Carcassonne –
Anduze
Distance – 317km
Overview. Some of the best roads and riding of the
entire trip through the national parks of southern France – and then some
serious rain in the last few kilometres.
Anduze Snapshot
History – Most of the town dates from 1320 and the farming history can be seen with the original grain hall dating from the 15th century. There is also a curious pagoda-fountain dating from the 17th century, and covered with brightly coloured tiles. The history of the town is deeply interlinked with the story of Protestants in the region, especially the Wars of Religion.
Elevation – 117 – 443m
Population – 3,300
Getting Ready . . .
As usual, I was up and about doing various things very early in the morning . . . and we all met downstairs for breakfast in 'human clothes' at 8:30am - which was interesting because we had to buy our croissants in one place and take them for coffee at another. No problem!
As usual, I was up and about doing various things very early in the morning . . . and we all met downstairs for breakfast in 'human clothes' at 8:30am - which was interesting because we had to buy our croissants in one place and take them for coffee at another. No problem!
As previously mentioned, today Chris went his own
separate way as he would rather not tackle the ‘twisties’ that John and I
enjoy . . . although we wonder whether his special Power Ranger know-how gave
him an inkling of what the weather was going to do later the day. Or did his special friend Garmin whisper
something into his ear? I guess we’ll
never know.
Heading East . . .
Anyway, we all departed Carcassonne together at around 10:30am (a record for us!) and headed east towards Trebes along the N-113 and then the D-610 towards Homps (B) where we parted company with Chris.
Anyway, we all departed Carcassonne together at around 10:30am (a record for us!) and headed east towards Trebes along the N-113 and then the D-610 towards Homps (B) where we parted company with Chris.
Heading North . . .
Our route took us north on some lovely roads up into the Montagne Noire and through Olprizac, Aigves-Vivis, Rieussec (C) and across the D-908 at St Pons-de-Thormieres (D). From there we continued north on even more squiggly roads in the Monts de Lacaune and through la Salvetatt-sur-Agout (E)and across the 'mountain' for lunch at Lacaune (F) sitting in the sunshine and enjoying the gorgeous countryside.
Millau Bridge. Next we went even further north through des Grand Causses through places like Belmont-s-Rance, St-Pierre, St-Affrique (G) and St-Rome-de-Corntin before heading north-west to the Viaduc de Millau (H). The bridge is no less stunning than it was five years ago when we were here with John and Liz - not only is it a masterpiece of engineering it also look so elegant and lives up to its reputation as a 'road in the sky'.
From there we headed into Millau, which is a surprisingly nice town, to get to get some fuel and then head up the 'mountain' so we could cross the bridge from the north to the south. We had a few dramas at the toll gate but we eventually got through and we can now record in our 'log books' that we have been over the bridge in a car and on a motor bike!
Our route took us north on some lovely roads up into the Montagne Noire and through Olprizac, Aigves-Vivis, Rieussec (C) and across the D-908 at St Pons-de-Thormieres (D). From there we continued north on even more squiggly roads in the Monts de Lacaune and through la Salvetatt-sur-Agout (E)and across the 'mountain' for lunch at Lacaune (F) sitting in the sunshine and enjoying the gorgeous countryside.
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This translates as
‘road salt’
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| Green and blue Power Rangers revealing their identities! |
Millau Bridge. Next we went even further north through des Grand Causses through places like Belmont-s-Rance, St-Pierre, St-Affrique (G) and St-Rome-de-Corntin before heading north-west to the Viaduc de Millau (H). The bridge is no less stunning than it was five years ago when we were here with John and Liz - not only is it a masterpiece of engineering it also look so elegant and lives up to its reputation as a 'road in the sky'.
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How sweet is this!
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Boot repairs
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From there we headed into Millau, which is a surprisingly nice town, to get to get some fuel and then head up the 'mountain' so we could cross the bridge from the north to the south. We had a few dramas at the toll gate but we eventually got through and we can now record in our 'log books' that we have been over the bridge in a car and on a motor bike!
More ‘Helpful’
Strangers . . .
The German couple in this red car weren’t any help at all as they spent at least 10 minutes ‘snogging’ before they got back into the car and continued the action!
Heading East Again . . .
The German couple in this red car weren’t any help at all as they spent at least 10 minutes ‘snogging’ before they got back into the car and continued the action!
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The ‘snogging’ car
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Heading East Again . . .
The next stage was a 140kph 'drag' down the A-75 for about 30km to la Cavalerie where we headed east on some increasingly interesting roads to Nant (I), Sauclieres - and onto the D-999 and up into the Gorges de la Dourbie through places like Alzon, le Vigan (J) and down into Pont-d-Herault for brief stop by the river.
This is where things started getting interesting. The rain had been threatening for a while and
we had passed a few 'wet patches' on the road.
As we headed off south towards Ganges (K) and then east again towards
St-Hippolyte-du-Fort we received a decent 'shower', but nothing too much to
worry about.
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| Before the rain |
And Then it
Rained . . . !
And then . . . about 10km from our destination the heavens opened! There had been the occasional light drizzle along the latter part of the ride but we quickly dried off. Anyway, it was 'too close' to Anduze to hassle around with wet weather gear and we simply got soaked and arrived at John and Liz's friends place looking decidedly soggy. That was a really nice trick Roger - thanks!! Our friends Chris and Garmin had arrived about 45 minutes before us and missed all the fun!
And then . . . about 10km from our destination the heavens opened! There had been the occasional light drizzle along the latter part of the ride but we quickly dried off. Anyway, it was 'too close' to Anduze to hassle around with wet weather gear and we simply got soaked and arrived at John and Liz's friends place looking decidedly soggy. That was a really nice trick Roger - thanks!! Our friends Chris and Garmin had arrived about 45 minutes before us and missed all the fun!
Tim's Toy Town . . .
So Tim and Sylvie made us very welcome in this quaint rural French property. It is a pretty little pace set on banks of the Gardon River with a 'cottage' towards the bottom of the property. Tim has lots of toys, including a tractor, ride-on-mower, digger (!) and lots of cars - like a Mini Cooper and a MG Midget, as well as a Citroen CV-2 and a bundle of other things. AND he has a 'cottage' set up exclusively for his model trains!
So Tim and Sylvie made us very welcome in this quaint rural French property. It is a pretty little pace set on banks of the Gardon River with a 'cottage' towards the bottom of the property. Tim has lots of toys, including a tractor, ride-on-mower, digger (!) and lots of cars - like a Mini Cooper and a MG Midget, as well as a Citroen CV-2 and a bundle of other things. AND he has a 'cottage' set up exclusively for his model trains!
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| The man with everything . . . ! |
Beautiful Setting . . .
The rain cleared up enough for us all to enjoy a lovely meal of salmon and salad outside in the garden - it was lovely to kick back and relax at a house rather than a restaurant and hotel and reflect on what has been THE BEST day of the trip so far!!
The rain cleared up enough for us all to enjoy a lovely meal of salmon and salad outside in the garden - it was lovely to kick back and relax at a house rather than a restaurant and hotel and reflect on what has been THE BEST day of the trip so far!!
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Morphing back to
being humans again
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