Another breakfast on the terrace and another scorching day promised. We had about 165 miles to go today, to reach our destination, Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
The day once again provided us with a mixture of great roads with sweeping high speed bends and tight hairpins. We were heading into the Cevenne mountains, part of the Massive Central and another enjoyable ride was had. Besides the roads, there was some beautiful and spectacular scenery to go with it, none more so than when we made our way over the Millau Viaduct. The viaduct spans the river Tarn near the town of Millau. It is the tallest bridge in the world, based on the tallest mast's summit. The roadway itself is only 12th highest. That's a mere detail though, we've been on the tallest bridge!
Once across, there is a viewing area and visitor centre, so we pulled off and parked up. From the car park there is a pretty steep path up to the viewing area. Without the blazing sun I expect poor old Grizzly would have struggled, so he did well to get up there with only a couple of rests on the way. We both agreed though, the walk up was definitely worth it. The bridge is spectacular in itself but add to that the vistas looking down into the valley, then it's a must do. Photos taken, including ones for a Flemish lady on her iphone, we made our way back to the bikes and back out onto the motorway.
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| Millau Viaduct |
It's a short drive to the peage booths. Unfortunately, there's no way of avoiding the toll once you have crossed the bridge, as from the viewing area, all roads lead to peage! It cost us €4.60 to go across. I'd thought it was €3.40, probably the low season cost, so got to the barrier to find the €4 I had in my jacket pocket not enough. It takes card though, so I whacked that in instead. Must be the quickest card reader ever too. In and out in the blink of an eye!
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| The Tarn Valley, looking towards Millau town |
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