Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/661087
ByLeonardStohler SpecialtotheDN In my limited travel, there are several countries that stand out as the pre- mier countries of modern, beautiful and innovative architecture: the United States, France, Germany, and China (Shanghai). I might add Turkey if I could see Ankara and Istanbul. I would love to see the third bridge, now being con- structed over the Bosporus Strait at Istanbul: the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. As you might have con- cluded from the articles I wrote about my visit in September to Budapest, Vi- enna, Prague, and Berlin, I love the ancient, medi- eval, and later architecture of Europe. Yet, I truly cel- ebrate humanity's achieve- ment in some of its modern architecture. I find that there are many times when I feel so very fortunate. Sometimes goals are achieved because of who you know and your relationship to them and what they know. Thanks to Lynn and her friends in the US and France, we were to visit the Viaduc de Millau in southern France. How did this fortuitous event hap- pen? While working at the Catholic Worker in Santa Rosa with Lynn, helping to distribute baskets of food given by supermarkets and smaller stores, a retired doctor, upon hearing that we were going to France in June, 2008, told us of the Millau Bridge. He and his wife had visited the Sundial Bridge in Redding and said that the Millau Bridge was similar. I looked it up and immediately it was put on our "bucket list" for the trip to France. Lynn and I spent a glo- rious week in Paris on the Seine River. Due to Lynn's friendship with a Dutch couple she and her husband had become friends with while he worked three years for IBM in Belgium, we were invited to visit their wonderful country home on 17 acres near Limoges. They said that they had wanted to see the bridge themselves so while we were there for a week, we would drive south and spend the night in the tiny village of Millau. The trip to Limoges meant traveling on the train, a journey of about three and a half hours. I love traveling on fast and punctual European trains. We left from the Paris-Aus- terlitz station after a time- consuming taxi ride in the dense Paris traffic from our modest, but wonder- ful accommodations at Ho- tel du Quai Voltaire. There are so many stories about Voltaire, including the one about his brilliant mistress, scientist Emilie du Chatelet, who had to explain higher math to the "brilliant" Vol- taire. We were above that street on the Seine River and only had to walk across the Seine to visit the Louvre and the du Orsay museums. We hated leaving Paris and the wonderful experiences a person can only experi- ence in Paris, but we were looking forward to our visit with her friends near Limo- ges. Before we left Paris I ob- served that Europe does not use wooden railroad ties, but concrete sup- ports with bolts fitted into the concrete to secure the tracks. That way there are no railroad spikes to work their way loose. The con- crete "ties" provide a more secure foundation than our wooden ties. Recently, I have been told that the concrete "ties" are being used more and more in the United States. Faster trains require them. I remember several things from that train trip to Limoges. Lynn spent her time doing a cross word puzzle. She had seen the scenery before! I spent my time viewing the beauti- ful rural French country- side with its small cities, learning how to photograph landscapes on a fast mov- ing train with a new camera and enjoying train travel once again. We were picked up at the station in Limoges and headed for our hosts' farm, kilometers away. A word about our bene- factors. The host, a retired IBM executive from Hol- land, spoke Dutch, Eng- lish and French and said that he spoke better Eng- lish than his wife. That ex- plains why he could work in Holland, Belgium and Paris for IBM. The hostess spoke Dutch, English and French and he said she spoke better French than he did. Lynn loves to try her French as she has spoken French since high school and university days. Most Americans know very little about the health care system of the Euro- pean Union. Yet, it is that system that made it pos- sible for these Dutch cit- izens who wanted land that was not available in Holland to buy a place in France when they retired. They spent over $250,000 to buy and renovate this medieval estate. This bene- fited a French architect and the workers who worked on the renovation into a first- class dwelling. While we were there, two rock layers were redoing the medieval wall in the vegetable gar- den. Local farmers cut and baled the grass and cattle grazed on part of the prop- erty. There was timber to be harvested. Our hostess was serving on the small rural township council. Our hosts were beloved by the French inhabitants as they had in- deed were seen as good neighbors. Lynn's friend had deco- rated the very old country house with the help of an ar- chitect. The gentleman had done some of the physical work. The four bedrooms were gloriously wonderful and beautiful. The bath- rooms were like ones found in the best hotels. I liked the four gardens: herbal, Eng- lish, continental and vege- table (with medieval walls for protection). Two or three years ago, our hostess won the award of best gardens in France from a prestigious French magazine. She was glad to learn I knew how to prune roses and so I joined her in pruning the many roses in the garden outside our lovely room with walls about three feet thick. In the early, June eve- ning, we retired to a shady spot, one of three places to eat outside, for wine, cheese and crackers. The remark was made by our host that the French had plenty of cheap wine in their cellars due to California's success in the wine industry. Of course, Lynn and I knew about that as she lives in Sonoma County. I found out in writing this article that some of the best wine barrels are made in Limo- ges and sold to California wineries. We found our hosts well versed in Ameri- can politics as is usually the case with educated Euro- peans and so we had some very good discussions. After a day or so there, we set out for Millau in their Peugeot station wagon. Lynn offered to fill it with diesel. The amount was about $100. I don't think Lynn expected that! I had to take a photo of the amount in Euros and mea- sured in liters. I think the amount would be less to- day! We were guided by a GPS, the first time I had been guided on a trip by one. The only problem for Lynn and me was that the narrator spoke Dutch. It was a big help as we navigated the countryside. The GPS was not up-to-date with several new "roundabouts" added at crossroads in the coun- try. It would "catch up" with us after we were on the cor- rect road. On the journey, we stopped at several unique places in this beautiful part of France. One was above a lake and river where we could see a bridge designed and built by Eiffel before he built the tower in Paris. Ei- ffel used the same struc- tural design for both. In a future article, I will write about this bridge. We saw Limousin cat- tle everywhere because we were in the Limousin prov- ince of France. They were huge and I think had far more fat and muscle than modern American cattle. Bill Borror, of Black Angus fame, told me they aren't very good cattle compared to what has been achieved in the breeding of cattle. As we approached the Millau Bridge, it was appar- ent that this was a windy spot. There were dozens of huge windmills on the dis- tant hillsides. That proba- bly explained the curve in the bridge. I wanted to take photos as we approached, but the Peugeot's windshield was dirty. Our host said that he did not wash or clean his cars. He waited for the rain to clean them. Some Euro- peans take their water very seriously and do not waste it on keeping their cars clean. A person learns cul- tural differences like this while traveling. Finally, we were at the bridge in southern France. Several people had stopped to observe it before cross- ing. There is a somewhat strenuous walk up to the viewing area. It did look like the Sun- dial Bridge except it had seven masts that stayed the cables. The difference is that the cables extend both directions from the masts that makes it even more beautiful. Viewing the amazing bridge with its beautiful setting, the distance across and the dis- tance to the bottom of the valley or gorge of the River Tarn is one of my most cher- ished travel experiences. The Millau Viaduct (le Viaduc de Millau in French) is described as a cable- stayed bridge designed by the French structural engi- neer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster. It is the tallest bridge in the world if the distance from the ground to the mast's summit of 343.0 meters (1,125 ft) is counted. It is the 15th high- est bridge deck in the world, being 270 meters (890 ft) between the road deck and the ground below. It is 2460 meters (8,290 ft) long. It is 108 feet wide (32.05 meters). It is slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and 125 feet shorter than the Empire State Building. I have not investigated the story of how Virlogeux and Foster chose this kind of bridge structure, but I conjecture that bridges like this made it possible to construct this one with the supports below the road- bed providing the support for the masts and the cables anchored to the masts that support the roadbed. The cost of construction was approximately 400 mil- lion Euros. It was formally inaugurated on December 14, 2004. The bridge has been consistently ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of all time. The bridge received the 2006 International Associ- ation for Bridge and Struc- tural Engineering Out- standing Structure Award. If you are travelling on the major highways from Paris to Béziers and Mont- pellier and to the beaches in the south of France, you will cross it, if you choose. The Millau Viaduct toll charge to cross the bridge is € 5.60 for cars, rising to € 7.40 during the peak summer months of July and August. You cannot walk across the bridge as it part of the motorway sys- tem. Even though it is the tallest bridge in the world, crossing it is not a problem for people who suffer from vertigo. This is because pas- sengers cannot look down TRAVELOGUE One of engineering's greatest achievements TheViaducdeMillauinsouthernFrance River and bridge BRIDGES » PAGE 9 365-7194or365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING Regular Haircut $ 2 00 off KWIK KUTS FamilyHairSalon 1064SouthMainSt.,RedBluff•529-3540 ANY RETAIL PRODUCT 20 % off withanychemicalserviceof $50 or more Notgoodwithotheroffers Expires 4/30/16 With coupon Reg. $13.95 SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A