a fascinating world, by using animations such as the re-creation of a part of the Russian space station “Mir”, an “Ariane” rocket, and especially through the amazing spectacle of the IMAX 3D cinema and the planetarium, a real astronomical simulator. This is really impressive stuff!
As for high culture, there’s lots to be found in Toulouse. Perhaps most impressively, the Capitole Theatre provides a memorable encounter not only with the world-famous Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, but also the impressive Toulouse Opera and ballet companies. The orchestra itself became renowned under the leadership of Michel Plasson, it’s chief conductor for many years, with a wide-ranging repertoire ranging from the Baroque to contemporary performances. Today it is in the capable hands of the young Ossetian conductor Tugan Sokhiev, trained in St Petersburg.