<i>It's a wonderful, vibrant, beautiful city.</i>

If memory serves me right, this is a complete turnabout.

I lived 45 minutes sw of Toulouse for 6 1/2 years, just returned to the States in November. With its huge university, it's a very young city with certainly a very lively nightlife. The restaurant scene can be a bit hit or miss. After literally years of construction work and street repair, the pedestrian shopping area, primarily behind Place Capitole, is much-improved and finally pleasant to stroll.

It could still do with some sprucing up but we found Toulouse great fun and loved the brick facades and wrought iron balconies throughout the centre. Most of the bricks are half-height which somehow makes the buildings seems lighter, more delicate.

The Place Capitole market once or twice a week is mostly tat but there are several open-air food markets, one not too far from the rail station in addition to the permanent market with restaurants on the first (U.S. second) floor. Those most certainly can be variable. The old abbatoir (well-scrubbed) is now a modern art museum.

Yes, it is a huge turnabout. Much like Bordeaux.

Just another aspect.

I would not do Lascaux II. Instead, visit Pech Merle. It is original and has the same quality of Lascaux I. Go there as long as it is possible.

I would do both Pech Merle & Lascaux. Lascaux has very colorful art on the walls - perhaps the best there is!!!. Pech Merle has colorful art, human handprints & footprints, stalactites & mites, even a tree root.

Stu Dudley

And Lascaux IV will be open this summer.

I spend 3 or 4 weeks in the Hautes Pyrenees every year. I like Toulouse well enough as a hub, but I'd struggle to spend lots of time there.

I really like Albi.

The Hautes Pyrenees and the Gers are all about ambience, rather than big hits- expect, of course, the mountains, which are stupendous. It's still a big buzz, getting of the plane, driving 30 miles and seeing that fantastic wall of glistening granite stretching across the southern horizon

"Conques, listed as one of the most beautiful villages of France, is about 30 kilometres east of Figeac and 35 kilometres north of Rodez, in the Aveyron department in the Massif Central. Conques sits on the edge of the gorge of the River Dourdou, in a beautiful setting, surrounded by mountains and forests. The approach from the south is along an especially attractive stretch of river."

I think it might be slightly out of your way but we visited this beautiful town. It is kinda off the radar, and wasn't in any of the major guide books at the time we visited. It was in a Karen Brown's small inns and one of the inns in Conques is popular with the British royal family.


"The village is located at the confluence of the Dourdou de Conques and Ouche rivers. It is built on a hillside and has classic narrow Medieval streets. As a result, large vehicles (such as buses) cannot enter the historic town centre but must park outside. Consequently, most day visitors enter on foot. The town was largely passed by in the nineteenth century, and was saved from oblivion by the efforts of a small number of dedicated people. As a result, the historic core of the town has very little construction dating from between 1800 and 1950, leaving the medieval structures remarkably intact. The roads have been paved, and modern-day utility lines are buried."

>>Conques.... wasn't in any of the major guide books at the time we visited.<<

It is in the Michelin Green Guide, which I consider to be THE major guide books for France. Which guide books were you using - Rick Steves perhaps?

Stu Dudley

No I did check the Green Guide for that year and it was not listed. Like I said it was listed in Karen Browns. It may be in the Michellin book now. Thanks for your update.

It is in my 2001 Green Guide for Languedoc, and also the one I have from a couple of years ago.

Stu Dudley

In 2014, we stayed for 12 days in Toulouse involving a private home exchange. We knew we should do day trips by train or bus but couldn't tear ourselves away from the charm of the Rose City. Sometimes you just really want to get to know a city inside out - investigate all the parks, museums, and historical sights as well as eat at a few favorite restaurants twice.

Our favorite activities included taking a Penny's Toulouse Walking Tour, walking a mile to the Musee Departemental de la Resistance et de la Deportation, checking out Le Jardin du Grand Rond with the sculpture of Saint-Exupery and Le Petit Prince, and eating twice at Christian Constant's restaurant on the Place du Capital. Such fond memories of a very interesting, often overlooked city.