to millau....

went to millau to see viv and alan and their friend robin who are staying in provence near arles at the moment. it was glorously hot and sunny and millau turned out to be a very interesting town. we had only ever visited the viaduct before! a comfy night in the local campanile with a very friendly manager who loves to speak english and applauds english speakers for their desire to travel. island race, i told him, whose inhabitants have itchy feet. ah yes, he replied, the empire! so a lot of chat and an exchange of presents, (thank you viv and alan!) and an exploration of the town. this included climbing the 200 steps up the belfroi, a combination of 7th century square tower and a 17th century octagonal tower above it. used as a prison in former days and it felt like one as we clamboured up the steep and narrow spiral staircase to the top, passing the bell chamber on the way.

the views were magnificent and, of course, we took more photos of that viaduct! down below again we wandered the market, place du marechal foch...green and thin asparagus!...and les halles...strange fish amongst the meat and cheese stalls. then it was a panini lunch, my first ever, before one last drive out to view the viaduct from underneath and glimpse a 'beau village de france', peyre, climbing up its rocky hillside. we decided we had climbed enough for one day so took a fond farewell from my canadian arm of the family and drove home across the poppy covered causse.