France, March 26 -- Two top French ministers joined forces 20 kilometres to the north of Paris on Monday to pay tribute to the builders, engineers and landscapers behind a 650-million euro regeneration project on 70 hectares of land around the venue for the sports climbing events during the Paris Olympic Games.

During their 90-minute tour of the Cluster des Medias, sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera and industry minister Roland Lescure inaugurated the 10-million euro Gymnase Marie Paradis in Le Bourget where competitors will warm up for their appearances between 5 and 10 August in the climbing events on the walls outside.

The delegation - which included politicians from the Seine-Saint-Denis region as well as Tony Estanguet, the boss ...