Millau
The lively town of Millau occupies a beautiful site in a bend of the River Tarn at its junction with the Dourbie. It’s enclosed on all sides by impressive white cliffs, formed where the rivers have worn away the edges of the causses, especially on the north side, where the spectacular table-top hill of the Puech d’Andan stands sentinel over the town. Millau owes its original prosperity to its position on the ford where the Roman road from Languedoc to the north crossed the Tarn, marked today by the truncated remains of a medieval bridge surmounted by a watermill, which juts out into the river beside the modern bridge. Nowadays the most famous thing about Millau is the spectacular viaduct that lies just to the west of town.
From the Middle Ages until modern times, thanks to its proximity to the sheep pastures of the causses, the town was a major manufacturer of leather, especially gloves. Although outclassed by cheaper producers in the mass market, Millau still leads in the production of top-of-the-range goods.
The town’s clean and well-preserved old streets have a summery, southern charm. Whether you arrive from the north or south, you’ll find yourself sooner or later in place du Mandarous, the main square, where avenue de la République, the road to Rodez, begins. South of here, the old town is built a little way back from the river to avoid floods and is contained within an almost circular ring of shady boulevards.
Viaduc de Millau
Although it looks like little more than the A75/E11 autoroute on the map, the €400 million Viaduc de Millau, which opened to traffic in 2004, is still the tallest bridge in the world. Designed by British architect Norman Foster and French engineer Michel Virlogeux, it was originally conceived to alleviate congestion for one of the main France–Spain holiday travel routes. The toll bridge costs €7.50 to cross – instead, consider taking the D992 to pass underneath it, an experience that moves from breathtaking to completely surreal at sunrise or sunset.
Roquefort cheese
Roquefort cheese is given its special flavour by the fungus, penicillium roqueforti, that grows exclusively in the fissures in the rocks in the surrounding valley. While the sheep’s milk used to make the cheese comes from different flocks and dairies as far afield as the Pyrenees, the crucial fungus is grown right here, on bread. Just 2g of powdered fungus is enough for 4000 litres of milk, which in turn makes 330 Roquefort cheeses; they are matured in Roquefort’s many-layered cellars, first unwrapped for three weeks and then wrapped up again. It takes three to six months for the full flavour to develop. The centre of production is the village of Roquefort-Sur-Soulzon, where severalcheese manufacturers – including Gabriel Coulet and Papillon – welcome visitors on free guided tours, with tastings.