Downtown Millau

Starting from the square and rue du Mandarous: discover the heart of the town

This street provides access to the heart of old Millau. This cobbled, pedestrian axis gives you an idea of what the lanes were like in the Middle Ages…

On the way, you’ll find:

• Le Larzac Boul’vard: local know-how around cutlery. Templar knife, Roquefort, Pèlerin…. You’ll also find the Sacs du berger range, all in leather and skins. All that’s missing is a piece of bread, a piece of cheese and a herd of “fèdes”.
• Cordonnerie Poujol: made-to-measure leather work: belt, bag….
• The spit cake from Maison Alibert: This unique cake is handmade and baked over a wood fire. A culinary spectacle and a pleasure for the taste buds. With or without rum, with or without almonds…. A treat for young and old alike! Possibility of visiting the baking workshop in the back store.

La rue droite: you’ll “zigzag” between its stalls

A lively downtown shopping thoroughfare located at the foot of the Tour des rois d’Aragon, more commonly known as the “Belfry” by locals. Look up, you won’t be able to miss it.

At the foot of our millavois lighthouse, you can discover:

• The famous trénels from the boucherie-charcuterie Delpont.A traditional millavois specialty made with ewe’s stomach and cured ham. The confrérie des maîtres Teste-trénels is dedicated to promoting this local dish!
• La savonnerie du Larzac: a workshop-boutique of soaps made from ewe’s milk combined with other local products and a passionate craftsman. Let yourself be overwhelmed by the natural, local scents of Larzac thyme, honey or cinnamon.
• Tauriac Workshop: handcrafted candles made from soy wax. Original scents… to remind you of the smell of vacations. We recommend the leather-scented candle, a sweet fragrance reminiscent of Millau in the heyday of glove makers, tanners…
• L’atelier du gantier: an open window on 1,000 years of craftsmanship. No fast-fashion, just varied, timeless designs! A guarantee of quality: this workshop has been awarded the “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” (Living Heritage Company) label… and living it is, since you’ll be able to watch the “little hands” and “master glove-makers” at work in their workshop!
• Boucherie Pangaud – Ramondenc: the period storefront transports us into a space-time rift… and the specialties of yesteryear live on here: dry sausage, fricandeaux, head pâté, ham…
• Fromagerie Le Buron: an evocative name and a diversity of cheeses to discover and taste: cow, ewe, goat, 3 milks but also ewe’s butter… Aveyron is a land of cheeses, and this stall is a veritable “fromathèque”.

It’s almost a street dedicated to the ewe and agropastoralism (a dedication to Frisouille!) But the ewe also loves culture! She can visit:

• At the foot of the Belfry to admire the VRAC (Vitrine Régionale d’Art Contemporain) exhibitions from the outside, and inside the Tower during opening hours.
• At the “Passage à l’art” gallery, where exhibitions of painting, sculpture and other visual arts follow one another all year round.

This is one of the longest thoroughfares in the historic center. It occupies the site of an ancient road that later became the Gallo-Roman route from Lodève to Rodez via Millau.

Foch: the place for tastings but not just that!

Bordered by its corbelled houses, watched over by Notre-Dame de l’Espinasse and shaded by its plane trees, the Place Foch is organized around the fountain. It forms the link between Rue Droite and Rue de la Capelle.

In summer, restaurant and café terraces stretch across the center of the cobbled square. It hosts the market on Wednesday and Friday mornings: fruit, vegetables, cheese, aligot, honey… enough to put together a complete meal or indulge on the go.

In a “recantou” the salle Georges Costantini: an exhibition hall that hosts both painting and arts and crafts exhibitions.

La rue de la Capelle: showcase of Arts and Crafts

This small pedestrian artery, once a shopping street (dozens of grocers and other small shops used to occupy the street), is now lined with restaurants and artisans.

Among them:

• The workshop of a master glassmaker: Claude Bâillon. A creator of stained glass windows and glass structures, Claude Baillon likes to present his work, on his works that he exhibits as well as through his book “Promenades de verre”.
• La lutherie Levila: the specialist in guitar creation. A boutique workshop where Michel CASSAN’s expertise and attentiveness will enable you to create your own custom guitar. You can admire the models in his showroom.
• L’Espace boutique Millau Art et Savoir-Faire. In this space, some twenty local artists exhibit their skills in clay, paper, metal, leather… From creation to restoration, unique pieces to be unearthed without delay… and an invitation to continue the discovery directly in the workshops of these Millau and Grands Causses craftsmen.

A tour, Halles au center!

The “Baltard” pavilion of local gastronomy to fill up on goodies!

This “Aveyron mercadou” was inaugurated in 1899 and listed as a historic monument in 1978. And that’s not all! Renovation work was carried out between 1984 and 1985 to consolidate the place of this covered market in the habits of locals and visitors alike.

Under the glass and metal structure, dozens of producers set up shop and offer their definition of good eating. Delicatessen, cheese, good fruit and vegetables, but also good fish and poultry… fresh and cooked. You’ll be spoilt for choice. When appetite goes, everything goes, so they say.
The doors of Les Halles are open from Wednesday to Saturday. Note that they accompany the open-air market on Wednesday and Friday mornings.

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