Toulouse

So as I mentioned, I spent this past weekend visiting a friend who is studying in Toulouse.  Being that I'd never really been to this region of France I took the opportunity to go see her and the area.

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France, after Paris, Marseille, and Lyon, and has the third largest university.  It's situated in the south of the country, just a couple of hours from the Spanish border, and even closer to the Mediterranean Sea to the southeast.  This area has always been rather independent from the rest of France, and it really shows in the look of the city and its history (which I will tell you about in the next post!)

It feels very much like a university town, and is small enough that all main areas in the center of the city are easily walkable from one to another.  Unlike many of the places in France I've visited it also feels quite modern; it's the French center of many modern industries, including a lot of high-tech stuff.  The buildings are more recent - by that I mean most of what you see is post-17th century - and for the most part don't have the crowded medieval feel of some places here.

Of course the little medieval cobblestone areas do exist in Toulouse as well, they just aren't as prominent.

Toulouse is known as the "pink city" because so many of the buildings are made of that pinkish/orange brick you can see in those pictures.  Overall it does not have the look of many other towns in France, and it often looks a lot more Mediterranean or Spanish-influenced.  Here is the view from my friend's apartment.

The distinctiveness of this area even extends to language: people in this area sometimes still speak Occitan, the Romance language historically spoken southern France, western Italy, and northern Spain.  It's very similar to Spanish and French, but it is closest to Catalan, a more common Latinate variant in northern Spain.  Occitan has a lot of regional varieties and I'm not sure exactly what the Toulouse one is called, but it is required to be on all the official signs in the city.  The spelling and pronunciation seems very Spanish to me.  This first one is all Occitan, while in the second picture (of a street sign) the bottom one is Occitan, the top is French.

One of Toulouse's most prominent features is the Garonne, the river that runs through the city.  The long river banks really pretty, and they set up some nice spots to picnic or just hang out.  The walls along the river are currently being used as a photo gallery.

Here is a small dam in the middle of the city.

There are lots of bridges, all different.  I loved how still the water was this day because it gave such a nice reflection of everything.

 Here is the Pont Neuf, a 17th century bridge.

Some old mills that used to line the river banks; there have been mills recorded in the same place since the 12th century.

A tiny stream that runs off the main river, it's called the Garonnette.

And a bit outside of the city proper is a rather nice walking/bike path along the river.  This area is very quiet; you would almost think you're in the country.

That is, until you get to the bridges and highway a bit later.  Then there is a real city feel, with smelly underpasses and plenty of graffiti (although some is cool).

 I have a lot more to say about Toulouse, but I don't want the posts to get too long so this was just for a general overview.  In the next Toulouse post I'll talk about some of the sites and the history.