Toulouse. The Piste des Géants awarded at the Heritage Grand Prize
The distinction of the Aero-club of France was awarded to Toulouse Métropole for the heritage and memorial component of La Piste des Géants.
The 2021 Heritage Grand Prize of the Aéro-club de France was evaluated at Toulouse Métropole for the heritage and memorial component of La Piste des Géants. This includes L’Envol des Pionniers, the historic 1.8 km trail and the Jardins de la Ligne.
This grand prize, awarded by the Ministry of Culture, rewards the work carried out in the preservation or restoration of aeronautical heritage, in particular aircraft and buildings … In this case, it is a special jury prize that distinguished Toulouse Métropole for the ambitious realization of La Piste des Géants, in Montaudran, the cradle of world aeronautics.
The rehabilitation of the Montaudran industrial site
In order to honor and publicize the incredible Toulouse epic which saw the birth of civil aviation with the first Latécoère flight from Montaudran, then Aéropostale and then Air France, Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse , and president of Toulouse Métropole, wanted the historic buildings around the legendary track which saw Saint-Exupéry and Mermoz take off, among others, to be rehabilitated. After Les jardins de la Ligne, a landscaped route evocative of the landscapes flown over by the pioneers of La Ligne, opened in 2017, L’Envol des Pionniers, a space dedicated to the memory of aeronautics, created in partnership with the descendants of the pioneers and numerous associations, was inaugurated in 2018. A site witnessing the early days of commercial aviation, it is part of the scientific, technical and industrial culture center of Toulouse Métropole which also includes the Museum, the Quai des savoirs, the Cité de l’Espace and Aéroscopia. The Aéro-club de France is the oldest aeronautical institution in the world, which relies on various commissions working in the fields of the arts, letters, history, heritage and disability in particular.