Antoine Comte de Saint-Exupéry in his time had a habit of staying in the same room at the Hôtel du Grand Balcon when visiting Toulouse. This was a room with a window opening with a wonderful view to the Place du Capitole, the central city square with the city hall elegantly in full view (pictured above but not from his room). At the floor below his room was the grand balcon on the northwest corner of the square,
I was able to visit the original room in 1999 when some of my relatives stayed in the room during their visit to Toulouse. On one of my visits to the room, on a beautiful summer evening, I could see downstairs a stylish young couple sitting at the grand balcon romantically at a small table with a chair for each and a bottle of white wine on the table with a wine glass each. They looked as if they were on honeymoon or on a romantic weekend. This beautiful sight has stayed in my mind.
The Saint-Exupéry room was not as luxurious as one might have expected. In 1999, the hotel did not even seem to be in the best state of repairs. I however very much liked the original interiors of the fine old building even in their then state of not quite the best of repairs which almost added more character and originality. As I remember, the building had a fine tiled floor from the main entrance through an elegantly wide and high front door to a stylish and spacious entrance hall of high ceilings leading directly opposite to the front door to a beautiful staircase with an antique ascenseur. More recently it seems that the interiors of the building have been very much modernised and although I have not dared go in, I fear the worst in terms of loss of original character and detail, as has happened in recent decades and continues to happen in so many other places. At least at the Grand Balcon not quite everything original inside seems to have disappeared but lowered ceilings certainly do not impress me.
En English equivalent, a room with a view in the Great Victoria Hotel in Bradford
