TOULOUSE: THE GREAT CITY OF SOUTH-WESTERN FRANCE

With 437 100 habitants in 2006, Toulouse is the fourth largest urban centre in France in terms of population. Its metropolitan area encompasses 1 120 000 inhabitants. Toulouse is nicknamed “la ville rose” for the colour of its traditional local building material: baked earth bricks. The city is not only home to the Airbus corporation, but is today a European technopolis that brings together numerous cutting edge industries involved in both IT and aerospace, as well as countless research institutes such as the Cancéropôle de Toulouse, which will open in 2009.

Toulouse is a young and dynamic student city, the second in France with its 115,000 students. La ville rose attracts an endless train of newcomers and possesses the highest level of migration growth of all of Europe’s largest cities. The quality of life and its dynamism are lauded by both French and foreign press. As a result, the Express named Toulouse "the « most pleasant city to live in » in 2006" according to selection criteria which include over thirty criteria. Paris and Toulouse are the only two French cities to be distinguished in the European classification system created by the firm Experian and published in le Figaro in 2006. France’s capital and the Toulouse metropolis figured here among the highest performing European cities based on a 2005-2015 forecast.

It is also a great city for tourists, where the architecture has a characteristic flair. With the development of urban tourism, Toulouse has risen to become a destination of choice. Nearly a million and a half people visit each year. Toulouse possesses the country’s fourth airport outside Paris.

Toulouse was also classed most sports-orientated city in France by the sports magazine "L'Équipe" in October 2007. Its claim to fame is “le Stade Toulousain”, the most successful rugby team in France and indeed across Europe in terms of titles won. This internationally renowned rugby club holds the most important trophy in French rugby, and has seen the likes of world-class players pass through its doors, marking its history as a special one. Beyond this le Stade Toulousain today counts among its ranks no less than 16 French internationals. As in many sports, respect, teamsmanship, loyalty, effort, courage, humility, the giving of self, respect for tradition and history, roots and friendship, are rugby’s founding values.

Toulouse is also capital of the Midi-Pyrénées, the largest region in France. The Midi Pyrénées brilliantly combines a wilderness that takes your breath away with the historic heritage of an immense richness of knowledge of the art of living well. The natural inheritance of the Midi-Pyrénées region is incontestable: the region possesses the third largest forest in France; a quarter of its land area is a Zone Naturelle d’Intérêt Ecologique Faunistique et Floristique; it also offers a national park, and three regional natural conservation parks. The Midi-Pyrénées displays also an exceptional cultural heritage, most notably le Canal du midi and la Cité de Carcassonne, designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. La Cité de Carcassonne is the country’s sixth most visited state monument.

Ariège, Aveyron, Gers, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, Lot, Tarn, Tarn et Garonne, the eight départements that comprise the region have unmistakably evocative names, calling to mind gentle summer sounds, and sun-bathed vistas. Don’t miss out on sampling the specialties of this region: foie gras in le Gers, cassoulet in Castelnaudary, truffles in le Lot, aligoté in Aveyron. Then there are the cheeses: Roquefort, Rocamadour, Bleu des Causses… All of these flavours marry together blissfully with the wines produced by the region: Cahors, Moissac, Madiran and so many others.

The Midi-Pyrénées is in third place in the ranking of interior tourist regions, behind only the Rhône-Alpes and the Ile-de-France (the Paris region). In 2006, the total number of nights paid for in hotels and hostelries for tourists numbered 9 551 000 for the Midi-Pyrénées, versus 8 494 000 for Aquitaine, of which respectively 3 169 000 and 1 543 000 were non-French nationals. Italians are the primary tourists to the Midi-Pyrénées. Among the foreign clientele who frequent the region the most, 13 % of overnight stays by Italians visiting France are spent in the Midi-Pyrénées, compared to 7 % of overnight stays by Spanish people and 4 % of nights spent by Britons. The 17 alpine skiing stations found in the section of the Pyrenees belonging to this region encompass 64 % of the activity of the Pyrenean Massif, representing 3.9 million ski days. Finally, the Midi-Pyrénées ranks first in regard to opened thermal baths.