Millau

To end a semester of exploring through French landscape, the highlands were the perfect stop. Before ending up in Millau later in the day, we stopped in “la garrigue”. Seen by many as a dry and lifeless area, it actually thrived with many types of vegetation. As soon as arriving there, I could smell the rosemary and lavender.

     Next stop for the day was at a farm hamlet. Poor soil conditions would characterize the area, so it was used to raise livestock instead. There is a trend nowadays where younger populations are returning to the farmlands. Sheep milk was produced at this farm, for cheese and yogurt.

     The sheep are specifically used for this purpose; using them for wool wouldn’t make enough of a profit for the farmers. It is a long process that the cheese has to go through. After 3 months + 1 week of being washed with saltwater daily, it is finally ready for sale.

     The final stop on our trip was the Millau Viaduct, which was designed by Norman Foster. It was a collection of engineering triumphs that made this project possible to complete in 2004. The bridge finally solved the traffic issues plaguing the area from tourists trying to reach destinations in southern France.

     This was the final link connecting all the places we had been so far this semester. Water was a common theme amongst all of them, and a vital/valuable part of life in France as well.