Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France and the industrial center for the space science industry for the whole country. And yet, its city builders were quite negligent with its growth. The charming old buildings from 100 to 150 years ago, with beautiful wrought iron balconies and detailing so similar in character to Paris, are now few and far between. There are many more modern monstrosities, built in the 1950s, taking away from the city’s character and charm. It’s a pity.

We are staying in one of the beautiful old apartment buildings, yet there are decades of deferred maintenance, and the owners are slobs. Again a pity. This has the potential to be an amazing place. There are four fireplaces, two bathroom, three living rooms (two of which are used as bedrooms), two other bedrooms, and two toilets. There are giant French windows opening up on nice views of the city from the living rooms. Even stained glass windows and, below, the produce at the farmers market on our street is amazing. Someday, some owner and some city officials will figure out the importance of these details. I hope there will be a preservation initiative and not just more functional development.

And speaking of development, we visited the Cité de l’Espace (City of Space) this afternoon.