Page 346 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
Les Halles Victor Hugo
Start on place Wilson and head along
rue Victor Hugo to Toulouse’s covered
food market (%05 61 22 76 92; www.
STRETCH marchevictorhugo.fr; place Victor Hugo; h7am-
1.30pm Tue-Sun), where shoppers stock up
YOUR LEGS on cheeses, fresh meat and veg. Look
out for the long, curly saucisse de Tou-
louse, the city’s trademark sausage.
TOULOUSE bump elbows with Toulouse’s foodie
For a memorable local experience,
crowd at the busy restaurants on the
1st floor.
The Walk » Follow rue du Périgord, then head
north along rue du Taur.
Start Place Wilson Basilique St-Sernin
This basilica (place St-Sernin; ambulatory
Finish Quai de la Daurade €2.50; h8.30am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 7.30pm Sun)
is one of France’s finest Romanesque
Distance 3km structures. It’s topped by a soaring spire
and octagonal tower, and inside is the
Duration 3 hours tomb of St Sernin himself, sheltered be-
neath a sumptuous canopy. The basilica
is a key stop along one of the four French
Chemin de St-Jacques pilgrimage routes.
Known to locals as ‘La Ville The Walk » Head south on rue du Taur all the
Rose’ (the pink city), Toulouse way to place du Capitole.
has the same sun-baked air as Place du Capitole
the Languedoc to its southeast. At the end of rue du Taur, you’ll emerge
As France’s fourth-largest city, onto place du Capitole, Toulouse’s grand
main square, where Toulousiens turn
it’s a vibrant place, refreshed out on sunny evenings to sip a coffee or
by waterways and well worth a an early aperitif.
On the eastern side is the 128m-long
stroll for its buzzing markets and façade of the Capitole, a neoclassical
atmospheric old quarter. masterpiece in Toulouse’s characteris-
tic pink, built in the early 1750s. Inside
is the spectacular Salle des Illustres
(Hall of the Illustrious), decorated by
artists including post-impressionist
Henri Martin. To the south are the al-
leys of the Vieux Quartier, the heart of
old Toulouse.
The Walk » Take rue de la Pomme, which runs
Take this walk on Trip southeast to another cafe-lined square, place
St-Georges. Before you reach it, turn right onto rue
} des Arts, then right onto rue de Metz, where you’ll
find the museum entrance.

344