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Toulouse, France’s fourth city, oozes such energy it should be bottled. Or at least packed into those sausages. Ideal for a weekend break, Toulouse fizzes with youthful vigour against a backdrop of restored, historic charm and of all things, the aerospace industry. Traffic has been curbed dramatically to allow Toulousians room to enjoy their city; the opera, the pavement cafes, the riverbanks and, if you're one of the 100,000 students, the beer and doner kebabs down Rue Pargaminieres to Place Saint-Pierre.

Viva Occitania!

How to get to Toulouse:

 

Flights aplenty thanks to the aerospace industry with both BA and Easyjet from Gatwick, but don’t expect bargain basement fares, they’re rare at weekends. Others such as Flybe and Jet2 from Birmingham and Edinburgh might be cheaper.

By train the onward journey from Eurostar is fast and easy leaving Paris Austerlitz (across town from Gare du Nord – 15 mins by metro) but it takes six hours. Travel is by the quite luxurious and decorous Teoz Corail which has bright yellow, spacious carriages and all mod cons. Few trains can be described as happy, unless they’re painted in sunshine colours. Or the sleeper, the Corail Lunea, will have you in Toulouse for breakfast after a night out in Paris. The trains leave at about 11pm and arrive before 7am. Details of all rail travel can be had from Rail Europe who advise on schedules and sell tickets, Interrail Passes and so on.

If you’re driving it’s about a 9 hour journey from Calais, knock an hour off from St Malo, but you will not need a car in central Toulouse – a large part of the city centre is now pedestrianised and there’s also a shiny new two line metro system. Plus Velo Toulouse, the communal bike hire system increasingly common around French cities.

OK. WE’RE HERE.

It’s where the French really want to live – the population doubled between 1960 and 2000 - because they like the sun. A large city whose centre can be walked in 20 minutes, the main square outside City Hall, the Place du Capitole, is a showcase for civic pride, bordered by coffee shops and brasseries, with streets tailing off on all sides leading you to all manner of interesting places. Not so long ago it was clogged with traffic.

The history, which includes a period of dozing while the rest of the world was undergoing the Industrial Revolution, includes Occitania, a cultural identity from the Middle Ages with no political status (or aspirations) which covered what is now southern France and her neighbours for many years. It’s been resurrected and celebrated with vim, and the Occitan Cross can be seen everywhere, adopted as the city symbol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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STAY WHERE?

Toulouse has a host of hotels (check the tourist board), such as the Crowne Plaza directly on Place du Capitole, but one of the most charming city centre locations has been spruced up for Bed and Breakfast.

Les Loges de Saint-Sernin is an attractive, airy apartment owned by Madame Sylviane Tatin who lives upstairs. Housed in one of the many famous “pink” buildings of Toulouse, the rooms are bright, spacious and en suite, all clean with flat screen TV and decorated in vibrant modern French colours, each one different. There’s easy access by elevator (no steps at all) via a courtyard off the street which at one end has a weekly brocante market (surrounding the Basilica Saint Sermin, Europe’s largest Romanesque Church), and the other a huge fruit and veg market stretching along Boulevard de Strasbourg. It’s in Rue St Bernard, beside a metro station (Jeanne d’Arc) and an airport express bus stop.

Check the website for rates and offers or call (+33 (0)5 61 24 44 44). You have your own key to come and go as you please. In the kitchen Mme Tatin serves a breakfast of healthy cereals and pastries, coffee and preserves she makes herself. She knows everything about the area, her city and keeps a library of useful books.

 

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, 1, 2, 3…

(1) The city centre's 'pink' stone houses are just one aspect of the heritage, there are timber framed houses (most wooden houses burnt down centuries ago: they were eventually banned) and street signs down Rue Saint-Rome are bilingual (French/Occitan). Modern shops are the main attraction there, many housed in original buildings which date back as far as the 13th century - residences above with double arched premises below. But the principal signs of wealth in Toulouse are the 15th and 16th century merchants' mansions, resplendent with Renaissance artistry and opulent towers which still stand above about 50 of them. They can be viewed from hidden courtyards which tourist board guides can reveal over a two hour stroll, but an uneducated wander around Toulouse is still to be recommended.

(2) So where did the city's wealth come from? Woad balls, that's where, from the pastel plant, which when cultivated produces 'cocas' that are used to make blue dye and in the 15th century Toulouse was the epicentre of a very profitable trade. There's a phrase in France, "pays de cocagne" which was an expression to indicate a wealth of riches and this is where it started. The pastel trade lasted a hundred years and extended across Europe, with the most complex accountancy imaginable (it took three years to actually get paid) but as evidenced by the mansions around town, it was clearly worth the wait.

Pastel was usurped by Indigo but has been revived, in all its blue glory, and can best be viewed in a charming shop, itself once a mansion, La Fleurée de Pastel at 20 place de la Bourse. An interesting part of the industry was the use to which urine, from animals and humans, was put in the process. This was collected avidly and became an important revenue stream for many Toulousians.

(3) If you want a few hours in the future try a visit to the Airbus factory and see the world’s biggest aircraft under construction (the Airbus 380) as well as two Concordes, including the very first one built, for what was going to be the future of air travel. Big boys’ toys.

LET’S DO LUNCH

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In the city centre, head for Place Victor Hugo, one of three covered markets open daily (except Monday) above which is what appears to be a multi storey car park. Don’t be put off. On the first floor are five open, interconnected restaurants where the buzz and bustle indicate a lot of very happy diners. The food is fresh from the market (not surprising, it’s downstairs) and they're packed at the weekends. Don’t bother booking (I have no idea if you can!) just turn up, have an aperitif at one of the many bars and as the waiters squeeze past, check out what’s good.

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Still on Place Victor Hugo, on the ground floor at No. 8, but a world away is Villa Tropezienne, a shimmering white tribute to St Tropez where the glare is only moderately interrupted by a neon logo «Ad Usque Fidelis» the motto of SanTrop (Faithful to the End). The waiters shimmy and coo over Toulouse’s coolest tribe, waiting to be fed and watered after an opening Kir Provencal. It’s busy, it’s glamorous and serves a €30 four course lunch with wine on a Saturday. They take bookings but it’s very chic, if you're dressed you'll get in. Food is lighter versions of regional produce – salads and rilletes to start, followed by rissotto or Le Tartare de Bœuf, with wicked puds and Nespresso coffee to finish.

Fabbest

If you do nothing else have lunch at Le Bon Vivre, where Cathy Meliet and her team continue the traditions of her mother’s cooking and serve the best lunch in town. Busy and bustling on Place Wilson, this is the gastronomy of the South West brought to your table, exactly sourced, perfectly cooked.

They have their own foie gras. From the adjacent department of Gers little tasters of pates and cured meats to appetise. Then hot starters such as grilled Pigs Trotters (nothing like the dainty specimens served up in London) pot au feu salad, garbure (local soup: duck, bacon and cabbage) and eggs scrambled with duck meat crackling or poached in red wine.

The mains are magnificent. Their own confit, cassoulet, and stews; grilled chicken, duck, chops and sweetbreads. For the adventurous, Veal’s head with gribiche vinaigrette is a must, totally delicious.

There are daily specials, fixed price menus (children’s too) then ice creams (their own), cheese (their own) and a range of home made desserts, the most irresistible of which is Huguette’s French toast with ice cream.

It’s a beautiful bistro, packed every day, a real reflection of the owner’s passion and joy. A just fabulous place to have lunch. Voila!

 

WHAT’S YOURS?

The aperitifs at Le Bon Vivre takes a lot of beating. For chilled whites try Colombelle, 4 Cepages, Noisette or Terres Blanches, all from Gers, as are the reds Saint Mont and Madiran. Or an Armagnac sharpener such as Pousse-Rapiere (with sparkling wine) or Gascogne Floc (with grape juice). I didn’t have time to try all of them - you might!

DINNER IS SERVED

For such a large, prosperous city, with such strong traditions and flavours in its gastronomy, Michelin barely recognizes Toulouse, a fact that makes Michel Sarran stand out all the more. This is two-star dining, but beyond any measure a pleasurable and joyous place to be.

Michel himself comes out to greet and chat diners, but the welcome is made warm by his wife who looks after front of house and the young, enthusiastic waiting staff, who glide by, smiling and chatting, pleased to be working there, happy to wait on table.

The room is small, the décor modern and very striking (Michel’s brother, apparently) with pools of bright light illuminating the snowy white circular tables and highlighting the food. It’s all about taste and presentation.

The amuse bouches (4) are a jokey exercise in contrasting textures -  soup, pastry crouton, cold sandwich and a hot deep fried little ball of minced pork. They prepare the way for Michel’s signature soup, Foie gras de canard la Ferme de Lacave En soupe tiede a l’huitre de Belon, which has been copied in London to my certain knowledge but tastes nothing like this, the original. A velvet, richly satisfying texture, an intense fresh flavour, with a fresh oyster that insinuates itself perfectly.

Of the tasting menus on offer, Saveurs Occitanes (€98) has five courses plus a variety of surprises along the way, or La Degustation Surprise (€125) where Michel himself chooses all the courses for your feast. The wine starts at Gaillac (€30) and heads very, very slowly upwards through some fantastic options before it peaks at a Romanee Conti 2002, which is just asking for trouble (€3,350)

The wine chosen by the sommelier to accompany the foie gras soup was a Limoux demi sec Domaine des Hautes Terres “Louis” 2006 which was perfect – not too sweet, not too fruity.

Staff bring tap water, home made breadsticks and mini baguettes without bidding.

On the autumn night I was there, the second course was another spectacular taste sensation: langoustine “translucides” – think tartare – which was positively sweet, served with vegetable tempura and mustard mayo. The minerality of an AOC Touraine “Fies Gris” set it off with aplomb.

“Turbot juste dore, jus mousseaux au combawa” turned up with it’s cloud like foam intact (a rarity in lesser, overambitious restaurants) and a tiny puck of summer vegetables en gelee, a reminder of the summer just gone. Wild wood pigeon was meltingly, earthily delicious in a velvety red wine reduction.

The presentation is delicate, the portions manageable, all set on large white plates, drawing admiring looks from diners when put before them. The menus end with perfect cheese and at least two desserts.

This is a very happy, switch-off-we'll-do-the-work restaurant, a genuinely enjoyable and relaxing place to be. Foreigners are made to feel welcome (the main clientele is well-heeled Toulousian) and Michel himself is turning into a local celebrity. His enthusiasm for rugby has led him to catering for the local team and his frequent visits to London tend to coincide with matches at Twickenham.

DRIVE BY

For an hour or so…

Of all the museums to visit, les Abattoirs on the banks of the Garonne is the best. Originally a smelly slaughterhouse built in 1828 it now showcases modern, contemporary art in light, white spaces, with walkways and promenades by the river for perfect summer strolling. 2000 works in the permanent collection include a large, backdrop curtain gifted to the city by its creator, Picasso, in 1965.

For the day…

The Canal du Midi flows through Toulouse and is well known to yachties as it connects the Med with the Atlantic (thus avoiding the circumnavigation of Spain and Portugal) but it's also a Unesco World Heritage site due to the large number of structures built along its banks, most of them dating from the 17th century. It's a holiday destination in itself but within the city limits offers up a beautiful series of walks, and possibly even a day's boat hire.

Overnight…

An hour away is Albi, hometown of artist Toulouse Lautrec and a city of such delight it’s worth a weekend all on its own.

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