Rest in Rodez

11:36am Tuesday 3rd May 2005

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FRENCH engineering's most recent success is the work of an Englishman. The Millau viaduct, the the tallest in the world, opened in southern France in December 2004 and is set to have a huge impact on the lives of thousands of motorists who make their annual pilgrimage to the Med this summer.

It allows motorists to glide some 270 metres (885 feet) over the valley of the river Tarn.

The bridge opens up a north-south route across central France and relieves pressure from lorry-drivers and tourists in the saturated Rhone valley corridor to the east.

Travellers on the A75 motorway between Clermont-Ferrand and Beziers had previously been forced to crawl nose to tail as they descended to the town of Millau one of France's most notorious and frustrating bottlenecks.

Designed by Britain's most celebrated living architect, Sir Norman Foster, the viaduct stretches 2.46 kilometres (1.6 miles) between two plateaux in the Massif Central.

The bridge was built of steel and concrete at a cost of almost 400 million euros and rests on seven pillars, one of which climbs to 343 metres above ground level, making it 23 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower.

The bridge dominates the countryside for miles around and has been described as a classic marriage of aesthetics and science.

Talking about his masterpiece, Foster explained: "A work of man must fuse with nature. The pillars had to look almost organic, like they had grown from the earth.

"The bridge could not look as if it had been tacked onto the scenery. It had to rise out of the landscape with the delicacy of a butterfly." Some butterfly. The viaduct is not only the tallest in the world it is also the longest cable-stayed bridge.

It was built by the French company Eiffage, which now holds the right to draw a toll for the next 75 years.

Motorists pay 4.90 euros to transverse the viaduct while lorries will be charged about four times that.

Eiffage is predicting an average of 10,000 vehicles per day, with a peak of 25,000 during the summer season when tariffs will be increased. That is some pay-back for their three years of endeavour.

While this work of art and architecture is a godsend for those seeking sun on the Med, it should give others the impetus to linger a little longer to explore the Aveyron region which the viaduct dominates. The viaduct has become a considerable tourist attraction with 60,000 having already paid to tour the construction site.

In its shadow, Millau the town is a twee little place with just 20,000 inhabitants. Wander its streets and just about everyone seems to know each other. Try one of the many bars and a warm welcome awaits.

The food is hearty, to say the least. You can get picky nouvelle cuisine, but the region prospers on more robust fare of generous pork, lamb and duck and even a Gallic sausage and mash their version is wonderful spicy sausage with a mash of potato, garlic, cream and roquefort (a speciality of the region). It has the consistency of thick semolina. It is very tasty, but very filling be warned.

If you can drag yourself away from the groaning dinner table, Roc et Canyon in the town makes the most of the rugged landscape by offering some white-knuckle entertainment.

Rock climbing, cycling, abseiling, white water rafting and pot holing are among the activities that will leave you breathless yet exhillerated in this natural outdoor playground.

Expert guides will whisk a party of novices up a sheer 100 meter rock face in no time at all and have them zip-wiring back down to earth again with absolute confidence and in complete safety.

For a more genteel experience there is a museum dedicated to glove making the inherent craft of Millau. Leather gloves from every decade are lovingly restored along with ancient tools used to make them. The museum is fascinating and the passion with which the curator talks about the craft is astonishing.

Millau and the Aveyron region in general has really been opened up to the short break market by Ryanair which now serves Rodez, a tiny airport nearby with just a handful of flights a day.