Daily life
Titre de séjour
TEE-truh duh say-ZHOOR
Your residence permit. A long-stay visa becomes one only once you validate it online within three months of arrival.
ANEF
a-NEF
The national platform where nearly every immigration procedure now happens. Slow, occasionally broken, and unavoidable.
Carte Vitale
kart vee-TAL
The green health insurance card. It takes months to arrive; until then you pay and claim back on paper, so keep every form.
Garant
ga-RAHN
A rent guarantor — the real obstacle to renting in France. Visale is the free state-backed substitute and almost nobody arrives knowing about it.
Pastel
pas-TEL
Woad, the blue dye that made Renaissance Toulouse rich. Also the name of the Tisséo transport card, which is the sense you will use daily.
Work
Habilitation
a-bee-lee-ta-SYON
A security clearance. On defence and space programmes here it is a hiring condition, and it is a slow, nationality-sensitive process.
Culture
La Ville rose
la veel ROHZ
'The pink city' — Toulouse is built from terracotta brick because there was no building stone on the plain, and at sunset the whole place turns orange.
Le vent d'autan
luh von doh-TAHN
The hot south-easterly wind that blows for days at a time. Locals blame it for headaches and bad moods, only half in jest.
Le Capitole
luh ka-pee-TOL
The city hall and the square in front of it — the centre of gravity for meeting people, protests and the Christmas market alike.
Social
Chocolatine
sho-ko-la-TEEN
What the rest of France calls a pain au chocolat. Saying the Parisian word in a Toulouse bakery is a running joke, and a slightly serious one.
Emergency
15 / 17 / 18 / 112
—
15 for medical emergencies (SAMU), 17 for police, 18 for fire. 112 works for all of them and has English-speaking operators.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.