Welcome to Toulouse acongressarea
Toulouse 4th largest city in France : 445 000 inhabitants ( 917 000 in the urban area ) 3rd university city of France : 110 000 students. Capital of France's biggest region : Midi-Pyrenees. An easy access Toulouse Blagnac International Airport France's 4th airport Toulouse Matabiau Railway Station. Strasbourg Accomodation 149 hotels 8 750 rooms Toulouse and surrounding area.
Toulouse city center
Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France after, Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Founded a few centuries B.C., it became later the capital of the Wisigoth Empire (4th-8th centuries AD) and a target of Attila's raid on western Europe. After the creation of the independent county of Toulouse by Charlemagne, it became the richest and most brilliant European court. In 1271, after a long and bloody war, the county became part of the Kingdom of France. In the 16th century, during the Blue Pastel Period, it experienced a new Golden Age because of trade. During the first world war, military and aeronautical industry settled there, far from the north-east front line. Then came the Aeropostale saga, between the two world wars, and finally Airbus and CNES (the French space agency) gave Toulouse a prominent position in European aerospace activities (25 000 employees). N 1 in Europe of the aircraft and space, electronic, data-processing and microbiological industries. 2nd Pole of research in France with more than 400 laboratories and 110.000 researchers
Midi-Pyrenées : a Worldwide Reference - Aeronautics - European aeronautical engineering had its beginnings in Midi-Pyrenees. Many famous names are part of the region s contribution to aviation history. (Clément Ader, Emile Dewoitine, Pierre-Georges Latécoère, and Louis Bréguet, and the Aeropostale pioneers including Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Jean Mermoz). The Midi-Pyrenees aeronautical industry is a center of European excellence - twenty aeronautics constructors and major equipment manufacturers, 27,000 employees - over 560 establishments involved in aeronautics construction 32,000 employees
- Space - Midi-Pyrenees is the European leader in design and manufacture of space systems and applications. CNES (French space agency - Toulouse Space Center), Alcatel Alenia Space, EADS Astrium Midi-Pyrenees mobilizes its resources for the development of new markets, telecommunications, localization, navigation and Earth observation services. Midi-Pyrenees, it's : - More than 8,600 jobs in space construction companies and suppliers - 1,000 jobs in services firms - 2,400 workers in the CNES and its subsidiaries (SPOT Image, SCOT, CLS...) On the whole, Midi-Pyrenees gathers 12,000 jobs that represent half of the employees of the space sector in France and a quarter of those working in Europe.
- Research - Midi-Pyrenees is one of the four first regions in France for research as public than private, and which was measured in terms of jobs or of expenses. - more than 20,200 people including 12,790 researchers - practise an activity of research and development - 8,900 in public research - 11,300 in private one. - highest establishments of research (CNRS, INRA, INSERM, CNES, ONERA ) universities and engineering schools (ISAE, ENAC, ENIT...) - biggest regional companies (EADS Airbus, Siemens, Sanofi, Pierre Fabre, Freescale, Thales Alenia Space, EADS Astrium, Latécoère, Actia, Ratier Figeac...). The public research in Midi-Pyrenees is rather concentrated on the sciences of matter (sciences of universe, the sciences of engineers and the sciences and technology of information and communication). The private research is mainly concentrated on the sector of aeronautics and space engineering, the sector of equipments for radio, tele and communication, and the sector of pharmaceutical industries.
- A high level of qualification - Toulouse is second in France for the number of degree holders, with a higher proportion than the national average The aeronautics «Grandes Ecoles» engineering schools in Toulouse train 75% of the engineers in the Aerospace Schools of France Group - ISAE - "Institut Supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace" (SUPAERO-ENSICA) - ENAC - National Civil Aviation School
The Aerospace Valley cluster Midi-Pyrenees and Aquitaine have received the Competitiveness Cluster label for "Aeronautics, Space and Embedded Systems" -1300 establishments - 94,000 industrial jobs - 8,500 people employed in research the leading employment pool in Europe in the fields of aeronautics, space and embedded systems the government's quality label as Competitiveness Cluster including the honorary designation "world cluster" Numerous cooperative projects have been defined, along with pivotal projects including : -theaerospace Campus in Toulouse -thedismanting Center for end of life cycle aircraft in Tarbes - The helicopter maintenance center at Montauban : HELIMaintenance -theinria ICT skills center in Bordeaux
Toulouse lifestyle
Drifting along the Garonne and the Canal du Midi The Garonne river Canal du Midi
Toulouse history and monuments
Museums Augustins museum Abattoirs - Museum: Modern and contemporary art The Bemberg Foundation in the Hôtel d Assezat
How to go to ONERA -Toulouse From Blagnac Airport : -Public transport Shuttle to the city center (every 20 minutes). Get off at "Compans-Caffarelli" or at "Jean Jaurès". Then Subway B (towards "Ramonville") up to "Faculté de Pharmacie". Then Bus n 68 or 51 or 108 up to "CREPS". -Rental car or taxi: take the West, and then the South Ring Road towards Montpellier.Exit number 20. From the Railway Station: * Subway A "Marengo-SNCF" (towards "Basso Cambo") up to "Jean Jaures", then Subway B (towards "Ramonville") up to "Faculté de Pharmacie". Then Bus n 68 or 51 or 108 up to "CREPS". Bus n 27 to "Lespinet-Struxiano". Then Bus n 68 up to "CREPS". From Downtown: Subway B (towards "Ramonville") and get off at "Faculté de Pharmacie". Then Bus n 68 or 51 or 108 up to "CREPS". By Ring Road: * Exterior Ring Road: towards Montpellier, then towards Toulouse-Center / Foix-Tarbes.Exit number 20. West and Internal Ring Road: towards Montpellier. Exit number 20. By taxi: * Ask for "Complexe Scientifique de Rangueil", and for "ONERA". ONERA : 2 avenue Edouard Belin, on your right from the ring road. +33(0)562252525