TOULOUSE
Thanks to the Toulouse Parliament, the city had more than 130 magistrates on the eve of the French Revolution. Some of the court’s senior officials built sumptuous private mansions here, close to the Dalbade church. But did you know that on the other side of the mirror, this district has a far less chic face?
During the tour, the guide will take you to where the lower branch of the Garonne, known as the Garonnette, once flowed. It separated a strip of land from the rest of the city, like a world apart: the island of Tounis. Its inhabitants, the “tounisiens”, lived a poor and difficult life around the dye works and slaughterhouses. The Garonnette was drained in 1954.
The guide will then tell you some more surprising stories, with a hint of hops and street art, but above all he will take you along the noble rue de la Dalbade. You’ll be introduced to the “white” church and the soldier monks of the Hôtel des Chevaliers de Saint-Jean. Finally, you’ll have an exclusive look at François de Clary’s inner courtyard and Gilles Le Mazuyer’s fabulous garden.
If you go through the looking glass, you’ll never see the reflection of this district in the same light again…
