Shopping in Toulouse
The Travel Pages goes shopping in Toulouse and finds a shop for rugby fans, a shop on a barge selling items made from local violets, and a fantastic market.
From its indoor market to its historic shopping streets, Toulouse has something for every taste and pocketbook. There is even a special shop for rugby fans.
Main Streets for Shopping in Toulouse
The city’s main shopping thoroughfare is Rue d’Alsace Lorraine. It’s lined with grand 19th-century apartment buildings which now house shops and businesses. Along here you’ll find clothing stores and chain store branches, including Galeries Lafayette.
Rue Saint-Rome, running south from Place du Capitole, is one of the oldest streets in Toulouse. It was home to the Capitouls (the city’s chief magistrates) from the 13th century onwards.
Today it’s a lively pedestrian shopping street, lined with clothes shops, but as you browse don’t forget to look up and admire its wonderful medieval architecture, which extends along Rue des Changes. Between here and the river you’ll find funkier shops along Rue Jacques Cujas selling everything from hats to jazz music.
In the medieval quarter, Rue Croix-Baragnon, Rue Bouquières and Rue des Tourneurs are pleasant shopping streets for everything from sweets to home accessories. Many antique dealers can be found around the lovely Place Ste-Scarbes.
Stade Toulousain Rugby
This city centre sports shop looks small from the outside, being squeezed between two converging streets, but inside it’s huge and goes back a long way. There are lots of women’s and children’s clothes as well as the usual jerseys, hats and other rugby paraphernalia. Some of the clothes are very stylish indeed, way better than the average sports shop collection of baseball caps and team jerseys.
75 Rue d’Alsace-Lorainne (at junction with Rue de Remusat)
Tel: 05 61 21 89 24
boutique.stadetoulousain.fr
La Fleurée du Pastel
The clothing, accessories and decorative items sold here are all made from authentic pastel, or woad, the plant whose blue dye brought Toulouse its wealth in days gone by.
Hôtel Pierre-Delfau, 20 Rue de la Bourse
Tel: 05 61 12 05 94
bleu-de-lectoure.com
Victor Hugo Market
A bustling indoor market forms the hub of the lively Place Victor Hugo every morning except Monday. It’s full of shiny stalls brimming with local produce, from fresh seafood and French cheeses to sausages, hams and pâtés made from the local speciality Porc Noir (black pork).
Toulouse’s large Spanish population is catered for by specialist butchers such as Maison Garcia, and Pierre Oteiza who sells Basque products. If all this food makes you hungry, check out the handful of restaurants upstairs, like Le Louchebem. The food couldn’t be fresher and prices are reasonable.
The streets surrounding the market square are lined with great restaurants and gastronomic boutiques, perfect for edible gifts and souvenirs. For cheeses, try Betty or Xavier, or for chocolate, L’Atelier du Chocolat de Bayonne and De Neuville. Maison Busquet has a good selection of regional wines and gourmet products. There are also a handful of antiques shops around the square.
marche-victor-hugo.fr
THE FLOWER OF TOULOUSE
The pink city whose wealth came from blue dye has another favourite colour: violet. French soldiers returning from the Napoleonic wars in Italy in the 19th century brought this subtly scented flower to Toulouse. It soon became a great success with florists, perfumers and confectioners.
By the turn of the 20th century more than 600,000 bouquets were sent out each year to Paris, Northern Europe and Canada. But this delicate winter flower was nearly wiped out by diseases.
Luckily, horticulturalists set out to save it and since 1985 it has been cultivated once again in the area’s greenhouses. The violet is so loved by the people of Toulouse that they celebrate it each year at the end of February with its own festival: the Fête de la Violette.
Maison de la Violette
Set in a traditional barge on the Canal du Midi, opposite the train station, this sweet-smelling shop is dedicated to Toulouse’s emblematic flower. Its products range from soap and perfume to liqueurs and crystallized violets.
Canal du Midi
In front of 3 Blvd Bonrepos
Tel: 05 61 99 01 30
lamaisondelaviolette.com