Hot, damn hot. Hotter than a hot thing on an oven

I have no idea where we are (http://maps.google.com/?
q=43.2824%2C2.5822) but it's rather warm (and it's been this hot all
week).

Minerve and her bridge

Minerve is very pretty, with abridge and a part-time river.

Carcassonne - medieval town on a hill

Carcassonne is undeniably impressive. Big walls, lots of towers,
medieval streets; the place exudes charm and offers as many tourist
traps as one could dare to hope for in a small town.

Monotonously good weather

Another day dawns and it looks like it will again be sunny and hot (mid thirties yesterday, possibly warmer today). Today we finally reach Carcassonne (photos to follow).

Milau Viaduct - photo

And here it is, the Milau Viaduct. From the (not yet complete) viewing
point you get quite a good view of the bridge, and most impressive it
is. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

Day Four - to the South!

It's been a long day but we are now within spitting distance of Carcassonne, having travelled the length of the spectacular Tarn Gorge, over the impressive Milau Viaduct and along the motorway to Rieux-Minervois (http://maps.google.com/?q=43.3284%2C3.0445).

I now understand why people rave about the French motorways; they're well made, convenient and fast. There are, however, two things I don't understand:
1) There are no catseyes, and
2) The road-numbering is rubbish.

The road-numbering is particularly strange, since it seems such a simple thing to get right, but roads change their numbers, switch from "A" to "D" and can't be relied upon for more than for few miles. Most frustrating.

Hear that? The peaceful sound of a valley

I'm just playing with my phone now, I admit, and I've no idea if the attached audio file will reach you intact, but here it is in any case; the sounds of the valley.

Another beautiful sunny day

Day four dawns with bright sunshine, blue skies, clear mountain air
and bird song. It's all very picturesque.

Tarn Gorge, north-eastern end

The end of day three finds us at the northeastern end of the Tarn
Gorge, comfortably close to the Milau Viaduct. Tomorrow we head down
to take a look but, in the meantime, here is the view from the window
of our (very superior) B&B, looking roughly southwest-ish.

Saturday morning; volcano time

Theyr'e a bit quiet, truth be known, and not all that big, but they're volcanos nonetheless and Saturday morning finds us at the top of Puy de Dome (a disused volcano) at the end of a long climb (drive). The cloud is low but the view is broad, stretching across the volcanos and hills where they make Volvic, a special kind of water (apparently).

We're off to the Tarn Gorge later to see a bridge (hopefully, although we might save that for tomorrow).

The start of the second day

Early morning and we've just had a very nice breakfast of coffee and
croissants at out B&B (monsite.wanadoo.fr/prieure-epinay/index.jhtml).
It's still cool but the sun is up and the sky is clear so we expect
the day to be rather warm.

B&B, nears Angers

Our first night in France is at a B&B in an old priory a few miles
west of Angers. Fantastic location and very friendly hosts. We've had
an excellent dinner and lots of wine.

Angers Castle

The chateau in Angers is pretty impressive and this is the view from
the top of one of the towers.

Breakfast, Mont St Michel

Coffee and croissant, outside in the sunshine. Nice and warm, no wind.