It was a hard choice for us as we woke on schedule on our supposed day of rest - go abseiling down the rapidly growing sinkhole in our bathroom or go and see one of the modern wonders of the world the Millau Viaduct Bridge !
There was plenty to do after making a mess of our "resorts" breakfast. Kev and I had some clothes to machine wash while Rick and Noel had to explain to the French Dept of high fashion standards how the sight of their hanging hand washed long johns was environmentally friendly !
After our washing Kev and I had to race off to do some shopping and then return by 1-00p.m, so we could jump back on the bikes again to go in search of a company that provided boat tours on the Tarn River and under the Millau bridge !
Our day didnt start so well ! Whatever washing machine slot (why don't they have instructions in English!) we'd put the detergent in it obviously wasnt the right one resulting in our clothes looking much wettter and not much cleaner after our wash cycle !
Even our trip to the supermarket had issues ! As a supermarket it would have made a great castle positioned 4 kms away on the steepest hill in Millau ! Henley who'd forgotten to use his asthma medication was in serious danger of being left for road kill as we struggled up the 8+ % slope !
Somehow we got what we wanted and raced back to the cabins in time to get set to do it all over again this time cycling to our river ride starting point.
With Columbus back in control it was a hair raising 6 km ride right through the middle of Millau around busy roundabouts and down narrow lanes some of which we actually travelled the right way !
Finally we navigated our way to our riverside meeting point catching up with our tour captain for the day Jean Claude !
Jumping in to our 8 seater outboard we headed down the beautiful limestone river the Tarn. Our experience was made all the more exciting by the very low levels of the river which had Henley (formerly of the Titanic) on lookout for any stray boulders !.
As we wound our way around the river and through a nunber of very shallow rapids, Jean Claude gave us a very informative brief of the river ecology including the areas serial pest (they have theirs and we have ours !) the beaver, which as evidenced had destroyed numerous treees in the area.
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| Beaver damage ! |
Finally the star of the show came into view and what a star she was ! Built in only 3 years to help alleviate traffic problems in Milllau as Parisians headed to Spain, the design is inspired with 7 massive pylons and a bridge height the tallest in the world some 30 metres higher than the Eiffel tower. Even the roadway sits 270 metres above the river Tarn !
Passing underneath we were awestruck at the immensity of the bridge with its design able to withstand earthquakes, landslides, severe heat and cold through expansion points and with even an aerodynamically shaped roadway that stops the road lifting in high winds.
The fact that when joining the final roadway sections together they we only 1 centimetre out is testament to the incredible engineering skills of those involved!
As we pulled our jaws out of the water the boat ride continued past the bridge to the beautiful semi troglodyte village of Peytre involved in the wars of religion with its protestant neighbour Millau.
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| Peytre |
After a few more minutes our ride finished where we were transferred back to our bikes. After a great boat ride our cycle back was a little more adventurous this time going around the outskirts of Millau before we headed into the city centre for a soft drink and some time to discuss the great tour.
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| Heading back ! |
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