Ten itineraries for discovering Italia and Europe on two wheels
The magic of Occitania between the roads of the Tour de France and the Canal du Midi
With over 800 kilometres of cycle paths, Toulouse is one of the French cities that have invested the most in soft mobility. The capital of Occitania and known as the Ville Rose for the characteristic pink colour of its brick buildings, it is particularly suited to being discovered by bicycle, among river banks, large urban parks and traces of a history that is intertwined with that of cycling. On 16 July, the city will once again be in the international spotlight by hosting the 11th stage of the Tour de France, and for fans of the Grande Boucle and of two wheels in general, the appointment not to be missed this summer is an exhibition dedicated to the history of the bicycle at the Paul-Dupuy Museum, with a collection of advertising posters created between 1890 and 1930.the end of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. The most representative cycling experience in Toulouse is undoubtedly the one along the Canal du Midi, the canal that ideally connects the city to the Mediterranean and is one of the most evocative cycling routes in the south of France (it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996). Lined with rows of centuries-old plane trees, historic locks and small bridges, the route follows one of the most extraordinary engineering works of the 17th century, commissioned by Louis XIV and designed by Pierre-Paul Riquet to create a navigable link between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Cycling along its banks, one encounters some of its landmarks such as the Port de l'Embouchure with the Ponts-Jumeaux, the Bassin des Filtres, the Port Saint-Sauveur and the historic Cales de Radoub, where the boats that travelled the canal were once repaired.
