Through the Gorges du Tarn to Provence

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Today we decided to travel the scenic route from Millau to Provence via the Gorges du Tarn. This turned out to be an amazing journey through nearly 70 km of steep rocky gorges, with picturesque villages dotted throughout, on both sides of the River Tarn. Many of the houses were clinging to rock bluffs and remains of chateaux could be seen atop impossibly steep columns of rocks. At times the narrow winding road passed below massive overhanging rock faces or through carved out tunnels. Along the way were many camping grounds as well as canoeing and boating tours; no doubt these are very busy later in the summer. Although there were not many stopping places we managed to take lots of photos, as each bend in the road revealed yet more exciting views. Our journey through this dramatic landscape will remain one of the highlights of our trip.
Eventually we emerged into the ‘real world’ of wider roads and bigger towns as we drove on towards Nimes, Arles and finally found our home for the next five nights at Salon de Provence. Like most of our accommodation the hotel is sited on the outskirts of the city. This time we are surrounded by a large parking area for trucks, a service station with a busy car wash facility and a road that is being dug up and redeveloped. Oh, and just along this road is the Centre du Detention for any troublemakers! Still, we have free parking and internet, although we’ll find out how strong the latter is when we try to make a planned skype call. In the meantime, there is a lot to get out and see – we really are in Provence!

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