After our first croissant of the trip, we were on our way south. It was another day spent hacking along the French motorways.

Today was slightly more interesting in that we spent several hours crossing the Massif Central. This is the huge plateau, averaging nearly 1000 metres in height, which dominates the south central part of France. The result, from the point of view of the driver, is that the scenery is picturesque and there are various twists, turns, ups and downs which makes the driving more challenging but less dull. We duly noted, for future trips, that due to the altitude this motorway appears that it shuts at times, presumably due to snow.

After a quick lunch break we reached the famous Millau Viaduct. The massive bridge, designed by Norman Foster, which the motorways uses to cross the Tarn Gorge. I decided I had to stop briefly to take a photograph from the designated viewing area, but was disappointed to find that the view was not that great. I think the best vantage points for photography are in valley below, but we were on too tight at timetable to allow for the detour and in any case it was too misty for a good picture.

We finally arrived out our aire for the night in Sérignan Plage (43.275479, 3.352116) – €5 out of season with emptying and filling available 200 metres away. It’s adjacent to both a lovely Mediterranean beach and some brackish lakes, which appear to be an important breeding site for various relatively rare birds.

The aire is on the edge of a town full of holiday villas and campsites, but they are all shut up for the winter. Lovely and quiet. Just how we like it.

Although it was 5pm before we arrived we had time for a quick walk on the beach, which the dogs loved. I took my binoculars but it was too dark to do any birding on the lakes.

The weather, although it is not what we have come to expect from the South of France, is much warmer than it was yesterday. We had up to 11 degrees today and the forecast for tomorrow is 14!

The next two days we are going to do two shorter drives to a campsite south of Valencia, on the coast, where we will rest up for a few days so I can put together a few ideas for where to visit in the next few weeks. It might have been a good idea if I had done this before we left home – I am retired after all!