PETITES HISTOIRES DE QUARTIER : OZENNE

Today, rue Ozenne is an elegant, tree-lined promenade popular with the people of Toulouse. First opened in 1908, this thoroughfare has nevertheless caused a great deal of ink to flow as it has ripped open private mansions and older alleyways.

Right in the middle of the prestigious noble districts of Saint-Étienne and Salin, rue Ozenne is the architectural signature of a new bourgeoisie in search of ostentation. From the Carmes to the Natural History Museum, while the resulting visual perspective remains a grandiose urban signature, History is also worth escaping to rediscover the soul of the districts it passes through...

Let's start by walking along the rue Ozenne: can you feel its straight line tearing through the historic quarters of the Parlement du Roi?

In fact, behind the curtain of beautiful residences on rue Ozenne, there are the porches of 17th and 18th century hotels, old ancestral prisons and histories of the magistracy: so let's branch off from the main street and lose ourselves in the maze of discreet alleyways...

Then, back on Ozenne, the walk takes you to an island of greenery, the Royal Garden, a green lacework sewn along the old ramparts between the 18th and 19th centuries.

Finally, the end of rue Ozenne is not the end of the visit, as we'll be carried away by the baroque ornamentation of the church of Saint-Exupère!

Few thoroughfares can claim to have so many charms at once: heritage, peace and quiet, nature, museums... beware of falling in love, it sometimes leads to the decision to go round again on a whim!