July 05 – Leaving Narbonne and Driving to Paris

We have two more months on our itinerary here in France but are flying out tomorrow.  With our condo flooded we have a lot of things to deal with and we just can’t do it long distance.  So, home it is. 

We left first thing this morning for the long drive to Paris.  Fortunately, it was a beautiful drive, especially the first part.  Much of the drive was through the section of France called the Empty Diagonal.  It runs from the Ardenne (northeast section) to the southwest (near the Pyrenees).  It covers approximately a third of France’s landmass but has population density of only about 30 people per square kilometer (as opposed to the average density of 120 for all of France.

One area we drove through had gorgeous, rugged gorges and rolling hills.  And not many cities or towns.

Coming out of the dramatic cliffs area we hit the Millau Viaduct.  This was on the itinerary so we were happy to see it.  The Millau Viaduct is a dramatic piece of engineering.  It was built in 2004 and for two decades it was the tallest bridge in the world with a height of 1,125 feet.  And it is a beautiful as it is dramatic.

The visitor's center had a good film with a lot of information and great views of the bridge. 

From there we headed out of the hilly area into an area of vast farmland.  

We had lunch at a rest stop and then continued on.

We arrived at the Charles De Gaulle airport in late afternoon, turned in the car and got a ride to our airport hotel.  We spent the evening repacking for the flight and had dinner at the hotel.