brisavoine
November 23rd, 2007, 06:10 PM
A skyscraper was announced for Toulouse two weeks ago!! This is Toulouse's first skyscraper. So it's time to start a thread about one of France's most dynamic and attractive cities.
Toulouse
(hear local pronunciation here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Fr-Toulouse-Accent.ogg) (it's not me!), Parisian pronunciation here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Fr-Toulouse.ogg) (not me either); you'll need to install this software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help_%28Ogg%29) to listen to the files)
Located in South-West France on the banks of the Garonne River, Toulouse is the fifth-largest city in France, with 440,000 inhabitants in the city proper and 1.1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area. The city is in the middle of a demographic and economic boom. The population of the metropolitan area has doubled in the past 40 years. At the moment Toulouse is the metropolitan area above one million inhabitants with the fastest population growth in Europe (nearly +2% a year). If current trends continue, the population of the metro area should be above 2 million by the middle of the century.
Of course the boom experienced by Toulouse is due to the fact that it is the homebase of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, and CNES's Toulouse Space Center (CST), the largest space center in Europe. Thales Alenia Space, Europe's largest satellite manufacturer, and EADS Astrium Satellites, EADS's satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. The A380, the largest commercial plane in the world, is assembled and tested in Toulouse.
Toulouse is often regarded as the cultural capital of Occitania, the southern regions of France where the Occitan language was traditionally spoken, even though in Toulouse the French language has long replaced Occitan. For those visiting Toulouse for the first time, it has an allure decidedly different from the rest of France, especially from Paris. The accent is very different from Paris (and even Marseille), the mentality is also quite different from northern France, but it takes time living there to get a grasp of it. The national sport in Toulouse and South-West France is rugby and not football/soccer like in Paris, Marseille and most of the rest of France. Above all, the architecture is what strikes immediately the visitor : contrary to Paris and most French cities which are built of white limestone, Toulouse is built of pinkish bricks, hence its nickname : the "Pink City" (la Ville Rose). Pinkish brick architecture is not limited to Toulouse, it is actually the architecture of the region surrounding Toulouse, from Muret and Pamiers in the south to Montauban and Castelsarrasin in the north, and from Albi in the east to L'Isle-Jourdain in the west. Albi and Montauban are priceless jewels of pinkish brick architecture, same as Toulouse.
All things considered, Toulouse is often ranked in French polls as the most favorite city to live. Before coming to the skyscraper project, here are some famous landmarks in this beautiful city.
Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge over the Garonne river, with the old city of Toulouse and its pink brick architecture.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/pontneuf.jpg
Place du Capitole, the central square of the city, with the beautiful city hall of Toulouse, known as the Capitole (i.e. the "Capitol", a reference to Roman antiquity).
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/capitole.jpg
Sidewalk cafés line the Place du Capitole, known as Place du Cap' to the locals.
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/2607/capht6.jpg
At the center of the square is an Occitan Cross, the symbol of Occitania and Toulouse. It was the coat of arms of the counts of Toulouse in the Middle Ages, at a time when the County of Toulouse, extending all the way to the Rhône river, was quasi-independent from the kings of France, and the counts of Toulouse lead several crusades in the Holy Land.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/croixdulanguedoc.jpg
The Capitole is a marvelous building built in the 18th century mixing the pink brick of Toulouse and the white limestone of northern France.
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/newsletters/sscs/jul03/web%20stuff/web_images/capitole_300dpi.jpg
http://www.cict.fr/toulouse/images/CapitoleMT.jpg
The facade is adorned with 8 pink marble columns from the marble quarries of Caune near the Pyrenees, the same quarries that provided the Grand Trianon of Versailles with its pink marbles. The 8 columns symbolize the 8 city councilors that made up the municipality before the French Revolution. The city councilors were known as the Capitouls, and their official gown was red and white, which are still the colors of the Toulouse rugby team today. Note the coat of arms of the kings of France (the fleur-de-lis) above the coat of arms of the French Republic, quite symbolic of France's history.
http://www.francealacarte.com/images/capitole_smo.jpg
The cloister of the Jacobins, a jewel of Occitan gothic architecture, was part of the former monastery of the Dominicans, a mendicant order founded to fight the Cathar heresy. The kings of France took advantage of the crusade led against the Cathars to seize Toulouse and marry the daughter of the last count of Toulouse with the younger brother of King Saint-Louis of France. And so Toulouse became a French city.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/jacobins.jpg
http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/escap/sudouest/toulouse/images/jacobins.jpg
The cloister church is an exceptional monument in which the relics of St Thomas Aquinas are worshipped. The 28-meter-high ribbed vaults comprising the famed and gigantic so-called “palmier”, one column whose ribs fan out resembling a palm-tree, is a very famous landmark.
http://www.jp.culture.fr/saisie-jep.culture.fr:8080/jep-ressources/73/images/73_SIT_102749.jpg
Place Saint-Georges where the Protestant Jean Calas was executed on the breaking wheel in the 18th century, a miscarriage of justice made famous by Voltaire. The square is now a bustling and joyful place with sidewalk cafés and restaurants light-years from its dark past.
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5673/stgeorgesq7.jpg
There are lots of bodegas in Toulouse, which cater to the big student population of the city (120,000 students in town, the third largest concentration of student after Paris and Lyon).
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3610/bodega1ls8.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1302/bodega2bs4.jpg
The Canal du Midi linking Toulouse to the Mediterranean was built in the 17th century under Louis XIV and is now a favorite spot for joggers and strollers.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/canaldumidi.jpg
The spectacular Saint-Sernin basilica, the largest Romanesque church in Europe, built around 1100 at a time when the counts of Toulouse were more powerful than the kings of France themselves.
http://www.jacobins.mairie-toulouse.fr/patrhist/photos/sernin1.jpg
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/989/stserninrk5.jpg
On a clear day the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees can be seen 100 km (60 miles) in the distance as the crow flies.
http://toulousains.free.fr/Photos/Pages_Photos/Centre_Ville/Grandes_Photos/St%20Sernin%20Vue%20A%E9rienne.jpg
The medieval street of rue du Taur (literally "street of the bull") links the Place du Capitole to Saint-Sernin basilica, commemorating the martyrdom or St Sernin, drawn alive by a bull where this street stands now and whose dead body was discarded where the St Sernin basilica stands now.
http://www.ruedutaur.com/PHProg/photos/Acc%E8s%20rue/Rue%20du%20Taur%20-%202.jpg
Rue Saint-Rome was the main street of the Roman city of Toulouse in antiquity, and is still the busiest shopping street in the city center, with thick crowds on Saturday afternoons.
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/4219/stromecp7.jpg
Contrary to so many cities in northern France, Toulouse was far enough from Germany and has survived both world wars unscathed (no major combat in the area, no bombing raids). The medieval heart of Toulouse is thus nearly completely intact. Many little squares are hidden among the lace of tiny meandering medieval streets.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/383686019_af706b7ef9_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/383665181_b1f2608700_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/423938581_41c9363765.jpg?v=0
Several Renaissance mansions are a testimony to the wealth of Toulouse merchants around 1500 when Toulouse was the main producer of woad (or glastum, or pastel in French) used across Europe to dye clothes and fabric blue, before the Spaniards discovered the indigo plant in the Americas and ruined Toulouse's main trade.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/France_Toulouse_hotel_vieux_raizin2.jpg/800px-France_Toulouse_hotel_vieux_raizin2.jpg
The quais of Toulouse are well worth those of Paris.
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/3320/test1su8.jpg
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8429/test2xw9.jpg
At sunset the entire city becomes rosy due to the reflection of the setting sun on the pink bricks.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1971/test3wr7.jpg
On the left bank of the Garonne is the 18th-century dome of the city's oldest hospital, a famous landmark in Toulouse.
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1609/test4fp4.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1238/774817881_222e378093_o.jpg
But let's recall that Toulouse is now first and foremost a city of aviation.
http://z.about.com/d/french/1/0/H/s/1/domedelagrave.jpg
http://bakwaba.club.fr/Images/airbus_toulouse.gif
The huge assembly plant of the A380, located in the northwestern suburbs, is the largest building in Europe.
http://www.mairie-blagnac.fr/ezimagecatalogue/catalogue/variations/206-500x380.jpg
http://www.lariposte.com/IMG/jpg/A380_in_Toulouse.jpg
The A380 above Toulouse's orbital motorway.
http://bakwaba.club.fr/Images/a_380_toulouse02.gif
Toulouse is also the European capital of the space industry. Here CNES's Toulouse Space Center (CST) to the south of the city.
http://cadmos.cnes.fr/content/default/contacts2/en/data/1164303555687.jpeg
Cité de l'espace (Space City museum complex) to the east of the city.
http://capcomespace.net/dossiers/expositions/europe/cite_espace/vue%20generale%2004.jpg
Astrium satellite plant to the south-east of the city.
http://www.esa.int/images/051128-095_L.jpg
People in Toulouse are proud of their new automated métro whose second line opened this year.
http://leportailferroviaire.free.fr/urbain/mt206.jpg
http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/une-2e-ligne-de-metro-a-toulouse/image/28235.jpg
http://www.linternaute.com/imprimer/actualite/une-2e-ligne-de-metro-a-toulouse/image/28290.jpg
New interchange station at Jean-Jaurès.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/France_Toulouse_metro_jean_jaur%C3%A8s_200707.jpg/600px-France_Toulouse_metro_jean_jaur%C3%A8s_200707.jpg
But what use would be a métro station if it didn't advertise rugby...
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4015/rugbykr7.jpg
...because after all Toulouse without rugby would simply not be Toulouse.
http://toulouse2007.lnet.fr/fr/public/rugby_place_cap.jpg
http://www.france2007.toulouse.fr/fr/public/liesse_capitole_haute_def.jpg
Toulouse
(hear local pronunciation here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Fr-Toulouse-Accent.ogg) (it's not me!), Parisian pronunciation here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Fr-Toulouse.ogg) (not me either); you'll need to install this software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help_%28Ogg%29) to listen to the files)
Located in South-West France on the banks of the Garonne River, Toulouse is the fifth-largest city in France, with 440,000 inhabitants in the city proper and 1.1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area. The city is in the middle of a demographic and economic boom. The population of the metropolitan area has doubled in the past 40 years. At the moment Toulouse is the metropolitan area above one million inhabitants with the fastest population growth in Europe (nearly +2% a year). If current trends continue, the population of the metro area should be above 2 million by the middle of the century.
Of course the boom experienced by Toulouse is due to the fact that it is the homebase of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, and CNES's Toulouse Space Center (CST), the largest space center in Europe. Thales Alenia Space, Europe's largest satellite manufacturer, and EADS Astrium Satellites, EADS's satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. The A380, the largest commercial plane in the world, is assembled and tested in Toulouse.
Toulouse is often regarded as the cultural capital of Occitania, the southern regions of France where the Occitan language was traditionally spoken, even though in Toulouse the French language has long replaced Occitan. For those visiting Toulouse for the first time, it has an allure decidedly different from the rest of France, especially from Paris. The accent is very different from Paris (and even Marseille), the mentality is also quite different from northern France, but it takes time living there to get a grasp of it. The national sport in Toulouse and South-West France is rugby and not football/soccer like in Paris, Marseille and most of the rest of France. Above all, the architecture is what strikes immediately the visitor : contrary to Paris and most French cities which are built of white limestone, Toulouse is built of pinkish bricks, hence its nickname : the "Pink City" (la Ville Rose). Pinkish brick architecture is not limited to Toulouse, it is actually the architecture of the region surrounding Toulouse, from Muret and Pamiers in the south to Montauban and Castelsarrasin in the north, and from Albi in the east to L'Isle-Jourdain in the west. Albi and Montauban are priceless jewels of pinkish brick architecture, same as Toulouse.
All things considered, Toulouse is often ranked in French polls as the most favorite city to live. Before coming to the skyscraper project, here are some famous landmarks in this beautiful city.
Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge over the Garonne river, with the old city of Toulouse and its pink brick architecture.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/pontneuf.jpg
Place du Capitole, the central square of the city, with the beautiful city hall of Toulouse, known as the Capitole (i.e. the "Capitol", a reference to Roman antiquity).
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/capitole.jpg
Sidewalk cafés line the Place du Capitole, known as Place du Cap' to the locals.
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/2607/capht6.jpg
At the center of the square is an Occitan Cross, the symbol of Occitania and Toulouse. It was the coat of arms of the counts of Toulouse in the Middle Ages, at a time when the County of Toulouse, extending all the way to the Rhône river, was quasi-independent from the kings of France, and the counts of Toulouse lead several crusades in the Holy Land.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/croixdulanguedoc.jpg
The Capitole is a marvelous building built in the 18th century mixing the pink brick of Toulouse and the white limestone of northern France.
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/newsletters/sscs/jul03/web%20stuff/web_images/capitole_300dpi.jpg
http://www.cict.fr/toulouse/images/CapitoleMT.jpg
The facade is adorned with 8 pink marble columns from the marble quarries of Caune near the Pyrenees, the same quarries that provided the Grand Trianon of Versailles with its pink marbles. The 8 columns symbolize the 8 city councilors that made up the municipality before the French Revolution. The city councilors were known as the Capitouls, and their official gown was red and white, which are still the colors of the Toulouse rugby team today. Note the coat of arms of the kings of France (the fleur-de-lis) above the coat of arms of the French Republic, quite symbolic of France's history.
http://www.francealacarte.com/images/capitole_smo.jpg
The cloister of the Jacobins, a jewel of Occitan gothic architecture, was part of the former monastery of the Dominicans, a mendicant order founded to fight the Cathar heresy. The kings of France took advantage of the crusade led against the Cathars to seize Toulouse and marry the daughter of the last count of Toulouse with the younger brother of King Saint-Louis of France. And so Toulouse became a French city.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/jacobins.jpg
http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/escap/sudouest/toulouse/images/jacobins.jpg
The cloister church is an exceptional monument in which the relics of St Thomas Aquinas are worshipped. The 28-meter-high ribbed vaults comprising the famed and gigantic so-called “palmier”, one column whose ribs fan out resembling a palm-tree, is a very famous landmark.
http://www.jp.culture.fr/saisie-jep.culture.fr:8080/jep-ressources/73/images/73_SIT_102749.jpg
Place Saint-Georges where the Protestant Jean Calas was executed on the breaking wheel in the 18th century, a miscarriage of justice made famous by Voltaire. The square is now a bustling and joyful place with sidewalk cafés and restaurants light-years from its dark past.
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5673/stgeorgesq7.jpg
There are lots of bodegas in Toulouse, which cater to the big student population of the city (120,000 students in town, the third largest concentration of student after Paris and Lyon).
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3610/bodega1ls8.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1302/bodega2bs4.jpg
The Canal du Midi linking Toulouse to the Mediterranean was built in the 17th century under Louis XIV and is now a favorite spot for joggers and strollers.
http://www.lcc-toulouse.fr/ciam/canaldumidi.jpg
The spectacular Saint-Sernin basilica, the largest Romanesque church in Europe, built around 1100 at a time when the counts of Toulouse were more powerful than the kings of France themselves.
http://www.jacobins.mairie-toulouse.fr/patrhist/photos/sernin1.jpg
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/989/stserninrk5.jpg
On a clear day the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees can be seen 100 km (60 miles) in the distance as the crow flies.
http://toulousains.free.fr/Photos/Pages_Photos/Centre_Ville/Grandes_Photos/St%20Sernin%20Vue%20A%E9rienne.jpg
The medieval street of rue du Taur (literally "street of the bull") links the Place du Capitole to Saint-Sernin basilica, commemorating the martyrdom or St Sernin, drawn alive by a bull where this street stands now and whose dead body was discarded where the St Sernin basilica stands now.
http://www.ruedutaur.com/PHProg/photos/Acc%E8s%20rue/Rue%20du%20Taur%20-%202.jpg
Rue Saint-Rome was the main street of the Roman city of Toulouse in antiquity, and is still the busiest shopping street in the city center, with thick crowds on Saturday afternoons.
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/4219/stromecp7.jpg
Contrary to so many cities in northern France, Toulouse was far enough from Germany and has survived both world wars unscathed (no major combat in the area, no bombing raids). The medieval heart of Toulouse is thus nearly completely intact. Many little squares are hidden among the lace of tiny meandering medieval streets.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/383686019_af706b7ef9_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/383665181_b1f2608700_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/423938581_41c9363765.jpg?v=0
Several Renaissance mansions are a testimony to the wealth of Toulouse merchants around 1500 when Toulouse was the main producer of woad (or glastum, or pastel in French) used across Europe to dye clothes and fabric blue, before the Spaniards discovered the indigo plant in the Americas and ruined Toulouse's main trade.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/France_Toulouse_hotel_vieux_raizin2.jpg/800px-France_Toulouse_hotel_vieux_raizin2.jpg
The quais of Toulouse are well worth those of Paris.
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/3320/test1su8.jpg
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8429/test2xw9.jpg
At sunset the entire city becomes rosy due to the reflection of the setting sun on the pink bricks.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1971/test3wr7.jpg
On the left bank of the Garonne is the 18th-century dome of the city's oldest hospital, a famous landmark in Toulouse.
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1609/test4fp4.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1238/774817881_222e378093_o.jpg
But let's recall that Toulouse is now first and foremost a city of aviation.
http://z.about.com/d/french/1/0/H/s/1/domedelagrave.jpg
http://bakwaba.club.fr/Images/airbus_toulouse.gif
The huge assembly plant of the A380, located in the northwestern suburbs, is the largest building in Europe.
http://www.mairie-blagnac.fr/ezimagecatalogue/catalogue/variations/206-500x380.jpg
http://www.lariposte.com/IMG/jpg/A380_in_Toulouse.jpg
The A380 above Toulouse's orbital motorway.
http://bakwaba.club.fr/Images/a_380_toulouse02.gif
Toulouse is also the European capital of the space industry. Here CNES's Toulouse Space Center (CST) to the south of the city.
http://cadmos.cnes.fr/content/default/contacts2/en/data/1164303555687.jpeg
Cité de l'espace (Space City museum complex) to the east of the city.
http://capcomespace.net/dossiers/expositions/europe/cite_espace/vue%20generale%2004.jpg
Astrium satellite plant to the south-east of the city.
http://www.esa.int/images/051128-095_L.jpg
People in Toulouse are proud of their new automated métro whose second line opened this year.
http://leportailferroviaire.free.fr/urbain/mt206.jpg
http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/une-2e-ligne-de-metro-a-toulouse/image/28235.jpg
http://www.linternaute.com/imprimer/actualite/une-2e-ligne-de-metro-a-toulouse/image/28290.jpg
New interchange station at Jean-Jaurès.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/France_Toulouse_metro_jean_jaur%C3%A8s_200707.jpg/600px-France_Toulouse_metro_jean_jaur%C3%A8s_200707.jpg
But what use would be a métro station if it didn't advertise rugby...
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4015/rugbykr7.jpg
...because after all Toulouse without rugby would simply not be Toulouse.
http://toulouse2007.lnet.fr/fr/public/rugby_place_cap.jpg
http://www.france2007.toulouse.fr/fr/public/liesse_capitole_haute_def.jpg