The dining room at Café Bras, next to the Musée Soulages, in Rodez. C. BOUSQUET
Rodez is an El Dorado in the making. Perched at 627 meters above sea level in the Occitanie region of southern France, the small city promises a welcome drop in temperature – a minor luxury during sweltering summer heatwaves, and enough to rival the Mediterranean coast, at least for a day. From the coast, a drive up the A75 highway, across the striking Millau Viaduct, and through hamlets surrounded by sheep, leads straight to the lawns of the Jardin du Foirail. It is here, amidst some 5,000 square meters of greenery, that one of the region's great prides was established in 2014: the Musée Soulages.
As its name suggests, the building houses hundreds of works by Pierre Soulages, France's celebrated master of abstraction. Yet, another kind of artistry flourishes right next door at Café Bras. Outside, the building shares the museum's same Corten steel façade (a material that develops a beautiful rusted patina over time); while inside, there are the same anthracite gray tiles and monastic atmosphere. The museum and the restaurant share so much because the latter was conceived as an extension of the former. Separated by a glass door, the two spaces are literally connected.
