PRESS PACK COMITÉ RÉGIONAL DU TOURISME MIDI-PYRÉNÉES THE UNMISSABLES Conducted by the Comité Régional du Tourisme Midi-Pyrénées www.tourism-midi-pyrenees.co.uk PRESS PACK THE UNMISSABLES CONTENTS REGION PROFILE PAGE 3 GREAT FIGURES THROUGH HISTORY PAGE 10 THE GREAT TOURIST - Soulages, Toulouse-Lautrec, Champollion. SITES IN MIDI-PYRÉNÉES PAGE 4 - Ingres, D’Artagnan, Pierre-Paul Riquet - Norman Foster, The aviation pioneers THE GREAT OUTDOORS PAGE 5 - The scientists and labourers of the Pic du Mid - The Pyrenees - Nature Parks GREAT FEATURES - Gorges and valleys OF THE REGION PAGE 14 - Two good reasons to explore the Aveyron Valley - Well-being and thermal spas - High plateaux & great causses - Gastronomy - Prehistoric caves - Handicrafts - The great festivals OUTDOOR RECREATION PAGE 7 - Walking and hiking - River tourism - Cycling 2 PRESS PACK THE UNMISSABLES REGION PROFILE Famous for its enthusiastic combination of heritage and quality of life, Midi-Pyré- nées is a region full of vitality and bursting with ideas and innovations: Toulouse, France’s third university city and Europe’s aerospace capital, is home to the vast assembly plants of Airbus, the world’s leading aircraft manufacturer. THE GREAT OUTDOORS One of France’s sunniest regions (with an average of 2,000 hours of sunshine eve- ry year), Midi-Pyrénées offers vast areas of countryside and an endless range of spectacular scenery such as the Tarn Gorges, the Aveyron Gorges, the Lot Valley, the Dordogne Valley, the high peaks of the Pyrenees, and more… With 30,000 km of waymarked footpaths, the Pyrenees National Park and 4 Regional Nature Parks, Midi-Pyrénées is the perfect destination for hiking, cycling, horse riding, white wa- ter sports, river tourism on the Canal du Midi and other waterways, plus skiing and snowsports in the Pyrenees. GREAT FIGURES THROUGH HISTORY Soulages, Toulouse-Lautrec, Champollion, Pierre-Paul Riquet, Jean-Auguste-Domi- nique Ingres, the aviation pioneers: a host of great figures from history have given Midi-Pyrénées an outstanding heritage that lives on today in what they have left behind. THE REGION’S GREAT PRODUCE AND EVENTS The home of Roquefort, foie gras, the Quercy black truffle, saffron and some hun- dred other quality-certified products, Midi-Pyrénées is also a land of vineyards that boasts 15 AOPs (Protected Designation of Origin wines) and a tradition of quality craftsmanship. What’s more, Midi-Pyrénées hosts around a hundred festivals, some of which are world-famous, such as the Jazz in Marciac festival, the Sylvanès Festival of Religious Music, and Rio Loco in Toulouse. THE GREAT TOURIST SITES IN MIDI-PYRÉNÉES Midi-Pyrénées owes its fame to 26 Great Tourist Sites known all over the world, inclu- ding Millau Viaduct, the Pic du Midi with its astronomical observatory, the Cirque de Gavarnie (a Unesco World Heritage Site), the great pilgrimage site of Lourdes, Albi and the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Cahors and the Pont Valentré, but also Conques, Rocamadour, Moissac, and a host of others… Toulouse, Canal des Deux Mers, Luchon, Saint Bertrand de Comminges – Valcabrère, The Ariège Collection (Niaux Caves, Mas d’Azil Caves, Saint Lizier, Foix, Montségur, Mirepoix), Rodez, Millau Viaduct, Conques, Villefranche de Rouergue – Najac, Auch, Marciac, Flaran-Baïse-Armagnac, Pic du Midi, Cauterets-Pont d’Espagne, Cirque de Gavarnie, Lourdes, Cahors, Rocamadour, Saint Cirq Lapopie – Pech Merle, Figeac, Dordogne Valley, Sorèze – Revel-Saint Ferréol, the source of the Canal du Midi, Albi, Cordes-sur-Ciel, Montauban and Moissac. 3 The Great Tourist Sites in Midi-Pyrénées Shining examples not only of Midi-Pyrénées' beauty and history but also of its desire to welcome visitors and show off its splendours, the 26 The only collection of its kind in Great Tourist Sites are the ambassadors of this fascinating and di - France verse region. The 26 Great Tourist Sites in Midi-Pyré - nées operate as a network, with the sup - Launched by the Midi-Pyrénées Region in 2008, the 'Grand Site Midi-Pyrénées' port of regional, departmental and local (Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées) designation identifies the attractions institutions, each working closely together of particular interest in order to preserve and promote the region's fas - with the others to spread the word about cinating cultural and natural heritage, recognised as remarkable both na - the attractions of Midi-Pyrénées and to tionally and internationally. The towns, villages and natural attractions that continue to work hard to offer visitors today qualify for this designation have signed a contract to guarantee what they want. A collection unrivalled that they offer quality in the long term. This quality concerns visitor re - anywhere in France in terms of its size, ception and information, tourist facilities and services, accessibility, and coherence and diversity. preservation of the environment. The 'Great Tourist Sites in Midi-Pyrénées' programme is supported by the European Union. The Great Outdoors THE PYRENEES Stretching across three départements along the French-Spanish border (Haute Garonne, Ariège and Hautes Pyrénées), the Pyrenees are a contrasting mix of the grandiose and the reassuringly familiar: po - werful, lofty mountain peaks rub shoulders with high-level meadows where cows and horse graze peacefully, and villages clad in schist and slate cling to the sides of valleys buzzing with activity. The Ax, Bethmale, Skiing the Pyrenees Luchon, Aure, Louron, Campan, and Barèges Valleys: each of these cor - Midi-Pyrénées boasts 22 Pyrenean winter ners of countryside retains its own unique character and remains sports resorts. The Tourmalet-La Mongie, firmly rooted in a way of life shaped by pastoralism over the centuries. Saint Lary Soulan, Peyragudes, Luchon-Su - The Midi-Pyrénées region runs right up to the highest part of the Pyre - perbagnères, Plateau de Beille and Ax-3-Do - nees, home to the great three-thousand-metre peaks. Balaïtous (3,144 maines ski areas offer an extremely wide m), Vignemale (3,298 m), Pic Long (3,192 m), Pic du Midi (2,877 m): the line of variety of skiing. The nordic area in the high summits is endless, and in between are glacial cirques that will take Monts d’Aubrac in Aveyron completes the your breath away. Carved out by gigantic glaciers long since gone, these region's skiing, which gives our customers cirques are one of the distinctive features of the Pyrenees. The Cirque what they are looking for, in unspoilt surroun - Gavarnie de , described by Victor Hugo as "an impossible and extraordi - dings. Designed for all the snowsports (al - Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées nary object," is a and the best-known pine skiing, nordic skiing, snowboarding, Great Tourist Site of them. Another outstanding attraction, also a , is etc.), the Pyrenean ski resorts have chan - Pont d’Espagne Cauterets the near , where you'll find a festival of wa - ged, developed their facilities and diversified, terfalls. Mountain lakes are also one of the features characteristic of most of them now also offering health and the Pyrenees. The Néouvielle Nature Reserve is home to no fewer than fitness facilities while holding on to what it is 80 of them, their crystal-clear waters ranging in colour from steely blue that makes them special: a true respect for to mint green. the mountains and excellent sporting ame - The Pyrenees are of course the perfect destination for all sorts of ac - nities in a warmly welcoming atmosphere, tivities that almost anyone can do: canyoning, rafting, hydrospeed, via ferrata, rock climbing and paragliding are all different ways of exploring with plenty going on at night in the valleys. everything these mountains have to offer. The most energetic can even get on a bike and take on the climb to the Col du Tourmalet. NATURE PARKS There is no shortage of space in Midi-Pyrénées, which is home to four Regional Nature Parks , the Grands Causses (Aveyron), the Haut Langue - doc (which straddles the border between the départements of Tarn and Hérault in Languedoc-Roussillon), the Pyrénées Ariégeoises (Ariège) and the Causses du Quercy (Lot). These rural areas have a remarkable but fragile natural, cultural and human heritage and work hard to en - sure quality tourism that focuses on exploration and contact with the locals. It is in the heart of the Causses du Quercy Regional Nature Park that you will find Rocamadour, a Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées, Interesting fact: the Aubrac Regio - its only road leading up to the Parvis des Sanctuaires that stands nal Nature Park is currently being proud in the centre of this great historical settlement. formed, made up of 12 communes in It is also in Midi-Pyrénées that you can reach the heart of the Pyrenees Cantal (Auvergne), 48 communes in National Park , (100 km from east to west). In addition, the Pyrenees' na - Lozère (Languedoc-Roussillon) and ture reserves ensure the protection of the countless endemic plant 47 communes in Aveyron (Midi-Pyré - and animal species: the Orlu and Mont Valier Reserves in Ariège and the nées). Néouvielle Nature Reserve in Hautes Pyrénées. Protected nature areas account for 20% of the surface area of Midi-Pyrénées. GORGES AND VALLEYS Midi-Pyrénées is crossed by five major valleys whose geology, length and diverse courses form scenery fa - mous for its spectacular views, historical heritage and outdoor recreation potential. The cliffs of the Lot Valley upstream from Cahors, the hillsides of the Garonne Valley, the meanders of the Aveyron Gorge crowned with clifftop villages and the narrow, plunging Tarn Gorge are just some of the unmissable sights to be explored. The Dordogne Valley, a Great Tourist Site in Midi-Pyrénées , features stunning countryside full of little treasures stretching for some sixty kilometres through the north of the Lot département. TWO GOOD REASONS TO EXPLORE THE AVEYRON VALLEY Najac and Villefranche de Rouergue, which together make up one of the Great Tourist Sites in Midi-Pyrénées , are the perfect excuse to stop off in the Aveyron Valley.