Toulouse

But as much as history, one also finds so much youthfulness thanks to the large student population, not to mention the significant aerospace industry led by Airbus that attracts the best engineers from all over France and beyond. In short, Toulouse is like a big medieval city with a 21st-century spirit: forward-looking and very sure of itself.

Toulouse is France’s 4th biggest urban centre after Paris, Marseille and Lyon. But the city feels so far apart, almost foreign. Some Spanish cities like San Sebastián and Barcelona are much closer to Toulouse than Paris. Indeed, during the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939), the city hosted a significant number of refugees from Spain, and many Toulousains have Spanish family names. Nowadays, many Spaniards continue to come to Toulouse but as tourists and students.

It could be due to the peculiar architecture that the city feels foreign. Toulouse is affectionately called “La Ville Rose” (“the Pink City”) because of the pinkish-coloured bricks that are prominent in the city’s buildings. The areas around Toulouse has no stone but plenty of clay thanks to the Garonne river that continues on to the Atlantic Coast through Bordeaux.

If you find yourself in Toulouse on a Sunday, the outdoor market that takes place around the Saint Aubin church, le marché de Saint Aubin, is not to be missed! In this market, you will find a lot of food stands (and the choices are very international and delightful!) juxtaposed with fruit and veg stands, butchery stands, antique sellers and secondhand book sellers.