Welcome to my place... Toulouse

Ireland may not have taken on France in the Six Nations on Saturday, March 14th after the game in the Stade de France was postponed, but Bill Nelson, who worked in rugby-loving Toulouse as an aeronautic engineer on Airbus before moving to Paris in 2003 will live on his fond memories. He and his wife Marie now share their time between Dublin and El Frêche in the south-east of France.

Where is the first place you bring people to when they visit Toulouse?

The Airbus Factory and Stade Ernest-Wallon. Famous for Airbus and rugby, Toulouse exudes both. I regularly attended matches when I worked for Airbus there. In my early days both Ireland and Leinster were push-overs for both France and Toulouse, respectively. But gradually things started to change.

On the eve of an away international between France and Ireland at Lansdowne Road in February 2001, I entered an already busy A320 aircraft hangar at Blagnac Airport to perform my inspections of aircraft on the A320 assembly line. I mischievously threw my Irish rugby jersey over my shoulders and quietly entered the hangar. My ruse failed. Within seconds the hangar erupted with up to 500 aircraft mechanics, and avid French rugby supporters roaring and pumping their rivet guns into the air in great humour. My wife Marie and I joined a group of Irish ex-pats in a bar in Toulouse town and watched on TV as Ireland beat France 22-15 in the Six Nations on Saturday, February 17th, 2001, at Lansdowne Road. We were ecstatic.

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Posh country house dining without the dusty nostalgia

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Crème brûlée with orange and cardamom

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Merci mon ami, the Irish man he wears his jersey before the match, the rosbif, he wears it after. Bravo

Monday came and I returned to work. I entered the A320 hangar at 8am to the noise of aircraft mechanics working on the assembly line (I didn’t wear the Irish jersey). The reaction took a bit longer than Friday’s had, but boy did it have a huge effect. Within about a minute, all assembly activity came to a halt and the hangar fell silent. This eerie silence lasted about 10 seconds before the whole hangar erupted in an enormous cacophony of sound welcoming me back from battle!

Some mechanics on my teams left their posts and joined me in the breakroom. Champagne was popped and shared - yes at that hour - and both Ireland and I were toasted. But the best was yet to come. A grisly faced aircraft rigger fully armed with his massive moustache approached me, he grabbed both my shoulders in his enormous hands, held me at arms-length before he pulled me towards him and planted two gros bisous, one on each side of my face and said “Merci mon ami, the Irish man he wears his jersey before the match, the rosbif, he wears it after. Bravo”. It hadn’t crossed my mind to bring the jersey.

The top three things that don’t cost money

Go to the tourist office, pick up a street map, look up at the magnificent vaulted ceiling of the Donjon, built in 1525 to store gun powder and the town's archives, and walk the legs off yourself. Or follow the metro or tram lines. The cathedral, museum and university architecture is stunning and let's us know why the city is called la ville Rose.

Where to get a great meal

The Donjon bar/restaurant. beside the tourist office is great for lunch and very central. Also head for L’Emulsion on rue Perchepepinte for French cuisine and the architecture of the restaurant.

Where can I get a sense of history?

You'll get eight centuries of history in the Couvent des Jacobins. It is a Dominican monastery dating from 1215, was the first city university, holds relics of St Thomas Aquinas and was a barracks during the French Revolution.

What should I bring home?

A bottle of wine, well packed in check-in baggage from the Fronton vineyards. They are about 30 minutes north of Toulouse. Head for the co-op that sells all the beautiful Fronton wines, their speciality is the black grape variety Negrette. Take a walk through any of the vineyards, you'll be made very welcome. You simply won't get this wine in Ireland, the vast majority is sold in France. À votre santéA votre santé.

[ abroad@irishtimes.com ]