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> Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées / Tourism
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Tourism |
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Ariège
Montségur: last refuge of the Cathars.
Foix: dominated by its central hill-top castle, built by the most illustrious of the Counts of Foix, Gaston Phoebus.
St Lizier: Bishop's palace, cathedral and cloister overlooking St Girons. Summer piano festival.
Prehistoric Ariège: Mas d'Azil, a spectacular, vast natural tunnel that has provided shelter down the ages since prehistoric times. The Pyrenees Prehistoric Art Park, a giant facsimile of prehistoric painted caves (there are some 13 in Ariège). Niaux prehistoric cave network, one of Europe's best for the quality of its wall paintings. Also, the impressive prehistoric sites of La Grotte de la Vache, La Grotte Bédeilhac and La Grotte de Lombrives.
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http://www.ariegepyrenees.com/ |
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Aveyron
Conques: one of France's finest Medieval sites, on the pilgrims' road to Compostella.
Najac: a pretty village, crowned by a cliff-top castle.
Bozouls: small village in a remarkable natural site carved out of the rock by the river.
The Aubrac region: the hills and valleys of Aubrac were much trodden by the Medieval pilgrims on their way to Compostella in northern Spain. Superb walks in this land of wild landscapes and picturesque old villages.
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http://www.cdt-aveyron.fr/uk/sommaire.php |
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Haute Garonne
St Just-de-Valcabrère: one of Romanesque architecture's most beautiful churches.
St Bertrand de Comminges: the cathedral in this fine central Pyrenees village bears witness to the village's cultural importance throughout the ages.
Luchon: France's 5th largest spa town, located in a magnificent natural amphitheatre.
Toulouse: (see Toulouse pages)
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http://www.cdt-haute-garonne.fr/ |
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Gers
Armagnac: the famous 'other' brandy, its vineyards spread over three different areas (called terroirs ).
Auch: with its cathedral and monumental staircases.
Bastides circuit: Jegun, Fleurance, Flamarens, Lectoure, Terraube, Montréal, Mirande, Gimont, etc.
Laressingle: a most impressive scaled-down fortified village.
Eauze: capital of Armagnac, the town is located in the heart of the vineyards.
Flaran: Cistercian Abbey built in 1151, now a cultural centre for concerts, exhibitions and summer-long sound & light Show.
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http://www.gers-gascogne.com/eng/default.asp |
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Lot
Cahors: Europe's last fortified bridge (13th century), a huge-domed cathedral, lots of well-restored and narrow medieval streets.
The Cahors vineyards: one of the oldest wine-producing areas in France, with fine cuisine to match to.
Boating on the river Lot: a long stretch of the meandering Lot waters are navigable, a memorable journey between steep cliffs, often crowned by castles and medieval villages.
Rocamadour: 2nd most visited tourist site in France (after Mont St Michel), a medieval pilgrimage centre seemingly carved out of the sheer rock face.
Gouffre de Padirac: the deepest cave in Europe, naturally formed by the collapse of a vast cave's roof.
St Cirq La Popie: another cliff-top village, reckoned to be the prettiest in France.
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http://www.tourisme-lot.com/us/ |
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Hautes Pyrénées
Pic du Midi Observatory: A 8,000 feet observatory above the Pyrenees valleys, with a worlwide reputation for its solar studies.
Lourdes: Europe's foremost pilgrimage centre.
Cirque de Gavarnie: a sheer wall of snow capped rock, the natural amphitheatre of Gavarnie is 1700 m high and as spectacular today as when it was carved out some 20,000 years ago by a glacier.
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http://www.pyrenees65.com/anglais/index.asp |
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Tarn
Cordes-sur-Ciel: a gorgeous medieval architecture, well restored and looked after by a number of long-established resident artists and crafts people. |
http://en.tourisme-tarn.com/aladecouv/aladecouv.html |
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Although cassoulet (a delicious meat and white-bean stew) is probably the best known local dish, Midi-Pyrenees provides French Cuisine with many of its finest flavours. These include foie gras, wild mushrooms omelet, Armagnac brandy, Roquefort and a number of other excellent cheeses.
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Cuisine
There are so many « typical local dishes » in Midi-Pyrenees as there are « typical places », specific cultural and geographic areas known as terroirs :
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On the upland plains and hillsides of the Causses, Aveyron is famous for its aligot (purée of tomatoes, tomme cheese, cream and garlic), estofinado (made from dried haddock and potatoes), tripoux (tripe, ham and garlic cooked in white wine) and, of course, Roquefort cheese.
There is also gourmet cuisine with Michel Bras, one of France's top Chefs with its wonderful local produce from fragant herbs. |
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South-west, the Gascony plains are home of foie gras, preserved duck and goose dishes and a whole range of pâtés or potted pork. |
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Toulouse also has its own specialities, like cassoulet and saucisse de Toulouse. For the sweet of tooth, violet-scented candies remind local visitors that the flower is a symbol of Toulouse's way of life. Among other prestigious restaurants, next to the Capitole is « Les Jardins de l'Opéra ». Here, the Chef Dominique Toulousy concocts some superb classics, just as an example « Ravioli de foie gras au jus de truffe » (fresh liver ravioli with truffle sauce). |
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Midi-Pyrénées wines
Flanked by the two biggest wine-producing areas in France (Bordeaux and Languedoc), Midi-Pyrenees offers 16 AOCs, each very different.
The geographic diversity and the range of grapestocks produce a wide variety of good, reasonably-priced wines.
Probably the best known are Cahors, Fronton, Gaillac, Madiran, Pacherenc, Saint-Mont and the fiery brandy from Gers : Armagnac.
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| So, « Bon Appetit » ! . |
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The Final Programme is online!
We are very proud to present an extremely attractive programme that offers more than six hundred presentations.
This very rich programme offers a large variety of opportunities. Attendees will be able to compose their own menu, by mixing on-the-edge research and state-of-the-practice results in their own field of expertise, together with surveys and prospective views in other domains of interest.
The overall schedule of sessions and the social events have been designed to facilitate fruitful interactions between attendees.
Join us during a week and share l'esprit de Toulouse !
Jean Claude Laprie
> Posters presenting WCC 2004
will be sent on request .
We rely on you to ensure a large publicity to WCC 2004.
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