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The bridge is 23 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower

“The bridge is just on the clouds,” Millau Mayor Jacques Godfrain told the BBC’s World Today programme.

“The architect, Norman Foster, gave us a model of art.” Mr Foster said the bridge was designed to have the “delicacy of a butterfly”.

“A work of man must fuse with nature. The pillars had to look almost organic, like they had grown from the earth,” the world-renowned British architect said in an interview with regional daily newspaper Midi Libre.

The bridge is now a source of pride for Millau, which believes many more tourists will come to admire one of the engineering wonders of the 21st Century. The construction also removes a bottleneck at the town, completing a new motorway link between Paris and the Mediterranean.

The construction of the steel bridge – now weighing about 36,000 tonnes – began in December 2001, using innovative techniques.

From the north and south sides of the valley, the metal sections of the structure were assembled, lifted slightly and then carefully slotted into place on each of the supporting pillars.

Motorists are expected to pay 4.6 euros (£3.18; $5.60) for a trip across the bridge.