Why Toulouse?

La Ville Rose, (so called because the city has traditionally been built out of red brick and glows beautifully when the sun sets) is young, friendly, warm, dynamic, cosmopolitan, and surrounded by some of the best scenery France has to offer.  The fastest growing city in Francee, it looks across the Pyrenees to Spain for its inspiration, turning its back on "polished Paris" and "bourgeois Bordeaux", looking more towards "bohemian Barcelona" for its inspiration. If you love Spain, but perhaps not its noise, this could be the place for you! There are also some 25 language schools in the city, so plenty of teaching work is usually available after the course. You may also decide to set up as a freelance teacher here - we show you how to do this.

Hotel Assezat

It is the modern combined with the old that makes Toulouse a fun place to live. The historic centre has a feel of Florence or Siena about it, whilst the Airbus industry here means that the city has an international feel, and is very well connected by low-cost European flights.  In some of  the more boisterous restaurants, you can find yourself sharing trestle tables with students (there are over 100,000 of them in Toulouse)on one side of you, and aerospace engineers on the other! Old men play petanque outside as the sun sets, and summer days see young and old  picnicking on the banks of the Garonne river, or pottering around on barges on the Canal du Midi, while Friday evenings in winter see a flow of cars, skis on roof, heading south for a cosy weekend in the Pyrenees, about 70 miles away.

Toulouse is not too touristy, and not too big, so it's easy to feel at home here.  The 500,000 population is enough to inject culture and nightlife to the city. There is always something going on in the place Capitole. Live music, theatre and cinema abound, every night of the week, and there are plenty of activities for children. One can walk across the city centre in 20 minutes, and do some great shopping along the way.

Overall this is a far cry from the “metro, boulot, dodo” life of Paris, or Spanish style din of 6 lane roads cutting through the centre.

The city is unique in its fondness for Rugby,  over soccer. “Il y a un match ce soir”, will be referring to an oval ball showdown, rather than the  Barcelona v Chelsea game on TV at the same time. Rugby gives the city a certain "heartiness" and sense of fair play according to Toulousains. We agree.

"Oh grow up Dad!" Rare snowfall in Toulouse winter 2009

Perhaps the best reason of all to be in Toulouse though, is where it is in Europe:

Just an hour or two away by train or car, in any direction, is wonderful scenery and a selection of very different cultures. North is the Lot valley, the least populated region in France, with endless rolling hills,  twisting rivers, and vineyards. Lovers of Siena in Italy will adore Albi, home of the Cathars, (and birthplace of painter Toulouse-Lautrec), about an hour away.

Driving east, after, if you will,  a delicious Cassoulet  in Castelnaudary, you will stumble upon the charming town of Carcassonne, with it's incredible walled "cite". before arriving an hour later at the Mediterranean to lie on the beach. The Canal du Midi can take you along this whole route by barge, (or bicycle) and many locals and holidaymakers spend the summers doing just that.

Countryside within 10 mile of Toulouse

South, The Pyrenees mountains, a paradise for skiers, walkers,  climbers and cyclists, then Spain on the other side.

A few hours drive or train west brings you to Biarritz, St Jean de Luz  and San Sebastian, all of which are superb destinations on the Bay of Biscay. You could even squeeze in all 3 over a long weekend! The contrasts between France and Spain, while still never leaving the Basque Country, are fascinating.

The only problem is choosing where to go for your weekends away!

Add to this some of the best food in France, and the temptation to live in Toulouse is hard to withstand!

The riverside, city centre

There are  excellent job opportunities for teaching English locally around Toulouse (and nationally -  several of our ex trainees have even set up their own schools in France over the past year).  Suddenly, everyone in France seems to want to learn English! There is currently a shortage of qualified TEFL teachers in the region, combined with an increasing amount of work available.

Research shows that recently, around 20,000 people have been moving to Toulouse every year since 2000. So Shhhhhh! But come quick!

English and French living in harmony