1 Place Du Capitole
The large square in front of the Capitole, the city hall, is the heart of Toulouse. Here farmers sell organic tomatoes, and women who never seem to eat lunch sit at the many outdoor cafes drinking espressos and smoking. The Capitole building itself has been built, rebuilt, renovated and restored too many times to detail since the 12th century. Its facade, of eight rose-marble columns, was started in the mid-1700s. Toulouse's best artists, including Henri Martin, contributed to the spectacularly ornate interior. And commemorating the Capitole's less celebrated heritage is a plaque in the central courtyard where the Duke de Montmorency was beheaded in 1632 for opposing Cardinal de Richelieu, 17th-century prime minister and villain of the Alexandre Dumas novel, The Three Musketeers.
2 Victor Hugo Market
This is Toulouse's high temple of food and wine, where truckers order their first beer at 8.30am after delivering their cargo from the surrounding countryside. Cheese-lovers should visit Betty, a fromager-affineur, where the brave can choose from a range of powerful aged cheeses. Some are wickedly expensive - 5.45 euros (about HK$47) for a piece the size of an apricot - but unforgettable. Stop for lunch at the first-floor market kitchen, Les Restaurants de Victor Hugo, which prides itself on its range of regional dishes. Closed Mondays. Alternatively, try The Pink Fish outside the market (opposite the north parking entrance), which serves only salmon. Food specialists pack the surrounding streets. Shop at Ducs De Gascogne on the Rue de Rampart V for foie gras from Gascogne, Soledad Traiteur (21 Place Victor Hugo) for everything from olives to geranium syrup, Busquets (21 Place Victor Hugo, tel: [33] 05 61 21 46 22) for wine, honey and Agen prunes, Le Fournil de Victor Hugo for bread, and Maison Samaran (18 Place Victor Hugo, tel: 05 61 21 26 91) for more foie gras.
3 Hotel d'Assezat
'Pastel baron' Pierre Assezat made his pile from his monopoly of indigo, the blue dye, in the 16th century. And with his fortune, he built a palace in 1555: a three-level affair with a salon for every mood, a majestic staircase and a courtyard based on one at the Louvre. The palace is reputed to be the finest in Toulouse. The Hotel d'Assezat now belongs to the Fondation Bemberg, which uses parts of the building to house its treasures. The sour-faced guards do nothing to spoil the wow-factor of rooms filled with Chinese porcelain, tapestries, chandeliers, sculptures and a collection of paintings that range from the Renaissance to the 20th century, including works by Henri Fantin-Latour, Matisse, Degas, Modigliani, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Cezanne and Picasso (Place d'Assezat, 31000, tel: 05 61 12 06 89).