The Roaring Season

I'm going to end this chapter with these two creative machines on display at a service area, just outside Dijon. I couldn't really find any info on them, other than some brochures suggesting they were from Sbarro.

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Montpellier is a beautiful city. We stayed in the old part, which is right in the centre. The streets are unbelievably narrow. Because the city is so old, the streets were built before cars were invented, making many parts inaccessible by car. But that doesn't stop the French. They just get small cars. Its truly impressive to see.

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Here are various random photos I grabbed off the internet that are far better than what we managed:

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One of my bucket list items for this trip was to see and drive across the incredible Millau Viaduct. This incredible structure is the tallest bridge in the world, with its tallest point 343 meters above its base. It is staggeringly impressive! But typically, to really get a good view, you have to pay, and on the day we passed through, there was no way to do this, even if we wanted to! We snapped a few photos before then driving across. The majority of major French roads are toll roads, but the Millau Viaduct also commands a toll. I think it was about 8 Euros.

Sadly, our photos are crap, made worse by the fact the sun was directly behind the bridge.

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As I mentioned earlier, I have a thing for very small vehicles, particularly the older vintage types from the 1950s. But in many European countries small vehicles are still very popular. This little inner city truck was being carried somewhere.

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I'm not entirely sure why I took a photo of this Mustang at a roadside service area, other than the fact it looked so out of place against the mostly very small French cars that were everywhere.

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[quote="Oldfart"]Next time Steve! The bit you have the photos of is pretty much the only part you can't drive round. The majority is public roads.[/quote]

Thanks Rhys, yeah I figured that was probably the case. As always though, time was in short supply.

Next time Steve! The bit you have the photos of is pretty much the only part you can't drive round. The majority is public roads.

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OK, once we were done with the museum, we headed out to take a look at the track. I did enquire about driving the rental car around the track, but was kindly told Non Monsieur. I guess it could be possible to walk around it, but it'd take a long time, and time wasn't on our side. But it was exciting for me to see that famous pit straight, grandstand, and sweeping first corner that I've seen in so many times in books, magazines, and on tv.

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[quote="Bruce302"]Great photos Steve, Thanks for sharing them. I guess that makes the trip fully tax deductible.[/quote]

Thanks Bruce, glad you're enjoying them. I'd love for it to have been tax deductible, but the fact we were gone for two months could be a hard sell!

Great photos Steve, Thanks for sharing them. I guess that makes the trip fully tax deductible.

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[quote="Paul B"]That's a French Cadillac for sure. As only the French could do. I love the rear quarter window style. Cool![/quote]

They're fitted with a Maserati V6 engine. I think they move along pretty quickly. They were used for rallying too I think.

Niki Lauda owned one back in the '70s which recently came up for sale. I imagine it was quite expensive.

[quote="Steve Holmes"]My wife loved this one, she is a big Citroen fan, particularly of the SM.

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That's a French Cadillac for sure. As only the French could do. I love the rear quarter window style. Cool!