Family Holiday Rental in the Tarn, Midi-Pyrenees, France near Toulouse
Toulouse (Tolosa in Occitan) is located 30 minutes from La Maison des Amis on the shores of the Garonne River, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With a population of 1.05 million inhabitants, the Toulouse metropolitan area is the second largest of southern France and one of the fastest growing in Europe. It is the home base of the European aerospace industry and hosts the headquarters of Airbus S.A.S.
The thriving and vibrant university town, is home to the University of Toulouse (Université de Toulouse), which was established in 1230. It is today one of the largest university cities in France (second after Paris) with more than 110,000 students attending its 3 polytechnics and universities.
As the largest city in the rgion, there is always something going on in the evening. Visit www.fnac.com to check on what is on while you visit; at a 30-minute drive there is nothing to stop you catching a show, a movie or some theatre. It is an easy city to get in and out of and there is plenty of central under-ground parking. or take the train from nearby St. Sulpice or Lavaur.
Toulouse is the former capital of the province of Languedoc (provinces were abolished during the French Revolution). It is the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region, the largest region in France although it encompasses only half of the former Languedoc province. It is also the préfecture (capital) of the Haute-Garonne département. It is the seat of the Académie des Jeux Floraux, the equivalent of the French Academy for the Occitan-speaking regions of southern France, making Toulouse the unofficial capital of Occitan culture. The traditional Occitan cross was adopted as the symbol of both the City of Toulouse and the newly-founded Midi-Pyrénées region.
Once a major metropolis of western Europe, Toulouse sank into a sleepy regional-level status in the 18th and 19th centuries, completely missing the Industrial Revolution. In the 20th century, relocation of key military and aerospace industries in Toulouse by the French central government have awakened the city again. In an ironic twist of history, what was once a big liability for Toulouse has now become its best asset: no Industrial Revolution meant a falling economic status for the city, but it has spared Toulouse the environmental damages and painful socio-economic restructuring that are plaguing so many northern European industrial cities.
Benefiting from its status as Europe's capital of aerospace industry, as well as from the flow of population from the industrial belt to the sunbelt of Europe, Toulouse metropolitan area doubled its population between 1960 and 2000 (in the meantime the population of France increased only by 30%). With good prospects for aerospace and biotech industries, growth is likely to continue in the near future. Toulouse is thus recovering step by step its former rank as a major European metropolis, but it faces increasing challenges: how to accommodate such a rapid growth, how to upgrade transport and develop housing and infrastructures, in short how to reinvent the city in the 21st century.
Toulouse suffered the explosion of the AZF chemical plant on September 21, 2001. The plant was totally destroyed and the explosion damaged many houses, schools, churches, monuments and shops. More than 35,000 flats were damaged. The plant is 8 km (5 miles) from the centre of Toulouse. Twenty nine people died and several thousand were injured. The root of the explosion was in a building containing ammonium nitrate.
Toulouse is known as the "Rosy City" or "Pink City" ("Ville Rose") because of its distinctive brick architecture.
