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Start your holiday with the Viaduc de Millau

Perhaps one day the World's tallest bridge will be a Unesco site. In the meantime it's an exciting way to start a holiday.

Forget Disneyland Paris, Port Aventura, Alton Towers – here’s the real thing. Head for the South on the A75 and you’ll cross the World’s tallest bridge, the Viaduc de Millau.

1 Viaduc de Millau viaductPhoto: The classic view of the Viaduc de Millau - from the north end of the bridge

Long gone are the days when driving to the south of France meant a choice between interminable queues on the A7 Autoroute du Soleil to Marseille long-term parking on périphérique around Bordeaux.

Today the A20 L’Occitane heads south from Vierzon to Montauban, opening up the Dordogne and the Lot and the A75 La Méridienne snakes south from Clermont Ferrand to Béziers through the Massif Central.

The A75 brings the Auvergne, Cantal and Aveyron much closer to northern Europe, making second home ownership here more accessible. It’s also another route into the central Languedoc which avoids our old friend, the Autoroute du Soleil.

The route offers a spectacular way to start or finish a holiday, crossing the new Unesco World heritage Site – the Causses et Cévennes, and most of all for its breathtaking traverse of the Tarn valley by the Viaduc de Millau, passing 270 metres above the river.

2 Viaduc de Millau viaductPhoto: The viaduc crosses the River Tarn

Designed by British architect, Norman Foster, this new wonder of the World is 2.5 kilometres long. The tallest pylon is 343 metres top to bottom. Perhaps one day this modern monument will be added to Unesco’s list.

3 Viaduc de Millau viaductPhoto: The tallest bridge in the World

When the viaduct opened in 2004, it quickly acquired traffic jams as queues of motorists stopped to admire the view.

These days, there are two visitors’ centres complete with tourist offices. One is on the autoroute at the north end of the bridge, offering a vantage point from which to take the classic photograph.

The other , under the south end, is accessed from the D992 which leaves Millau south-west towards Saint Affrique. 20 kilmometres further along this route is the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, from whence comes the famous cheese.

Roquefort cheese comes from Roquefort sur SoulzonPhoto: Roquefort-sur-Soulzon where the famous cheese matures in caves

Using milk from the local Lacaune sheep, Roquefort gains its unique flavour from its own bacterium which causes the blue-green veining and from being matured in caves behind the village which maintain the ideal temperature and humidity. Many of the cheesemakers receive visitors and offer tours of their caves.

As usual, we include below a link to the official site of the Viaduc de Millau and to a nearby Pure France home. The viaduc is an ideal stopping point on the route south to any of our homes in Languedoc Roussillon


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