A Short Trip with Multiple Destinations:
Destination 2: Millau and Its Bridge
Part One: Evening and Morning In Millau
This will be a two-part destination description. Millau sits at the confluence of two rivers coming out of two gorges (see map at Destination 4's Introduction page). Where the Tarn comes out of its gorge and the la Jonte comes out of its, and meet leaving only the Tarn, there sits Millau.
Since I had a high hotel room, I had a nice view of the town, the gorge of the la Jonte river is in the background:
Several of us took a walk through this old city and ended up at a bridge over the Tarn with remnant of Medieval fortifications still standing:
Turning around allowed us to see the lights on the tallest bridge in the world from a distance:
Just a few hours before we had stood beside that bridge and caught the sunset's last rays on it:
From atop the bridge, this is what Millau looked like (taken from fast-moving bus). You can see the Tarn gorge to the left, and the la Jonte gorge to the right:
There was enough room under us to hide the Eiffel Tower, we were told.
The next morning we rose very early, and out of my hotel room I could see the gorge through which the Tarn flows,
and the gorge through which the la Jonte flows:
Leaning to look past the beautiful church next to the hotel, and using a bit of telephoto, gave this view toward the Tarn gorge with the sun almost risen:
Once the sun was up I could get a nice picture of the upper part of that ornate church next door:
The gorges du Tarn beckoned in the distance, but will have to wait until tomorrow. Today we go west from here, into and over this rise on the horizon, toward Tournemire:
As the sun rises we board our bus for the ride to the underground research facility at Tournemire. But before we leave the Millau area we stop under the highest bridge in the world for a closer look at this engineering marvel, just a few short years old.
GO TO Part Two: Leaving Millau, Views From Under The Bridge
OTHER DESTINATIONS FOR THIS MARCH 2009 TRIP
Destination 3: Underground Research Center at Tournemire
Destination 4: The Gorges of the Tarn (Introduction, with 10 Sub-destination Pages)
Go Back to Destination 1: La Grande Motte
GENERAL LINKS:
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