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The little site at Le Truel has been a charming and restful stopover. We service the van and continue our adventure along the D31.
There is more fantastic scenery as we drive through the Grands Causses; hills, twists, turns and unguarded drops but generally most of the tarmac is wide enough to be called a road. We stop at a viewpoint near Melvieu looking deep into and across the green pines and grey stone of the gorge. The first town of any size is St Rome de Tarn, a quiet commune perched above the river, its main street a switchback up to the hills above.
We take the D73, once a main route, towards Millau. The scenery changes dramatically, now open hills, golden cornfields, dolmens and granite escarpments. Then, suddenly, in the distance the white triangles marking out the Millau viaduct which rendered this road its minor status. As we drive up and down we get various views, each closer and more impressive, of this mighty British design spanning the valley. With the sun behind us it shows up as a pure white, massive, elegant and technically marvelous form.
We drive down the hill towards one of the columns and pass under the roadway hundreds of feet above annd pull into the supermarket on the edge of Millau town. From here there is a panoramic view of the deck, all seven pylons and the whole valley floor. Only when you pick out the miniscule form of an articulated truck do you realise the scale. The supermarket's fuel station canopy is supported by facsimile pylons and wires.
Climbing out of Millau there are more views and aspects from the D809 and every view is awe inspiring.
A few miles later we turn onto an unclassified road towards Montredon. Here it is like moorland, yellow scrub grass and small shrubby trees, but the land is dotted with dolmens, rock outcrops and granite towers.
Rounding a bend on this narrow road Nick has to brake sharply and slither to a halt on the gravelly verge, as a Dutch car appears, closely followed by a swaying caravan. He has no chance of stopping and a glance at the mirrors leaves us amazed there was no sound of a collision. The gap was certainly less tha the proverbial gnat's knackersack.
We arrive at the Passion, Ferme Auberge de Jassenove and park in the grassy bowl formed by granite outcrops, pine trees and the auberge house. A few other vans arrive over the next two hours and after a walk out through the woods in 30C sun we go into the Auberge for dinner. It is a set menu at €24 for five courses; pate and salad, rocqufort pancakes, roast lamb with a potato and vegetable bake, cheese board and dessert of chocolate fondant with raspberry compot. A bottle of Millau red is an essential extra. There are twelve other diners all enoying the same fine cooking in an attractive stone and antique wood room.
By the time we leave it is dark but we can pick out six vans in all.
We stare a while at the upright new moon and bright stars while our stomachs pluck up the courage to go to bed.
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