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The départem ent of Haute-Garonne (31) is the 17th most populated département. It forms part of the ancient region of Gascony and stretches from the vineyards of Fronton in the north to the Pyrenees in the south and from Montrejeau in the west to Revel in the east. Toulouse, known as the Rose city because of the wide use of Roman bricks, with its University, Opera house and superb architecture is at the centre.
The département is crossed by numerous rivers including the River Garonne, one of the great rivers of France and the Canal du Midi, a truly superb engineering feat, built to link the Atlantic with the Mediterranean.
The area southwest of Toulouse is an area of verdant meadows and undulating hills leading up to the awesome peaks of the Pyrenees. The communications are excellent with the A64 autoroute between Toulouse to Biarritz, the international airport at Toulouse and others at Pau, Biarrit z and Carcassonne.
From here it is possible to reach both the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts in about 2 hours and Toulouse and Spain in about an hour. There are magnificent walks in the mountains and skiing during the season. Other outdoor activities include fishing in the many rivers and lakes, riding and, of course, it is the home of French rugby.
 The general architecture in this region is typified by the rectangular farmhouses with large attached barns and with low pitched clay tiled roofs. The climate is mild with fine summers when the temperature is rarely too high to cause a problem sleeping at night and winters when sometimes the temperature drops to zero but also rises to about 17°. The fields and gardens are full of flowers and sub-tropical shrubs and trees.
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