Live rugby!
It all begins at the end of the 19th century, in Toulouse. Students formed two teams: the Violette and the Sans-Soucis, who first played against each other in the Fermat courtyard and then on the Prairie des Filtres. In 1896, a friendly match between the Toulousans and the Bordelais attracted 6000 spectators. And the passion for the oval ball began! In 1907, the merger of the two teams gave birth to the Stade Toulousain, the famous "red and black" who have since won the French championship 21 times and the European Cup 5 times. Clubs were created in all the towns and villages of the region; there were 120 of them in 1914. Lourdes, Castres, Tarbes, Carmaux or Montauban were on the honor roll on many occasions. And the club of Rieumes has seen 12 of its players selected for international competitions!
Fifteen or thirteen? For the purists, real rugby is played with 15 players on the field. But for others, it is with 13 players that everything is won. Both come from England. XIII rugby, more popular, was mostly played by workers in the north of the country while XV rugby developed in a more aristocratic and bourgeois sphere in the south of England. Introduced in France at the beginning of the 1930s, it took a long time for rugby to become established. It was even banned under the Vichy regime. Today, 38 countries and 140 clubs in France practice it. More than half of them are located in the South-West, from Aquitaine to Languedoc-Roussillon, with as flagship teams: Toulouse Olympique XIII - founded in 1937, the club has won a Championship (2021), a French Cup (2014) and six French championships - and Albi Rugby League XII - created in 1934, six times French champion and winner of the French Cup in 1974.
Rugby is also played by women. Since the 1980s, Toulouse has played both XIII with the Roselionnes and XV with the Stade Toulousain féminin, a club that was only created in 2014! Small precision: in the region, we say "ruby" with the accent!
A great breath of fresh air!
Winter sports and board sports
a wide choice is offered to you in the 24 ski areas of the region. You can try cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, dog sledding... on 776 km of trails. That's it! From the traditional village to the ultra-modern resort. In Ariège, 9 resorts (4 of which are dedicated to cross-country skiing). Among their specificities, Ax 3 Domaines benefits from the Handisport label; Chioula offers hikers superb forest paths in the heart of 5,000 ha of nature and 25 km of marked trails for snowshoeing; the Plateau de Beille is the first cross-country skiing area in the Pyrenees, the 19 km long La Porteille trail climbs to an altitude of 1,967 m; in the Monts d'Olmes, humpback skiing is highlighted with about twenty trails crisscrossing the circus over 21 km. The Haute-Garonne is the least equipped, only 4 resorts welcome snow lovers but Luchon-Superbagnères is the major resort which benefits from the dynamism of Luchon (eight minutes by gondola) to enjoy the après-ski.
Who says winter sports automatically thinks of Hautes-Pyrénées. A real identity with 12 resorts and vast domains of more than 100 km in Grand Tourmalet (La Mongie-Barèges) or in Val d'Azun; original specificities like the dog sled races in Nistos in January; night descents by torchlight, climbing frozen waterfalls or ice diving in Piau-Engaly; off-piste skiing in Luz-Ardiden or children's areas at Plat d'Adet in St-Lary-Soulan and for the more athletic, a trail of nearly 4 km, the Mirabelle, which provides thrills with a 700 m difference in altitude.
Hiking and bicycle touring
Nearly 20,000 km of paths and trails for long-distance hiking! Very popular, the Compostela paths marked out as GR653 for the Arles way (via arlensis), GR65 for the Puy way (via podensis) cross the region and particularly the Gers; by the north: La Romieu, Larresingle, Eauze or Nogaro; by the south: Gimont, Auch, Marciac The GR10 allows the great crossing of the Pyrenees from sea to sea, from Ax-les-Thermes to Cauterets for the Midi-toulousaine region. On foot, by bike, on horseback: everything is possible. Fans of two-wheelers, get on your bikes! Almost 700 km of cycle tracks spread over 23 greenways are waiting for you.
On their side, the mountain lakes offer numerous walking routes. In the Hautes-Pyrénées department alone, there are 300 of them. Small or big, perched on ancient moraines, they can be reached in a few minutes (Bethmale lake - Ariège, Lourdes lake - Hautes-Pyrénées) or after several hours of climbing (Bleu lake at 1928 m, Gaube lake from the Pont d'Espagne). There are also various loops and a GR7 around the lake of Montagnès in Mazamet.
Horseback riding or horse racing ?
Many centers, more than 350 in the Midi-toulousain, welcome you for discovery courses or very diversified horseback riding. Transhumance of Merens horses during the summer, discovery of the Cathar country and bathing with horses, horse therapy to better understand yourself or learn to let go... Moreover, if you are interested in horse racing, 17 racecourses, mostly located in the west of the territory, organize races. The Gers is at the top of the list with 6 of them, followed by the Tarn-et-Garonne with 4. On the third national step, the racecourse of La Cépière in Toulouse organizes nearly 50 meetings and 380 races per year (trotting, flat, jumps) and its infrastructures also rank it among the very first.
Passing through Tarbes, stop your steps at the magnificent stud farm (former national stud farm owned by the city since 2016) built under the Empire in 1806, at the origin of the Anglo-Arab race. Visit its outbuildings and discover the wonderful history of the meeting of man and horse!
In the air
Arreau has become the kingdom of hang gliding. Paragliders and hang gliders also land on the edge of the lake of Loudenvielle (Hautes-Pyrénées). In Nogaro (Gers), gliders and small planes take off next to the automobile circuit. Hot-air balloons (Lectoure, Albi or St-Sever-de-Rustan) and helicopters (Préchac, Pamiers, Toulouse) allow you to get a good view.
At the water's edge: no coasts but shores!
Water sports and white water sports.
Natural or artificial, the lakes are also leisure areas for all. The lake of St-Ferréol with a surface of 70 ha (Haute-Garonne) allows sailing, pedal-boating, swimming is supervised. The lake of St-Nicolas de la Grave (Tarn-et-Garonne) offers 400 ha dedicated to canoeing, windsurfing and to the discovery of the birds of its ornithological reserve! The lake of Uby in Cazaubon-Barbotan (Gers) has a long sandy beach in a very wild environment. Paddle, rowing (international competition channel of 2 km), canoe are available for rent.
In addition, the region benefits from 250 km of waterways. First of all, the canals: Canal du Midi and Canal de Garonne. You can walk on the old towpaths, you can cross manual or automatic locks, you can discover the water slope of Montech (Tarn-et-Garonne), unique in the world, which allows you to cross a threshold of 14 meters and replaces 5 locks by itself! Then, an anti-stress river: the Baïse - made navigable again in 1993. Framed by a luxuriant vegetation, its wild banks wrap you in a romantic sweetness. Last arrival, the Tarn loop connects Montech to Montauban on 11 km.
Moreover, torrents and rivers are a paradise for rafting and canyoning!
Underground
Would you like to do some caving? Discover the bowels of the earth, challenge yourself in this practice widely developed in the whole mountainous area and on the causses. 10 minutes from Caussade: the Aveyron gorges, wedged between Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne, unfold their canyon over about 30 kilometers and the Bruniquel cave, a major prehistoric site, offers a unique exploration ground.
Taking it easy!
Want to relax?
The natural springs are the wealth of the thermal exploitation. Appreciated by the Gauls in Luchon and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, they developed under the Romans in search of their medicinal virtues. The water cities became very fashionable in the 18th century. Today, the region is the fourth most popular spa town in France, mainly for the treatment of rheumatism and respiratory problems. In total, 28 resorts where you can do yourself good, for treatment or relaxation: Barbotan, Cauterets, Ussat-les-Bains, Cransac... The specificity of the thermal baths of Luchon: a "vaporium" that is to say a natural steam bath.
Fishing is another way to forget time and to stimulate your patience. The fishing federation in Ariège has nearly 13,000 members. It must be said that its liquid heritage is disproportionate: 3,000 km of waterways, 800 ha of water bodies. Mostly trout and salmon. At the lake of Gimont (Gers): 2 ha reserved for fishing roach, pike-perch, tench... and carnivorous fish (pike, perch, catfish...) in the Gimone and Arrats rivers, or the Tarn. In the Hautes-Pyrénées, there is an 11 km no-kill course, where the fish must be released. Crayfish can be fished in summer.
Smart advice: those who do not have a fishing permit can buy a vacation card valid for 15 consecutive days between June 1 and September 15.
There are avariety of games of boules
.A game of pétanque? Of course! Each square has its own boulodrome. Competitions and games every day. We are in the South of France, after all! A game of skittles? Yes, but not just any game. A game of "9". Mostly played in Gascony and Bigorre on a clay court, the plantier. The skittle is superb, turned in beech wood, it measures 98 cm high. In its middle, turned in the same piece of wood, a ball of 16 cm in diameter, to balance it.
Golf, perhaps? The green, the green, the green. Everywhere in Midi-toulousain: 41 golf courses, 15 of which are in Haute-Garonne. You will be able to overswinger, dropper, and for the most generous to grant a mulligan!
