Hi all,
Anybody got the sat nav co-ordinates for the bridge please???
TD
Surely it's easy enough to find the bridge?
Milau Bridge Routes
- Thread starter teejay
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Surely it's easy enough to find the bridge?
Captain Pugwash
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Well if someone fails to notice they are surrounded by some of the best roads in Europe,I would imagine it would be very easy to miss a little bridge !!
Well if someone fails to notice they are surrounded by some of the best roads in Europe,I would imagine it would be very easy to miss a little bridge !!
Ah,,,,I get it now.
Well if someone fails to notice they are surrounded by some of the best roads in Europe,I would imagine it would be very easy to miss a little bridge !!
That worked easily! Thanks Whatton!
This route misses out on the Pont du Gard. Ales is a shithole but the road after it is a bit good!
This route misses out on the Pont du Gard. Ales is a shithole but the road after it is a bit good!
This file has some POIs around Millau
Roquefort is the place where they make the famous cheese and they run a tour into the caves which is quite interesting. It is all in French but is graphic enough to be understood by all. There are two tours that I know of, Societe run the best one even though you have to pay a few €. Lunch in their restaurant afterwards trying the cheese rounds off an interesting morning.
La Couvertoirade A really super Templar village, like a mini Carcassonne, not to be missed
Cantobre and Peyre Both interesting villages, Cantobre is in the Gorge du Dourbie so one could then follow it all the way up into the Cevennes.
Pezenas A mid sized town, very interesting old quarter with lots of artisans and tiny shops that women love, only open during the season though. The A75 dropping down from the Larzac plateau has to be one of the best bits of autoroute ever and it is free!
Cap d'Agde The largest nudist resort in the world, get your bits out with lots of geriatric Germans!
A bit of a sober note, watch out for mobile radars when entering villages and towns. A friend of my wifes just got nicked doing 56kph in a 50 limit, cost her €90! Dead straight road entering a village where I am usually doing over 90kph and gradually slowing
Roquefort is the place where they make the famous cheese and they run a tour into the caves which is quite interesting. It is all in French but is graphic enough to be understood by all. There are two tours that I know of, Societe run the best one even though you have to pay a few €. Lunch in their restaurant afterwards trying the cheese rounds off an interesting morning.
La Couvertoirade A really super Templar village, like a mini Carcassonne, not to be missed
Cantobre and Peyre Both interesting villages, Cantobre is in the Gorge du Dourbie so one could then follow it all the way up into the Cevennes.
Pezenas A mid sized town, very interesting old quarter with lots of artisans and tiny shops that women love, only open during the season though. The A75 dropping down from the Larzac plateau has to be one of the best bits of autoroute ever and it is free!
Cap d'Agde The largest nudist resort in the world, get your bits out with lots of geriatric Germans!
A bit of a sober note, watch out for mobile radars when entering villages and towns. A friend of my wifes just got nicked doing 56kph in a 50 limit, cost her €90! Dead straight road entering a village where I am usually doing over 90kph and gradually slowing
Deleted account 210609001
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I have to agree with Shenzi - one of my favourite places in the world (well, Europe anyway) is the tiny little village called Ste Chely on the Tarn Gorge road. It really is small, not on maps - you cross a bridge over the river to the village which has the one small hotel - Auberge de la Cascade, which is a Logis hotel. The hotel is pretty standard, but the village is just magic. There's a little beach to swim in the river, and a couple of little waterfalls where icy cold water plunges into the Tarn (which is itself pretty cold!). The hotel has rooms in the village away from the hotel itself. (We spent part of our honeymoon there, so maybe by memories are slightly skewed. Here's a photo, and yes it really is that green!)
The gorge road itself could be brilliant but there tends to be a lot of traffic in anything like tourist season with campervans and coaches being fairly prevalent, but the scenery is superb and ideal for just bimbling along.
There are some great roads nearby. I recall the road from Millau to Mende and carrying on in that direction towards Le Puy as being a beautiful fast sweepy road and one of the few roads where I wished I had a faster bike than the 1200GS.
Some of the minor roads going off the main gorge road are very minor but ideal for a GS if you want to do some exploring. Nearby is the interestingly named Chaos de Montpellier le Vieux which has some amazing limestone causse formations.
Approaching the bridge from the South, the last ten miles or so of motorway are - and I can't believe I'm typing this - amazing. Swoopy banked curves, new smooth surface and not much traffic. And crossing the bridge itself is truly memorable. We did it at dusk, south to North, and it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up to think about it.
While you're in that area, there are some lovely roads around St Pons and Bedarieux (sort of inland from Beziers) as well.
I've done the Route Napoleon, but only in the car. It's a really great road. You'll enjoy it!
Robin.
The gorge road itself could be brilliant but there tends to be a lot of traffic in anything like tourist season with campervans and coaches being fairly prevalent, but the scenery is superb and ideal for just bimbling along.
There are some great roads nearby. I recall the road from Millau to Mende and carrying on in that direction towards Le Puy as being a beautiful fast sweepy road and one of the few roads where I wished I had a faster bike than the 1200GS.
Some of the minor roads going off the main gorge road are very minor but ideal for a GS if you want to do some exploring. Nearby is the interestingly named Chaos de Montpellier le Vieux which has some amazing limestone causse formations.
Approaching the bridge from the South, the last ten miles or so of motorway are - and I can't believe I'm typing this - amazing. Swoopy banked curves, new smooth surface and not much traffic. And crossing the bridge itself is truly memorable. We did it at dusk, south to North, and it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up to think about it.
While you're in that area, there are some lovely roads around St Pons and Bedarieux (sort of inland from Beziers) as well.
I've done the Route Napoleon, but only in the car. It's a really great road. You'll enjoy it!
Robin.
Attachments
Thanks everyone for all the info, will start looking at routes and hotels soon.
Looks an sounds as though we could have the whole time in and around the area of the Bridge itself!!
Roll on July, June will be the first 'proper test' of the GS to Assen Moto GP, friend has his new one ordered for the 1st March (08 reg) so another maiden voyage for him aswell to Assen and on this trip.
Teejay
Looks an sounds as though we could have the whole time in and around the area of the Bridge itself!!
Roll on July, June will be the first 'proper test' of the GS to Assen Moto GP, friend has his new one ordered for the 1st March (08 reg) so another maiden voyage for him aswell to Assen and on this trip.
Teejay
Rambling Sid Rumpo
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I rode the Tarn Gorge in 2006 - it's very beautiful. This pic is the river and bridge at Ste.-Enimie:
and a suitable preparation for little villages like Pont de Montvert:
Melanie Cheeks
Registered user
Finally got round to downloading all my video footage of last year, and teaching myself how to use movie maker and You tube...
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Crossing the Viaduct video
Well done - we enjoyed that.
We did the 'Shenzi tour' last Autumn -but as it was -3° we went by Suzuki......Swft, 4 wheels, all driven! Just one thing to remember, like most of France, so much depends WHEN you are travelling. A friend was down there about a month ago and pretty well ALL the hotels and restaurants are closed around the Gorge du Tarn. (8 months work, 4 months holiday is normal down there.If you are 'in season' it can be very busy - I would suggest booking at a hotel - Logis de France are as good as any and very reasonable compared to UK prices - even at 0.76€ to the £.
Well done - we enjoyed that.
We did the 'Shenzi tour' last Autumn -but as it was -3° we went by Suzuki......Swft, 4 wheels, all driven! Just one thing to remember, like most of France, so much depends WHEN you are travelling. A friend was down there about a month ago and pretty well ALL the hotels and restaurants are closed around the Gorge du Tarn. (8 months work, 4 months holiday is normal down there.If you are 'in season' it can be very busy - I would suggest booking at a hotel - Logis de France are as good as any and very reasonable compared to UK prices - even at 0.76€ to the £.
NeilF
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Sid, Robin, or Shenzi
are any of these routes impractical if we were to tour the area in a Motorhome . . . ?
SWMBO only allows one Bike tour a year - the other tour has to be in our Motorhome, so I thought to nominate the Gorges.
Cheers,
Neil.
PS - all you Tossers - No I can't take the bike on the back of the Motorhome.
or the Motorhome on the back of the bike.
and Yes, SWMBO has to come with me.
are any of these routes impractical if we were to tour the area in a Motorhome . . . ?
SWMBO only allows one Bike tour a year - the other tour has to be in our Motorhome, so I thought to nominate the Gorges.
Cheers,
Neil.
PS - all you Tossers - No I can't take the bike on the back of the Motorhome.
or the Motorhome on the back of the bike.
and Yes, SWMBO has to come with me.
"....are any of these routes impractical if we were to tour the area in a Motorhome . . . ?
No, except you will find 400 other motorhomes to the mile and parking choc-a-bloc at the height of the season; Choose your dates carefully - which means consult Shenzi (or even me!)
No, except you will find 400 other motorhomes to the mile and parking choc-a-bloc at the height of the season; Choose your dates carefully - which means consult Shenzi (or even me!)
Deleted account 210609001
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You'll feel right at home with a motorhome in the Gorge du Tarn! I don't recall any roads are impractical in a motorhome, though.
are any of these routes impractical if we were to tour the area in a Motorhome . . . ?
SWMBO only allows one Bike tour a year - the other tour has to be in our Motorhome, so I thought to nominate the Gorges.
Cheers,
Neil.
PS - all you Tossers - No I can't take the bike on the back of the Motorhome.
or the Motorhome on the back of the bike.
and Yes, SWMBO has to come with me.
Actually I fecking HATE motorhomes in general and particularly in the Gorge du Tarn!
Last year a Belgian gentleman tried to kill me and was surprised when I dragged him out through his window, must remember to open the door the next time!I suppose it depends on the size of your vehicle, Transit sized things don't have a problem. If it isn't one of the US monsters then you can do the Gorge du Tarn, people will hate you but you must be used to that. I don't recall seeing anywhere for them to overnight in the pretty part of the gorge other than St.Enimie but that isn't too much of a problem as it isn't that long. It makes a difference when you go also, may I suggest August, January or February as I never go in those months
The other gorges in the vicinity (Jonte and Dourbie) would be a bit tight even with a Transit but do-able.
Lots of great places down here that are accessible by motorhome though, we get thousands of the fecking things!
If you tell me the size of your vehicle and what you are interested in seeing then I will try to help.
If you bring me some Hobnobs I will bring you some wine!
Deleted account 210609001
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Actually I fecking HATE motorhomes in general and particularly in the Gorge du Tarn!
Last time I was in the Gorge, I came up behind a German motorhome at one of the narrow bits. A coach was coming the pther way, and we were on a slightly downhill stretch. The motorhome put it in reverse and started to edge back towards me, with the coach literally inches from his front bumper. To the right of me was a rock cliff face.
Jeez, talk about panic! I couldn't paddle backwards, couldn't nip round in front of him because the coach was so close, and sounding the pathetic horn on my bike made no difference. He was getting closer and closer and weaving all over the road. I was just about to sacrifice the bike and save myself by jumping off and running slightly downhill. In the end I resorted to shouting "OI!" as loud as I could and he stopped. I went passed him on the "wrong" side and squeezed between him and the coach, determined to give the driver a mouthful as I went passed, but of course it was the passenger side and the old lady sat there already looked terrified and was as white as a sheet.
Lesson learnt for me: don't stop too close behind motorhomes!
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