Viaduc de Millau
We're mid-way through a heatwave (aka canicule) here in Sète - the first day was just wonderful, sitting in the soft breeze, relaxing. But of course, the reason they designate it a heatwave is because it builds up over several days! So, yesterday, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we have a car with air-conditioning!
We finally made the drive to the Viaduc de Millau! I had investigated it a couple of months ago, so naturally, I had forgotten *everything!*
Our goal was to
1) see the bridge and exhibit at the Aire (rest stop)
2) drive across the bridge
After looking at maps and imagery, I decided I could handle the drive down into the gorge and back up, so that's what we did. Fortunately, the indicators were right! the roads were wide, with no steep drop-offs, and the steepest grade was 7.5% - not bad! So, we drove up A75, but turned off before the bridge (exit 47), to go through the town of Millau (mee-YO) at the bottom of the gorge. We stopped at the Panorama viewpoint (#7, at https://www.leviaducdemillau.com/en/visit/best-observation-points). "An extensive view stretching from the Millau Viaduct to the Gorges de la Dourbie, the Causse Noir and the Tarn Valley."
To get to the Aire, you have to drive further North, then get on the A75 back towards Montpellier. You pay the toll here - I had forgotten my earlier research, and got confused when there was no ticket to take. For most toll roads in France, you get a ticket when you enter, then pay when you exit. But this toll was more like much of the US - you just pay, then go. I had an unhappy driver behind me before I finally understood 🙄. Aaaanyway, we finally did get to the Aire!
We got back to the exhibit just in time to get a little wet, but were inside for the cloudburst 🙂. We flashed our Pass Sanitaire, then meandered through the exhibit. You can read all about how the bridge was constructed and see a bunch of statistics - the website gives the same information, so you can see what we did!
We took the A75 across the bridge - the sides wrap up a bit, so we couldn't really see much of the landscape, but the view of the bridge supports was really interesting (sorry, no photos while driving)!
I thought the drive home would be a slam-dunk - just hit "go home" on the GPS, and follow the voice. Wellll... I'm about to give up on that! The danged thing sent us nearly 40 km out of our way, *and* sent us through a toll road! The good news is that we didn't hit too much traffic (just a little bit coming into Sète). We were home by 6:30, tired, but not as hot as if we had stayed home!
~~~
Our gas + tolls made this trip ~ 30€
Visitor Page in English: https://www.leviaducdemillau.com/en
Toll info: https://www.leviaducdemillau.com/en/getting-around/toll-charges
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