Millau Bridge (le Viaduc de Millau) — road trip roundup #3

Wide angle Millau Bridge. Copyright Le Franco Phoney, based in La Clusaz, Haute Savoie, France.If you suffer from vertigo or if you’re scared of heights, you might want to avoid the massive bridge near Millau and take the road underneath it, as I did, instead. From the road below, you can see the eight pylons clearly: they fork open about half way up to allow the wind to pass through. If they did not, the bridge, apparently, would collapse. These pylons are the tallest in both France and the world (in 2008 at least). It should therefore come as no surprise that the road bridge they support is the tallest in the world.

Travelling under the bridge means that you can stop at the information centre. We stopped there at around lunchtime — with a picnic which we planned to enjoy under the cool shade of a tree. However, a French security guard is employed to walk around the ‘grounds’ (a car park) and point out the sign that says no picnics are allowed. In addition, the centre has no tourist display area: you have to pay for a guided tour of the small building.

We jumped back into the car and drove about ten seconds away to the pylon on the other side of the road. We parked in the shade provided by the bridge above, grabbed the picnic rug from the boot of the car, and cooled down with a great view of the bridge right across the valley while we ate. If the weather hadn’t been so hot, I probably would have walked over to the security guard to thank him for making our visit more enjoyable (and free).

Instead, we took the obligatory ‘pretend you’re holding up the bridge with your hand’ photo before driving on.

Closeup of Millau Bridge in France. Copyright Wendy Hollands/Le Franco Phoney, based in La Clusaz, France.

Dordogne road trip links

Roadtrip Roundup 1: Dune du Pilat — largest sand dune in France

Roadtrip Roundup 2: Le Gouffre de Padirac — massive underground cave with a lake

Roadtrip Roundup 4: Marqueyssac gardens — kilometres of natural wonder

Roadtrip Roundup 5: La Roque St Christophe — village carved in rockface

Roadtrip Roundup 6: Chateau de Beynac — ancient restored castle

Roadtrip Roundup 7: Everything else — Lascaux, Gouffre de Proumeyssac, Les Eyzies de Tayac Sarlat-la-Canéda, Collonges les Rouge

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I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

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