Toulouse - la ville rose

St Etienne Cathedral: When you walk in and look up, you see huge ornate organ pipes that look as if they are clinging onto the wall. Basilique St Sernin is well worth a visit to see a wonderful example of Romanesque architecture. There is also a wonderful food hall off rue des ramparts matabiau, where you can buy local meats, cheeses, fish, pastries and breads. Along this street are cafes and other (quite upmarket) shops selling local produce -- an amazing amount of choice and quality.

You can take a walk along beside the river Garonne from the Pont Neuf to the St Pierre Bridge. There are red brick apartment buildings along the riverfront, a lot of them with intricate terraces and you can also get a great view of the Pont Neuf stretching across the river. If you walk down to Place St Pierre, you can find bars and restaurants in what seems to be a student quarter. We ate at a restaurant with the word "Culotte" in it, but I can't remember the full name. There were quite a few university students lunching here, probably because of the set menus including a glass of beer or wine.

Quick Tips:

Wandering the small back streets of Toulouse, you can see the beautiful shuttered houses and apartments of the "la ville rose". When you wander these emptier back streets, you stumble upon artisan workshops selling local crafts and artwork and see much of the famous red brick architecture.

You also end up in smaller squares such as Place St-Georges where you find brasseries and restaurants and can sit outside even towards the end of September to sip a Kir in the sunshine. We ate at the elegant Cafe VG, but there were several other brasseries and restaurants we would have liked to have sampled if we had had more time.

Best Way To Get Around:

Toulouse does have a metro, but the best way to get around is on foot as all the main attractions are within walking distance and you can experience the sights, sounds, and smells first hand!

We booked into a standard double room, which cost 60 euros. This was a good value for money for such a central location. We also booked breakfast, which was another seven euros each and consisted of a buffet of hot and cold food. It's also a good value because you can eat as much as you want!

The room was very simple: bed, TV, espresso maker, and shower/toilet. The hotel is fine to stay in to use as a base as it is in a central location right by where the Navette takes you to the airport and close to St Sernin Church and Place du Capitole. The staff were all very helpful and friendly.

This pretty cafe/brasserie is situated near to the Garonne and by Place St Pierre, a student area. There were lots of students here when we went, all enjoying the formule menu from 8-12 euros, which included a beer or glass of wine. The food consisted of interesting salads as mains, and they also had other dishes such as salmon, steak, etc. I had a seafood salad, which was lovely. Good atmosphere to unwind and relax and watch people go by.

We went here for a Monaco and sat outside on the terrace watching the increasing number of cars go past in the Place du Capitole. I wouldn't say it was quite as relaxing as I thought it would be as the noise from the cars going past is a bit distracting. However, it's a good place to sit and write postcards or just sit and watch people (and cars) go by.

VG cafe is located in the Place Saint-Georges where there are several other brasseries located around the square. The interior is modern trendy, as is the food, served on funky glass dishes in the "nouvelle cuisine" style, but with a bit more food than you would normally expect from this style of cooking. There is a choice of a "formule" menu, always well worth the price. To start I had a hot goat's cheese and tomato souffle, which was delicious, and then chicken as a main course.

This square has a relaxing atmosphere, away from the busier Capitole square and you can also find lots of boutique and specialist food shops on the streets leading off from this square. We sat outside until 10:30pm and although it was the end of September, it was still very warm. They give you a complimentary schnapps to end your meal.