Can we walk shirtless in the streets of Toulouse?
The answer is yes. On the other hand, in parks and gardens, a municipal decree requires decent dress and an attitude consistent with good morals.
Contrary to what one might think, no law prohibits dropping the shirt, in town, during the heat wave. But some mayors can oppose it by municipal decrees. This is often the case in seaside towns. In Toulouse, it is therefore permitted to walk bare-chested in the streets without the risk of being fined. On the other hand, a municipal decree of December 9, 2019 (Chapter IV Order and security measures Article 6) stipulates that decent dress and an attitude consistent with good morals are required in parks and gardens.
What Jean-François is totally unaware of, otherwise he might not have taken off his t-shirt to picnic with his wife Isabel, in the garden of the Museum, at the Grand-Rond. “It’s not my habit to go shirtless, as evidenced by my tan as a cyclist. But there, it’s really too hot and I can’t take it anymore, ”explains this fifty-year-old from Compiègne. And for good reason, at the start of the afternoon, the thermometer flirts with 40°C, the atmosphere is stifling. But when he returns to town, after having swallowed his sandwich, Jean-François assures us that he will put his t-shirt back on. Two steps away, Maxime holds the same speech. Surrounded by his three daughters and his wife, he also lunches shirtless, “because I was really too hot”. An attitude that his wife Virginie “does not appreciate too much”.
In the streets of Toulouse, some dare to walk shirtless, but they are rare. With his shirt unbuttoned to the navel, Samuel, 21, is “three buttons away from nudity”, sitting on the steps of a church. He sometimes walks around shirtless “but in another city. Here, that wouldn’t occur to me.” Further on, Place Saint-Georges, Grégoire admits to falling off the t-shirt, “when he is cycling”. While for Alexis, it’s downright unthinkable, “not even at home”, he blurts out. Question of modesty. “Apart from a beach or a swimming pool, I don’t see myself going shirtless. I prefer to suffer politely from the heat politely, ”slips Maxime in turn.