Veronica 9

Auriliac to  Entraygues sur Truyere
Packed our gear and left it by reception. Headed off in search of the rental car Willem had ordered.  At the address he had there was no sign of rental cars. We called into an office where two young English speaking people were really helpful. She made a phone call to find the rental company  and the young man drove us to collect it.  A very nice Renault Megane.

Two door knockers, the high one for the 

visitor on horseback.

Truyere street

We drove to  Entraygues and had lunch by the river Lot, where it joins the Truyere.
Another nice old town.  Cosy hotel and a good dinner

Entraygues sur Truyere to Laissac

We drove through a gorge along the Lot river. At Estaing we visited the  chateau which had been 8
hundred years in the Estaing family then seized by the state in 1794 .  In 1836 it became the mother
house of the religious congregation of St Joseph d' Estaing. It was ceded to the city in 2000. It is
being renovated by,and is now the property of,the foundation Valery Giscard d'Estaing.   Interesting to see the drawings showing how it had been added to over the centuries by the people  living there.

A few additions...

We drove to Espalion  another old town on the river with an ancient bridge then  to Bozouls. This is a fascinating place built around a canyon. Buildings  right on the edge and just a few, deep in the bottom of the canyon near the river.

We followed the road to Rodez, to Salles la Source and Marcillac. We then backtracked to pick up the proposed bike route to Laussac. It was lovely with ups and long downs. Willem had chosen a good route.
Luckily we arrived here in Laissac AFTER the cattle market which is held every Tuesday morning and is the second biggest in France.
At dinner we were given the English menu, always fun. I chose 'calf undercut with sprinkles ', just because I wanted to know what it could possibly be. it was a tasty veal escalope with fresh garlic and parsley

Laissac to Millau

Once again we took the 'bike route'. The long initial climb was followed by a ridge road. The descent into  Millau was long...... However a lovely car journey too.  The viaduct is breathtaking we can see it from our cabin and tomorrow we will have a closer look

It  is amazing, a drive to the northern end and walk to the view point  allowed us to take in the size of it and watch the traffic whizz over. Then we saw a video of the construction in English. At its highest point it is 340m.
After lunch we took a drive to the valley which allowed us to look up at the enormous structure. Also in the valley is the village of Peyre.

 Many of the oldest buildings are built into the rock  face. In ancient times there were cave dwellings and recently tools, artefacts and remains were found. One large cave was in later times was closed in at the front and became the initial church. It was hot walking in the steep streets and passages and we stopped for a drink at a Gite. I had a very nice chat to the lady ( in French) about her vegetable garden which looked very productive. Lovely to sit on a terrace on the ancient rocky hillside and look at the elegant, modern viaduct spanning the valley in front of us.