Toulouse

Flicking through a guidebook over a café-au-lait in Place Esquirol you begin to get the feeling that you're in two places at once. On one hand, France's fourth city and the birthplace of Concorde prides herself in being at the cutting edge of European aeronautics, while on the other, her ancient rose-hued streets are dotted with Romanesque churches, cloistered courtyards and renaissance townhouses.

The ambience is equally unique - big business ticking away efficiently in an unmistakably laid-back atmosphere, tempered by the proximity of the Spanish border and the second largest student population in the country.

Toulouse takes her nickname of 'La Ville Rose' (the pink city) from the dusty pink bricks of the medieval Vieux Quartier. At the centre, the mighty Basilique St-Sernin has been an important stop-off on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella since the 11th Century, and is the largest Romanesque church this side of Istanbul's Santa Sofia.

Proving that size isn't everything, the smaller but perfectly formed Eglise des Jacobins, which inspired Salvador Dali's painting Santiago El Grande, and the surrounding cloisters are a favourite venue for summer concerts.

Aside from gastronomy, (Toulouse is the famous birthplace of cassoulet) the city's other main passion is art. Many of the big museums huddle round the thriving hub of the Place du Capitole, but it's worth making it down to the right bank of the Garonne to visit Les Abattoirs - a vast gentrified abattoir that houses more than 2000 contemporary works.

More classical tastes are catered for in the private Bemberg Foundation hanging in the renaissance splendour of Hotel d'Assezat.

For a glimpse of Toulouse's ultra-modern alter ego, and for those with a passion for everything arial, a 20-minute taxi ride out of town will take you to the Cité de L'Espace, 3.5 hectares of interactive science including life-size models of the Mir space station and the Ariane rocket.

Trips can also be made to the colossal Airbus factory where workers can be seen toiling away in a hanger 'the size of 227 tennis courts'.