Friday 20 November 2015

Off to the Bridge in the Sky!

Off to the Bridge in the Sky!

Thursday 19th November 2015

This morning we left our camp site with the intention of cycling to the Millau Viaduct to see it up close and personal, however, before we could set off we had to climb out of the camp site!  The site is terraced and we're right at the very bottom, so rather than riding our bikes - we pushed!

You can just about spot the T4rdis (on the left). We are stood right at the top by the entrance
Once we got to the top we had a bit of a problem - there is a barrier that blocks the whole road, and to get through it (even as pedestrians), you need the barrier key, and guess where ours was!  Sitting on the shelf nice and safely in the T4rdis - bugger!   Needless to say we didn't go back to fetch it, rather we slid ourselves and our bikes underneath and continued on our way.

We left the site and rode down a hill, over a bridge and onto a little mostly unused back road that sidled along at the side of the River Tarn.  At this stage the sun was trying to peep through the clouds, but sadly it never quite managed,  however except for a few dribs and drabs of rain it stayed fine 😄.





We'd only gone a few kilometres when we met this chap, we tried to persuade him to come with us but he declined and  said he was waiting for the Tour!








So we continued on our way without his company enjoying lovely views of the river on one side and craggy cliffs on the other, and as we went we spotted soaring buzzards - they proved to be frequent flyers throughout today's ride and I tried several times to capture them in a photo but they were to elusive.

Another funny phenomena  about this ride was the sensation of going uphill when  we were clearly zooming down and vis versa.  Sometimes we needed to peddle hard when it should have been easy, and at others our bikes just ran away with us!  Obviously, this was an optical illusion, but we found it quite amusing.

Eventually the viaduct came into view and it's magnitude was quite 'ore'  inspiring! (have you got your red pen Sharon? - 😂ha ha).  We tried to capture it's hugeness by taking pics from directly underneath





But we couldn't do it justice so we settled for these instead.










Your can just about see the lorries going over
One from yesterday - The Bridge in all it's glory
Millau Town nestled amongst the vast hills



From there we cycled onto Millau itself, but to get into the town we needed to go down a long hill, and of course, if we'd gone down we'd have needed to come back up - and as it was lunch time everything would have been closed anyway! So instead we settled for lunch under the shadow of the mighty bridge.





Once again, this was a retrace your tyre tracks ride, so when we'd finished eating we turned around and started wending our way home, however on the way we passed though the village of Peyre.  Many of it's houses there were literally built into the cliff side and looked as if they had been there for ever.
As stylised by Google
We continued on our way, but we hadn't gone to far when an old car towing a trailer hurtled by us.  In the trailer there was an open tub of what looked like grapes in a red liquid - and from it's aroma it certainly was 'Vin Rouge🍷' - happily the aroma stayed with us for quite a good part of our return journey.  However, from the look of it I'm fairly sure that the smell was better than the taste - I think if we're going to indulge we'll wait till it's been it a bottle for a couple of years.


Friday 20th November 2015

Well, this morning our luck finally ran out with the weather and it dawned very wet and windy so we decided to have a lazy morning in the T4rdis.    However by midday the rain had stopped so we put on our coats and had a wander up into the village, and it was a good job we were on foot and hadn't taken the van with us. As we entered we found a sign to say the street's width was only 2.2 metres - I think even if the T4rdis had breathed in we might have left some vital part of it's anatomy attached to an overhanging wall or balcony!





There were numerous little alley ways, lanes and steps that led to various doors, most of which were obviously residences, and although it was all very ancient and crumbling it was scrupulously clean and tidy, often with flower pots to provide a splash of colour here and there.




We strolled around the town, which didn't take very long and then headed home for lunch with the intention of pottering out again in the afternoon to find the cascade after which the camp site is named.






Now, lunch was a bit of a strange affair!  I think I've mentioned before, we like tomato soup, and we had eaten all that I'd brought from England.  So, the last time we'd been shopping I'd found some tomato veloute - it looked like soup on the pack so I'd tossed it into my trolley.  Anyway today was the day to try it!  I warmed it up but it was a bit thin and runny so I added some ground linseed and a bit of cornflour in the hope that it would thicken, next in went a dollop  of black pepper and a big handful of 'Grana Padano Riserva' (cheese) and hey presto it went down quite nicely with a bit of crusty bread! (but I think I'd rather have Heinz in future)

After lunch we donned our coats again and climbed out of the campsite for the second time!  We then headed off to find the cascade, but because of the recent lack of rain it wasn't overly impressive - but if that's the price to pay fro nice sunny dry weather  we really aren't complaining.

Our walk took us a little over an hour and then it was back to the T4rdis to complete the chore of the weekly wash, and because we have a fairly good internet connection at the mo, hopefully later we might be able to chat with some of our family on face time.

Tomorrow we plan to move on again - this time to Montpelier, but on the way we might give the T4rdis (and John) a treat by driving over the Millau Viaduct.

Take Care xx

Click here to see our French Camping spots

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