The County of Toulouse

The County of Toulouse lies in the center of the Tribunal, situated in a shallow depression between the heights of the Pyrenees and the highlands of Provence. It is a land of castles, with the ranges of hills and rocky outcrops that rise above the plain topped by scattered fortifications. The towns and villages are built of either wattle, daub, and wood, or in the famous local brick that ranges in color from vivid pinks to bright reds. At dawn and sunset the "red towns" of the region glow with the sunlight's reflection on the brick houses, and the beauty of the scene is much remarked upon by northern visitors.

Toulouse is a dusty land of orchards, vineyards and farms, crisscrossed by wide drovers' trails (sometimes a mile across). Vast flocks of cattle, sheep, and goats are driven to their summer pastures in the Pyrenees in late spring, and back to the lowland pastures in early autumn.