Planner’s Travel Series
About the series: Welcome to our ongoing travel series. These are all posts written by planning students and professionals about what to do in a given city when looking for Brunch, a Brew, or a good idea on a Budget. To cap it all off, we include a fun planning fact!
By Jo Kwon, Managing Editor
About the visit: I recently visited Toulouse, also known as “La ville rose (the pink city),” and had the opportunity to appreciate the pink terracotta bricks, Christmas Market, cathedrals, and amazing food.
Brunch
Petit déjeuner, breakfast, is common in cafes in France. It usually includes a croissant or pain au chocolat, orange juice, and espresso. The prices are in a wide range, but this cafe offered it for four euros. The espresso in France never seems to be bitter.
Brew
Vin chaud, also known as mulled wine, is a famous winter drink in France. It is made with red wine, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, star anise, sugar, orange, and others. The Christmas market at Place du Capitole has many vendors selling vin chaud with great prices, so don’t miss out the chance for warm wine!
Budget
Christmas in France is a magical time. Toulouse has a large Christmas market in front of the Place du Capitole. In front of the market, you can see a long line of people, a large Christmas tree ride, and many vendors selling balloons and crepes. The Place du Capitole also has huge projections on the building showing snow constantly falling down. It is a great place to have a free experience with cheap street food.
Fun Planning Fact
Some European countries started Ecological Zones to lower emissions in cities. In 2017, Toulouse reinforced this ecological zone, ZFE-m (Zone à Faibles Emissions Mobilité), which requires drivers of all vehicles except electrical vehicles to purchase certificates to enter the city. If drivers fail to purchase certificates before entering the city, they can be penalized €68! The city has a red circle as a prohibition sign showing that it is a green zone, and Google Maps also notifies the driver beforehand. However, if you come from another country, such as Spain, you may not know this information. If you are driving in Europe, downloading the Green Zones app will be a wise move to be prepared. The app allows you to find specific information about your vehicle in the different zones.
Featured Image: Pont Saint-Pierre. Photo Credit: Jo Kwon
Jo (Joungwon) Kwon is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. She is interested in using visuals in plans, specifically in environmental planning. She has been a part of CPJ since 2019. With a background in Statistics and English Literature, she received her M.A. in Computational Media at Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys watching indie films, going to live performances, climbing, and drinking coffee.