Unlike
many regions of France Midi-Pyrénées
is not a historic province. It is actually a 20th century invention,
created as a result of the "regionalisation" process that took place in
the 1970s. Like the Pays de la Loire region further north,
Midi-Pyrénées was established in order to create
a region
around a regional metropolis, in this case the city of Toulouse.
The modern Midi-Pyrenees
region encompasses
all or a large part of different historic areas, including
parts of the large former provinces of
Guyenne, Gascony,
and
Languedoc,
and smaller areas, within these larger areas, such as
Rouergue and
Quercy,
the
Albigeois,
and the county of
Foix.
The largest region in France:
Midi-Pyrénées is
the largest region
in metropolitan France, in terms of surface area, and equal largest in
terms of the number of departments covered. It incorporates eight
departments, which are Ariège (09), Aveyron (12),
Haute-Garonne
(31), Gers (32), Lot
(46), Hautes-Pyrénées
(65), Tarn (81) and Tarn-et-Garonne (82). The
region covers
a total surface area of 45,348 km², making it larger than
either
Belgium or Switzerland; and stretching some 400 kilometres from
north-east to south-west, it is not surprisingly a region that somehow
lacks any strong regional identity. Within this region, towns and
traditions tend to identify themselves more with the historic provinces
to which they once belonged, than to the modern-day region.
Regional towns and cities
The city of Toulouse, lying more or
less in the
centre of the region, is by far the biggest city. Although this is the
largest region in France, over a third of the entire population live in
the Toulouse urban area, and the Haute Garonne department, surrounding
Toulouse, accounts for well over 40% of the regional population. The
region's second largest urban area, surrounding the city of Tarbes,
capital of the Hautes Pyrenees department, is ten times smaller than
the Toulouse urban area. The only other towns with a population of over
40,000 are Montauban, Albi and Castres.
A rural region
From all the above, it is not too hard
to
understand that Midi Pyrénées is essentially a
rural
area. In fact, apart from the Toulouse hub, it is a very rural area
(just 54 inhabitants per sq. km, half the national average),
and the leading agricultural region in France. Stretching from the
Massif Central in the north east, to the Pyrenees in the south, it is
an area that includes a wide diversity of agricultural land and
production. The lower lying area in the Haute Garonne, Gers and Tarn
departments is one of the richest and most productive agricultural
areas of France, producing a variety of crops including maize,
sunflowers and wheat. But recent dry summers have begun to cause a
rethinking about the viability of growing maize in the region, as it is
a crop that needs copious watering in this southern climate.
The region also has sizeable vineyards,
such as in the areas round Gaillac, north of Toulouse, and
the Armagnac area, which lies partly in Midi-Pyrenees, partly
in
Aquitaine. However
this is not one of France's greatest wine producing areas.
The southern and northeastern parts of
the region are very different from the plains. While traditional houses
on the low-lying land have a classic southern-European look, with red
"roman" tiles on their roofs, those in the higher regions look very
different, with their roofs of slate or "lozes" - thin slabs of stone.
Drive northeast from Toulouse, and after Albi, a beautiful
little city on the Tarn, the road rises towards the
Ségala and the Ruthénois, and villages here look
very different. This is a region of gently rolling hills and valleys,
and livestock farming. Cattle in the lower area, but increasingly sheep
farming as one moves further up into the "Causses", fairly dry
limestone plateaux famous as the production area of France's most
famous
cheese,
Roquefort (a blue cheese made from ewe's milk). In the extreme north of
the Aveyron department, the land rises to about 1200 metres, the
southern flank of the Aubrac moors, a fairly desolate area of the
southern Massif Central, where the granite rocks are never far below
the surface.
At the southern end of the region, the
Pyrenees, rising to over 3000 metres on the Spanish border, offer all
the attractions of a high mountain area - in both summer and winter.
This is real mountain country, where wooded foothills give way
to mountain pastures and open terrain at higher altitudes.
This area is popular with skiers in winter, and with ramblers and other
outdoor enthusiasts in the summer months; it also containes one of the
few National Parks in France., as well as the world-famous pilgrimage
centre of Lourdes.
Access:
by
train (TGV) from Paris Gare Montparnasse or Gare de Lyon. Express train from Paris gare d'Austerlitz. Access by car from the UK,
via any
of the Channel ports, from Roscoff (Brittany) to Calais. By air:
Toulouse-Blagnac is one of the best served of France's regional
airports. There are also airports at Lourdes, and Rodez with flights from London.
Some of
the main
tourist attractions in
Midi Pyrénées
(But
this is a very big region, and to list them all would be a mammoth
task...)
The historic centre of Albi,
dominated by its unique mediaeval fortified St. Cecelia's
cathedral.
The High Pyrenees National Park
Cahors, capital of the Lot, with its famous mediaeval bridge
Photos
on this page, copyright About-France.com
except for the High Pyrenees and Cahors pictures, which are published
under the GNU licence. |
- Toulouse
(31), Regional capital; the "Ville rose", or pink city, on
account of the warm colour of the local brick. Cathedral, Canal du
Midi, Place du Capitole. Musée des Augustins.
- Albi:
(81) Historic city on the Tarn, with a unique mediaeval redbrick
fortified cathedral. Also the Toulouse Lautrec art gallery.
- Castres
(81). Goya museum, with a major collection of Spanish art.
- Cordes sur Ciel. (81) Small mediaeval town perched dramatically on a hilltop above the river Cérou.
- Tarbes:
(65) genteel town in the foothills of the Pyrenees
- Lourdes
(65) The most famous Catholic pilgrimage centre in France, where the
Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant girl in1858
- Pyrenees
National Park (65) spectacular area of high mountain,
including the Cirque de Gavarnie.
- Foix:
(09) historic capital of the Ariège
- Rodez:(12)
capital of the Rouergue. Large 14th century cathedral, old
city centre. Musée Fénaille with world class
collection of prehistoric carved menhirs.
- Roquefort:(12)
visit the caves, where the famous cheese is matured.
- Millau
(12) The Millau viaduct, the world's highest road bridge.
- Conques.
(12) One of the finest romanesque churches in France, with
remarkable sculptures. (UNESCO world heritage site).
- Cahors
(46) The capital city of the Lot department is famous for its old
streets and its unusual fortified mediaeval bridge.
- Bastide towns: Many of these famous fortified medieval towns are in this region
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