A sk French people where they would prefer to live and one answer that keeps coming up is Toulouse. Some 10, people settle here each year, drawn to the romantic ville rose, by the sunny southern climate and the lively bistros and bodegas serving delicious regional cuisine alongside tasty Spanish tapas.
A Latin spirit pervades the city just km from the Spanish border, and the laid-back toulousains could not be more welcoming.
Many of the distinctive red-brick palaces and mansions in the historic centre house world-class museums, and with a ,strong student population, weekends turn into one long fiesta. Five centuries of breathtaking paintings are exhibited in intimate salons: Canaletto, Brueghel, Bosch, Tintoretto. This neighbourhood is a quiet oasis on the other side of the Garonne from the town centre. The medieval cloister and garden are especially magical, surrounded by salons filled with evocative statues and sculptures.
Toulouse has several covered markets but none compares to this foodie paradise, whose 88 stalls include sausage and foie gras specialist Maison Garcia , cheesemonger Chez Betty and artisan chocolatier Busquets.
Groucho at no 39 is by far the most popular, with an immense choice of retro outfits, from Hawaiian shirts to s Gucci sunglasses or original Stan Smith Adidas trainers.
