Cycle Route From Toulouse along the Garonne to Roquefort

Toulouse (UK /tuːˈluːz/;French pronunciation: [tu.luz] locally: [tuˈluzə]; Occitan: Tolosa [tuˈluzɔ], Latin: Tolosa) is the capital city of the southwestern French department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Midi-Pyrénées region. It lies on the banks of the River Garonne . With 1,250,251 inhabitants at the January 2011 census, the Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in France.

Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, the Airbus Group (former EADS), ATR and the Aerospace Valley.

Toulouse was the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom in the 5th century and the capital of the province of Languedoc in the late Middle Ages and early modern period (provinces were abolished during the French Revolution), making it the unofficial capital of the cultural region of Occitania (Southern France). It is now the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region, the largest region in metropolitan France.

A city with unique architecture made of pinkish terracotta bricks, which earned it the nickname la Ville Rose ("the Pink City"), Toulouse counts two UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Canal du Midi (designated in 1996 and shared with other cities), and the Basilica of St. Sernin , designated in 1998 because of its significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route.

Sights

• ⊙ The Capitole de Toulouse (mainly 18th century), houses the Hôtel de Ville, the Théâtre du Capitole (opera house), and the Donjon du Capitole (16th century). It is located on the Place du Capitole .
• The Médiathèque José Cabanis is a library.
• The Jardin des Plantes is a botanical garden.
• The most significant Hôtel particulier (palace) in Toulouse is the Hôtel d'Assézat .
• The Bazacle is a ford across the Garonne, built in the late 12th century and also used for hydroelectricty.
• ⊙ The river is crossed by the Pont Neuf from the 16th century.

Religious buildings

• ⊙ Toulouse Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse.
• ⊙ Saint-Sernin Basilica , part of the Way of Saint James UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Romanesque church in Europe. It contains what is widely considered the most beautiful pipe organ in France.
• ⊙ The Daurade basilica , of the 18th–19th century, was founded as a temple to the Roman god Apollo before conversion to Christianity in 410 AD.
• ⊙ The Church of the Jacobins (Ensemble conventuel des Jacobins) in Toulouse is the burial place of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

The Cité de l'espace (City of Space) is a theme park focused on space and the conquest of space. It was opened in September 1997 and is located on the eastern outskirts of Toulouse . As of 2012, there had been more than 4 million visitors.

Exhibits and installations

One can visit full scale models of the Ariane 5 rocket (55 metres or 180 feet), Mir space station, and Soyuz modules. The original planetarium has 140 seats and presents shows throughout the day. Cité de l'Espace also has numerous exhibits, often interactive; for example, a mock-up of a control room near the model of Ariane 5, allows visitors to prepare the launching of a rocket, help with its flight and then place a satellite in orbit. (a terrestrial half-sphere 25 metres or 82 feet in diameter) presents the history of space from the Big-bang to the solar system. A building about Australia, which opened in 2005, includes: a new 280-seat planetarium, called the Stellarium, equipped with a hemispherical screen 600 square metres (6,458 sq ft) in area; a 300-seat IMAX cinema, which shows the film Hubble 3D (previously Space Station 3D, a 3D film made on board the International Space Station); and conference rooms.

Most days at least from 10 am to 5 pm, some days open until 11 pm. Some days closed.

Check it on the Website.