Toulouse in 4 days

A 12,000-square-metre pedestrian square closed by the brick-and-stone town hall; inside, the painted Salle des Illustres is free to visit when no ceremony is on.

A 13th-century Dominican brick convent whose church has a single column fanning into 22 ribs, the famous palm tree, above the tomb of Thomas Aquinas.

A bridge finished in 1632 with seven uneven arches and round flood openings; across the river, the dome of La Grave completes the view.

The fine arts museum in a Gothic convent, with a major collection of Romanesque sculpture rescued from the city's dismantled cloisters.

Built from around 1080 for pilgrims to Compostela, 115 metres long with an octagonal bell tower, and reckoned the largest surviving Romanesque church in Europe.

A space science park opened in 1997, with a planetarium, simulators, a full-size Mir station replica and a 53-metre Ariane 5.

On the old Aéropostale runway, the giant show machines of the company behind Nantes' Machines de l'île, led by Astérion, a 14-metre rideable Minotaur.

An aviation museum in Blagnac with around thirty aircraft, including two Concordes and a walk-through A380; Airbus assembly line tours run nearby.