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Published: April 29th 2023
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A Change in Plans Sometime during the day at Chateauneuf, we received an e-mail from the restaurant we were going to be having lunch at when we arrived in Toulouse, informing us of some major street and parking closures in the center. The parking structure we were going to use and the central metro stop were all closed for the day, and would make getting to and from the restaurant difficult. Well, it was also going to make getting to and from our hotel almost impossible and getting around the city even more difficult. That e-mail changed entirely the direction of our travels.
The next three days were to be Perpignan (near the Spanish boarder), Toulouse and Pau. We needed to make some decisions, so we decided to not go to Perpignan or Toulouse and instead head to Millau. We knew exactly where we would stay, since eleven years ago we stayed in this area so we could visit the Roquefort caves. I got online and quickly made a two-night reservation and Chateau Creissels. Creissels is just on the other side of the Millau across the Tarn River. Fortunately, we were also in the time limit to cancel all
of our hotel and dining reservations without penalty.
Our plans changed, we got up did not have breakfast (it wasn’t included anyway) and were off for Millau. The original plan had our first stop of the day being Pont du Gard, and since it was on our way, which did not change. It was about a 30-minute drive to Pond du Gard. Pont du Gard is an aqueduct built by the Romans in the first century AD to carry water to Nimes, which in the day was one of the largest cities in ancient Europe. The Pont is also the second tallest Roman structure still standing, the Colosseum being 4 feet taller. It was pretty impressive, and the only sight of the day. We also had an earlier lunch yere, very French baguette ham and butter for me, and equally as French baguette ham and Emmenthaler for Jerry.
The drive to Millau was very scenic, as we opted for the low roads instead of the toll road. This gave us the opportunity to see parts of the French countryside that we would not otherwise wee. There was one 20-mile section that was a little harrowing to drive as
it was winding narrow and on the edge of the cliff. I just focused on the road and drove slowly. When ever I am on a road like this I think of my mom and say, “This is a road she would never be on.” She has a very healthy fear of heights.
It was 4 o’clock by the time we arrived at Millau, we had just enough time to head for the center of town and get some information from the tourism office. We did not get much of an opportunity to explore the area the last time we were here, so we were going to take advantage of an extra day here to check it out. It meets our retirement requirements, small, train station, near a river or water.
Dinner was easy, they made a reservation for us at the Chateau restaurant which is in the wine cellar of the Chateau at the time we reserved our room. Last time I had this amazing Shepherd’s menu, lamb served about 6 different ways. The menu has changed significantly, smaller for sure, but still regional.
We both had the same entrée, asparagus soup with a perfect egg
Aligot
Dish of the Day (poached, I guess to the French a poached egg is perfect.) It was very understated, and you could taste the asparagus and when you broke the perfect egg the richness from the yolk really made the dish.
Jerry had saithe (pollock) with chorizo sauce, and I had lamb chops. Both were very good, the fish was a bit under seasoned, but once you got the sauce with it, it was very good. The star of the meal and yes, the dish of the day was the Aligot. This is potatoes, butter, garlic and cheese. What else to you need? The cheese to potato ratio was 1 to 2.
Dessert was the Roquefort cheese platter. Three wonderfully different versions. To accompany our meal, we had a reginal red wine from the Languedoc.
That was our day. A full day of exploring the village tomorrow?
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