Reach for the stars
Toulouse, the centre of Europe’s aerospace industry, is out of this world, finds Neil Geraghty
On a chilly autumn night in Toulouse, a harvest moon is rising over the city’s terracotta roof tops and a crowd of families is standing in front of the neoclassical facade of the Jolimont Observatory. They’ve come for one of the regular open evenings during which students and retired astronomers introduce the general public to the delights of star gazing. The observatory was built in 1841 and in the gardens several cupolas with retractable roofs house enormous vintage telescopes that played an important role in mapping the stars during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Inside a cupola, a student dims the lights, swivels the telescope towards an aperture in the roof and invites guests to climb up onto a rickety wooden step ladder from which they can reach the eyepiece. A father picks up his son and lifts the boy’s face to the eyepiece. The boy gasps as he catches a closeup view of the moon and the silver light, flooding through the eyepiece illuminates his astonished face.
Locals like to say that Toulouse is a city with its head in the skies. Home to both Airbus and the Cité de l’espace, Europe’s premier space theme park, Toulouse’s geeky credentials are second to none. And this fascination with the heavens is nothing new. In Toulouse’s most beautiful ecclesiastical monument, the St Sernin Basilica, a 13th century fresco depicts the then known planets circling around the earth surrounded by a halo of stars. Whoever painted it would have had an excellent view of the night sky from the bell tower which rises like a medieval rocket above the rooftops of Toulouse.
In the gardens of the Cite de l’espace, visitors can see the real thing, a 53 metre high Ariane rocket towering above the treetops. The gardens are filled with historic artefacts from the history of space exploration and pride of place goes to a training module of the Mir Space Station. Visitors are allowed to look around the space craft whose low tech control panel would look perfectly at home in a 1960s Star Trek episode. Fortunately technology has moved on apace since Mir was constructed in 1986 and at the theme park’s IMAX cinema visitors can board the International Space Station which looks positively luxurious in comparison. The show takes you on a thrilling 45 minute virtual orbit of the earth and the zero gravity camera effects of the first five minutes make you feel decidedly queasy. However, once you’ve got used to the motion, the views of the earth are
spellbinding. During its voyage the ISS flies over aquamarine tropical lagoons, blood red deserts, night time cities sparkling with lights and best of all, green curtains of aurora borealis flickering over the North Pole.
Toulouse’s role as the centre of France’s aerospace industry dates back to the First World War when its distance from the Western Front was considered an asset by the French military when they were developing the fledgling technology. Nowadays, Toulouse’s distance from the sea causes all sorts of logistical problems transporting the larger components of Airbuses, and the sight of giant Airbus wings, inching along the roads of Midi Pyrenees on the back of lorries has become quite an attraction in the region. The Airbus factory offers fascinating tours around its enormous Airbus 380 assembly hangars and is also home to the excellent Musée Aeroscopia which charts the history of civil and military aviation. Security in the factory is tight and you’ll need to take a passport to enter the facility and keep cameras switched off at all times. The museum is home to a
Clockwise from main: view of Cité de l’espace; a training module of the Mir Space Station; Pont Neuf bridge
fine collection of legendary aircraft including the extraordinary Super Guppy, a giant cargo plane that resembles a flying beluga whale and two Concordes, one of which you’re allowed to enter. Inside, I’m surprised at how claustrophobic the cabins were although the classic 1970s taupe decor looks surprisingly contemporary again after a 40 year break.
Back in the Jolimont Observatory it’s my turn to climb the step ladder and take a close up view of the moon. At first I’m dazzled by the fierce white light pouring through the eyepiece but gradually my eyes adjust and focus on the hundreds of craters speckling the moon’s surface. To the bottom left a range of mountains creates a serrated edge to the moon’s disc, beautifully illuminated against the darkness of space. It’s an aweinspiring sight and for a moment I feel like a schoolboy again.
In Cité de l’espace a 53 metre Ariane rocket towers above the treetops