Millau
After Blois we overnighted in Bourges and we headed further south to Millau, once famous for its gloves (it still has shops making and selling very expensive lady’s pairs) now better known for the amazing bridge across the Tarn Gorge. The road south is fairly high-altitude in these parts – we were often above 1000 metres. We came off before the bridge and eventually found our way to the (free) Aire which was only a few minutes walking from the town centre. Like previous Aires, it was exceptionally popular and by nightfall newcomers were parking on the access roads which meant nobody else could get out.
Millau is ancient (originally Roman) with some fair buildings but nothing outstanding except the old bridge. There was a market on Friday which was splendidly French. We bought half a loaf of incredibly crusty bread, and by the time we got back to the Aire the access roads were clear so we could get out.
It was a bit of a palaver getting back on to the motorway so that we could then cross the bridge (Mrs TomTom and the road signs were taking us across the valley to by-pass the bridge) and we then stopped at a viewpoint to get some decent pictures. An amazing construction, but the sit-down bogs at the viewpoint were all ‘Turkish’ style. Why spend probably a couple of billion quid on a state-of-the-art bridge and then put in C19 lavvies?
The picture above is obviously another but rather older bridge in Millau.
This is the aire at Millau - a glorified car park but usually they have facilities for emptying or filling the various on board tanks. This one was free and a 10 minute walk from town. Can you imagine one of these in your town?
