Por el camino

Toulouse: conocida como «la ville rose» por el tono de sus edificios de terracota, la ciudad combina un destacado legado aeroespacial con una exquisita gastronomía local y una efervescente vida cultural. Explora sus encantadoras plazas y sus animados mercados, donde los aromas de las delicias regionales envuelven cada rincón.No te pierdas la impresionante Cité de l’Espace, una experiencia inmersiva que te lleva a descubrir el fascinante mundo de la exploración espacial y la aviación.

HAUTE-GARONNE (31)

Population: 1,400,039
Prefecture: Toulouse
Sub-prefectures: Muret, Saint Gaudens
Surface area: 6,309 km²
Specialities: cassoulet, Toulouse sausage, foie gras, duck breast, Toulouse violets, AOP Fronton wine, AOC Cadours garlic, IGP des Pyrénées lamb, AOC Bigorre black pork, Label Rouge Lauragais veal.
Sports: mountaineering, horse riding, climbing, hiking (Via Garona GR861, GR10, GR46, GR653, GR86), rugby, caving, white water sports on the Garonne (canoeing, kayaking, hydrospeed, rafting), aerial sports (paragliding, gliding, microlight aircraft), winter sports (skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding), mountain biking (FFC Pyrénées Comminges), sailing.
Sports clubs: Stade Toulousain, Toulouse Football Club, Fénix Toulouse Handball, Toulouse Métropole Basket, Spacers Volleyball, TOXIII, Union Sportive Colomiers Rugby.
Competitions: Luchon Aneto Trail (Luchon has the Station Trail label), Trail du Mourtis, Trail Toulouse Métropole, Trail du Cagire.
Festivals: 31 Notes d'Eté, Jazz sur son 31, Luchon Television Festival, Printemps du rire, Rio Loco, Comminges Festival Saint Bertrand de Comminges, Toulouse les Orgues...
Economy: Aeronautics and space, tourism, 4 ski resorts, winegrowing (Fronton)
Outstanding sites: Aurignacian Museum, Saint Bertrand de Comminges listed as one of the "Most Beautiful Villages in France"; Martres-Tolosane and Revel awarded the "Villes et Métiers d'Art" label; Lake Saint Ferréol; the Unesco-listed Canal du Midi with its greenway; Lake Oô in the central Pyrenees; Cité de l'Espace, Saint Sernin Basilica, one of the largest Romanesque basilicas in Europe...
By bike: 50 sites with the Accueil Vélo label. Route des cols Pyrénéens (Pyrenean mountain passes) with specific signposting (altitude difference, etc.). The department is crossed by the Canal des 2 Mers à Vélo, with a greenway running alongside the Canal du Midi. 3 cycle routes, including one along the Garonne, from Carbonne to the Pyrenees, which will soon link up with Spain (Trans Garona).
Websites and social networks: http://www.haute-garonne.fr/ http://hautegaronnetourisme.com, https://www.facebook.com/TourismeHG/, https://twitter.com/TourismeHG, https://www.instagram.com/tourismehg

Seilh (Pop: 3,300)

This commune is home to the Toulouse-Seilh golf course, with two 18-hole courses. The commune has one building listed as a Historical Monument, Château de Rochemontès (17th century, one of the few Louis XIII-style châteaux in Toulouse). Its garden is attributed to Le Nôtre. The estate hosts weddings, seminars and various cultural events.

Grenade (Pop: 9,030)

Founded in 1290 as a fortified town, Granada is now an urban commune, with a sharp rise in population since 1975. Grenade is the largest town in the Hauts Tolosans and Pays Tolosan community of municipalities. The town's architectural heritage includes four buildings protected as historical monuments: the bridge over the river Save, listed in 1926, the church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, listed in 1951, the market hall, listed in 1979, and the Ursulines convent, listed in 1988.

Grenade market hall
Construction: 13th century.
History: Granada boasts one of the oldest and largest medieval market halls in France (1,800 m2). This remarkable building was built by the city's founders for commercial and administrative purposes. The ground floor was used for fairs and markets, while the monumental roof structure housed the common rooms: Grenade's first town hall.
Characteristics: its three-storey roof structure is topped by a belfry, and the thirty-six octagonal pillars are made of pink bricks typical of the Toulouse region. The oldest timber in the structure, softwood and oak, was cut in the 13th century. Square in plan, it measures 134 feet on each side, or around 41 metres.
Current use: the market hall remains at the heart of the town and is the venue for the weekly Saturday morning market.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1979.

Fronton (Pop: 6,410)

In the 12th century, with the protection of Pope Calixtus II who came to consecrate the church in 1119, the vineyards became the property of the Hospitallers of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The Order built the village around the church of St. John the Baptist, built on the site of the present-day church. Pious donations poured in and the Order created a commandery in Fronton. The village was built in the shelter of moats and ramparts, and life was organised under the protection of the seigniorial castle. This vineyard, one of the oldest in France, made Fronton's fortune. The reputation of the wines did not reach its peak until the 18th century, when the protectionism enjoyed by Gironde wines came to an end and the wines could be exported via Bordeaux to the whole of Europe. This prosperity did not last long, however, until phylloxera broke out at the end of the 19th century. Thanks to the tenacious efforts of generations of winegrowers, Fronton wines regained their letters of nobility by obtaining the appellation d'origine contrôlée in 1975. The renown of Fronton wine was also recognised when the INES cuvée won the prize for the best rosé wine in the world in 2008.

Lanta (Pop: 2,270)

Lanta was a stronghold of Catharism (12th and 12th centuries), of which the Hunaud de Lanta family, linked to Montségur, were fervent followers. The Hunauds were later leaders of the Protestant uprising in Toulouse in March 1562. The lands of Lanta and this part of the Lauragais later belonged to the family of Pierre-Paul Riquet, creator of Canal du Midi.

Baziège (Pop: 3,590)

Baziège has two churches: the church of Saint-Étienne, listed as a historical monument in 1950, and the chapel of Sainte-Colombe, listed in 1986. The former, rebuilt in the 16th century, has a fortified bell tower and bears witness to the violence of the period when it was rebuilt, while the latter also has a gabled bell tower typical of the Lauragais region. There is also an "aeronautical lighthouse", a kind of concrete pillar lit up in the dark, which was used to help aircraft flying at night find their way around in the 1920s and 1930s. Only three lighthouses of this type remain in the Toulouse region, a pioneer in aviation. The Baziège lighthouse was located on the Toulouse-Narbonne route and served as a guide for such prestigious airmen as Mermoz, Saint-Exupéry and Guillaumet.

Montgiscard (Pop: 2,120)

Its pretty 15th-century church, with its typical regional bell tower, has made a name for a town in which the economist Bernard Maris, murdered in the attack on Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, lived and was buried. It is also the birthplace of singer Pauline Ester.

Castanet-Tolosan (Pop: 15,260)

On the banks of the Canal du Midi, 11 km from Toulouse, Castanet-Tolosan has become a large residential suburb of the pink city. Its heritage (a lock, an aqueduct) is mainly linked to the canal. 

Lacroix-Falgarde (Pop: 2,050)

Lacroix-Falgarde castle
Built: 1574
History: the château bears witness to the pastel era that made the Lauragais region so rich. François Delpuech, lord of the commune and a wealthy pastel-maker, had the castle built in 1574. The work was entrusted to two master masons, Raymon Huffernec and Raymond de Vaulx. By August 1580, the building was habitable. On the first floor, in the great hall, there is a magnificent fireplace with moulded bricks. It is thought to be the work of Dominique Bachelier.
Characteristics: rectangular country house with corner pavilions, in the Toulouse tradition for its brickwork and detailed elevations. The buildings are arranged around a rectangular courtyard, the entrance side of which is formed by a wall at the centre of which is the gateway framed by pilasters. The outbuildings line the sides of the courtyard, their facades adorned with pilasters bearing arcades. The main building occupies the back of the courtyard and opens through a door in the shape of an Ionic triumphal arch, preceded by a horseshoe-shaped porch. The windows have retained their stone cross-pieces with sculpted mullions. The building still has some defensive features. It was surrounded by a moat and the bastioned corner pavilions were pierced by loopholes. Inside, some of the rooms still have their French ceilings and fireplaces.
Current use: the château has been restored to provide flats.
Listed as: Historical Monument i

Vieille-Toulouse (Pop: 1,220)

The town owes its name to an ancient Gallic oppidum spread over more than 8 km and 300 ha around three hills. Occupied by the Tolosates tribe, it was home to almost 5,000 inhabitants and became known as Tolosa Tectosagum after the Roman occupation. In the first century, the site was abandoned in favour of the new city built by the Romans, which later became Toulouse.