Towns in Midi Pyrenees
Toulouse , Only 1h30 from either the Mediterranean or the Pyrénées, Toulouse is a southern city with a Spanish accent and Italian façades. Stroll along its medieval streets or on the banks of the Canal du Midi. Visit its well restored heritage and enjoy an exciting rugby match at the local stadium. You may even become an astronaut at the Cité de l'Espace or still a pilot on the new Airbus A 380! And, by day and by night, enjoy the bodegas, restaurants, students celebrations or major festivals which bring endless effervescence the so aptly named Pink City ! Toulouse is France's fourth largest town and the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées, or "pink city" as it is also called and boasts an incredible architectural wealth which bears witness to its long history. During the Renaissance period, Toulouse made its fortune thanks to the woad trade in particular. Colossal fortunes were made at the time, as illustrated by the sumptuous town houses that still stand today (don't miss the "maison d'Assézat» which houses the Bemberg foundation and its collection of paintings). The building of the Canal du Midi during the 18th century brought new opportunities to the town, thus strengthening its prosperity. The Capitole which houses today's Town Hall dates back to that period (1750). The 19th century industrial revolution rationalized the town's urban planning policy, thus facilitating its entry into the 20th century without however spoiling the old town, which has been perfectly preserved. The development of airmail at the beginning of the 20th century and the first flights of Daurat, Mermoz, and St-Exupéry having left their mark on the town, it seems only natural that Toulouse should have become the capital of the European aeronautical industry of which Airbus is one of the key figures
Conques : Very few sites in France, or even in Europe can boast such a heritage as that of the village of Conques with its Romanesque-style abbey church boasting stained glass windows created by Pierre Soulages, a tympanum depicting the Last Judgement, the remains of the cloister with its large Serpentine pond, its gold treasure and of course the village itself, all seeming to have travelled through time unchanged.
Castelnau de Montmiral ; built in 1222, is a little Medieval masterpiece surrounded by ramparts and dominating the Vère valley, just a step away from the Grésigne forest.
As is obvious from its name, the village itself is a "castelnau": a village built by a lord within the walls of his own castle and under his dependency. Of the six gates that initially existed in the ramparts, only three now remain. As for the château, which was built during the 13th century, it was destroyed during the Revolution.
A walk within the surrounding wall is nevertheless quite charming. The picturesque square with the Town Hall or "mairie" is lined with houses, all of which have varied façades: dressed stone, wooden wall sections or brick resting on covered walkways made of stone or wood. Both the Town Hall and the "maison Bozat" date back to the 17th century and the church, very much altered, is essentially 15th and 16th century.
Estaing ; At the entrance of the gorge of the Lot and 23 miles from Rodez stands the Medieval village of Estaing. With its very rich heritage: its Gothic bridge over the river Lot notably and the very lovely iron cross wrought by Henri Lesueur (1908 - 1978), now also reproduced by jewellers.
Rocamadour and St-Cirq-Lapopie leave a lasting impression on any traveler who has the good fortune to visit these astonishingly beautiful villages, located in the northern Lot, one of the départements in Midi-Pyrénées.The medieval, hillside charm of Rocamadour is best captured by a saying well-known to locals: "Houses along the stream, churches above the houses, rocks above the churches, castles on the rock." Accordingly, a castle towers 420 feet above the Alzou River, dominating the village's medley of old houses, steep streets, ancient churches, and tiny chapels terraced into a sheer cliff. During the 12th and 13th centuries, thousands of pilgrims on their way to Santiago stopped at Rocamadour to climb the 216 steps that lead to the seven sanctuaries around place St-Amadour.
La Couvertoirade is located on the boundaries of the Larzac plateau just 25 miles from Millau, its exceptional state of conservation illustrating the military strength of the Templars and the everyday lives of the Hospitallers. Indeed, very few Medieval sites in France have been so well preserved.
Saint-Come-d'Olt; This Medieval market town has been awarded the "Most Beautiful French Villages" quality-label and has an urban network, which has remained intact for 600 years. The view that visitors have over the older part of town has therefore remained literally unchanged for several centuries.
The "Canal du Midi" was built under the reign of King Louis the XIVth and is the oldest European canal still in use. This waterway was imagined by the civil engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet and includes nearly 400 civil engineering structures such as overflow weirs, lock gates, aqueducts, bridges, spillways, and tunnels, etc., all of which are of exceptional interest in terms of heritage. And this importance has now been recognized at International level as UNESCO has decided to inscribe the "Canal du Midi" among the 469 sites already on the World Heritage List. The canal covers 148 miles between "l'étang de Thau" near Sète and Toulouse, drawing its water from the lake of St-Ferréol; the latter being a retaining reservoir which is used as the canal's main feeding tank. Pierre-Paul Riquet built its retaining barrier, measuring 2,625 ft in length and 105 ft high, during the 17th century. It's the oldest construction of its type in France and no doubt also in Europe. Extended by the "Canal de Garonne» the "Canal du Midi" connects Bordeaux to Sète, thus forming a waterway link-up between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea
Cordes - sur-ciel Built in 1222, Cordes in the Tarn Dept. is one of the first "bastides" or new towns as they were called, that have been founded during the 13th and 14th centuries. It's name: Corde (rope) was chosen as it aptly reflected the town's tall, slender silhouette rising skywards.
Since 1880 the "Pic du Midi" in the Hautes-Pyrénées has been dedicated to exploring the universe and to this day, it remains an important observation and research centre. Now a museographical discovery complex, it is the perfect place to apprehend and understand the great adventure of astronomy. It explains the history of the "Pic du Midi" and offers a direct observation of the sun: ideal for an introduction to the fantastic world of stars and planets.
Albi is a town of 50,000 inhabitants situated in the heart of the Tarn Dept. and a town much affected by history. There was the saga of the Cathars, the century during which the woad trade flourished and conferred onto the town the riches of a "Land of Cockaigne» the Protestants who sought refuge there and the French Revolution, which created great men. Many navigators, artists, writers, poets, military men and politicians have also left their mark on the land and carried the town's reputation far and wide; this town which is the guardian of a remarkable artistic heritage of which the "Sainte Cécile" cathedral and Toulouse-Lautrec museum are key figures.The "Ste-Cécile" cathedral was built in 1282 and is now considered to be a masterpiece of Southern Gothic style architecture. Its very sober brick exterior is in striking contrast with its lavish interior and its fresco depicting the Last Judgement in particular. As for the Toulouse-Lautrec museum, it displays the largest existing collection of the Albigensian artist's paintings within the magnificent setting of the Bishop's Palace
Lourdes : Boasting close to 6 million visitors every year (of which 400,000 are young people), Lourdes is now the most popular destination in the Midi-Pyrénées. . . . Yet, in the 1850s, on the eve of the apparitions that later occurred there, Lourdes was a modest village in the Hautes-Pyrénées with 4,135 inhabitants. At the time it was merely a halting place for spa visitors in search of the waters of Barèges, Cauterets, Luz-Saint-Sauveur and Bagnères-de-Bigorre and the first visitors to the Pyrénées area on their way to Gavarnie. But on the 11th of February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous met a "lady" on the banks of the river Gave; an event which was to change the course of the village's history and confer a new title to the site: that of Marian city.