Toulouse has two characters, and they sit on the same streets. One is the pink city, built from handmade brick that glows rose and orange in evening light, with a square, a basilica and a long river of old merchants' houses. The other is the aerospace city, home to Airbus and a museum of flight, whose engineers have shaped the modern aviation of Europe. The two live side by side, and they give the city a pleasing mix of old stone and ambitious young people.
The Basilica of Saint-Sernin is the monument to see. Built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries on the grave of the city's first bishop, it is the largest surviving Romanesque church in Europe, with a tall tower of tiered arches and a vast interior of stone. Nearby, the Capitole, the city hall, stands on its great square with a long, pink façade, and the Garonne flows beneath the old bridge. The city's food is no less impressive: cassoulet, a stew of beans and duck or sausage, is the local passion, and violets, candied and scented, are the odd local sweet.
As a start and finish for a ride, Toulouse is a large and easy place. With over 430,000 people, it has fuel at every corner, and the ring road gives quick access to the countryside. From here you can head east into the Lauragais, a gentle farming region, or south toward the Pyrenees, whose white summits are visible from the city on a clear day. The traffic is heavy at rush hour, and the narrow streets in the centre are best left to scooters and bicycles. The tram and metro are good, and many riders park outside and take them in.
Toulouse can be fierce in July and August, with temperatures well above thirty degrees, and a spring or autumn visit is far more comfortable. When the evening comes and the bricks glow, find a café on a square and watch the city light up.