Millau France
Millau: At last the day arrived for us to head toward Nice and our flight to Thailand and then onto Australia. We were completing the first leg of our journey through southern France and into Italy with good friends Jen and Rob.
We left Sarlat at about 2pm heading for Millau and it’s famous bridge. The bridge known as the Millau Viaduct spans the Tarn gorge and is an engineering marvel being recognised as one of the greatest engineering feats of all times. It is the highest bridge in the world with one of the masts reaching 343 metres and has the 12th highest deck in the world at 270 metres from the deck to the ground. The Millau Viaduct is part of the A75 Autoroute which connects Paris to Montpellier.
The drive from Sarlat to Millau took us through the department of the Lot and into Auveyron, the countryside is very pretty and at this time of the year green with loads of babbling brooks and full rivers.
Millau sits at the meeting point of the Tarn and Doubie Rivers and has a history dating back to the 1st century AD. It has a nice old centre with winding lanes and old buildings. In my opinion the town while quite historic it has a definite feel of hitting hard times with a number of shops closed, unfortunately this is a story you see all over rural France especially in sparsely populated areas like the Auveyron.
Ate at a Moroccan restaurant – cous-cous with loads of vegetables, mutton and merquez sausage. Nice but not great.
I have heard people rave over the Millau Viaduct, and yes it is interesting but I wouldn’t put it on my top things to see in France. And I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to see it – in my opinion there are loads more beautiful, historic and interesting things to see in France.
For Information on Travelling In France Read Our France Travel Guides