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6 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor
Wile e, without trying to sound trite it's exactly where the D41 goes under the bridge !
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Ok, apparently I need to rephrase my above question.
That bridge shot is stunning. As an ignorant American I am having difficulty in understanding how the autoroutes are set up in Europe and have no idea of how to locate that exact location. I would love to include that location in my upcoming European motorcycling travels if someone could help me out in locating it. Thanks for any help I can receive.
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7 Nov 2007
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I have found a D41 in Nord, France but it appears to only run through farmland and smaller towns. I can't seem to locate that bridge on google maps satellite view.
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7 Nov 2007
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wikipedia link
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7 Nov 2007
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Wile e, It was a cheap joke and I apologise. The D roads are quite small back roads and you will need a reasonable map to see them. The Viaduct is on the A75/E11 autoroute where it crosses the N992. The D41 runs parallel to it 1/2 a mile to the north. I hope you can find it on Google Earth with these roads.
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7 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor
Wile e, It was a cheap joke and I apologise. The D roads are quite small back roads and you will need a reasonable map to see them. The Viaduct is on the A75/E11 autoroute where it crosses the N992. The D41 runs parallel to it 1/2 a mile to the north. I hope you can find it on Google Earth with these roads.
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No worries, my lack of knowledge on the roads in Europe make me an easy mark. Thanks for the information, I'll see if I can find it.
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8 Nov 2007
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If you don't mind riding everyday full on then perhaps 10 days is enough. However, if you would like to enjoy yourself and your ride, I agree that you may want to save some for another time. I had taken a trip through Europe on an R80GS over last spring and summer. At first I had planned to see a few more countries but decided to change it up to just a few only so I could really enjoy what I was doing taking my time and save the others for another adventure. I suppose it all depends on whats important to you. If you are trying to stay off the motorways and stick with the "Road Less Traveled", I don't recommend doing it in 10 days.
Nathan
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8 Nov 2007
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France
This thread has developed into a good discussion of Europe with some excellent information.
I recommend that anyone takes a glance at the map posted by Matt to see just how big France is: starting at the channel ports, I rode around the "outside" a few years ago, down the West coast, "along the bottom" in and out of the Pyranees, and back up the East side - took about 2 weeks, but I can't remember how many days or 1/2 days I spent sight-seeing.
 Can you guys write up about the new Tiger in the Tri forum; seriously, I would not think of looking in here if I wanted to know about that bike (and I do want to know!).
Adrian,
The red "camping" sign: I have 50p that says there is a "no" behind the Pan's headlight!!!!! 
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21 Nov 2007
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As you're planning on passing though the Alps you might want to take a look at the alpine roads site.
I'm thinking of a similar trip next year, UK - Alps - Milau bridge - ferry home from Bilbao, probably in about 12-13 days, so I'm also interested in the advice offered.
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10 Nov 2007
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Being a total newbie to long distance travel 
Louis Làmour said" Too often I hear of men speak of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen"
My advice is don`t worry how far you can travel in a day. You may travel 10 miles down the road and find something you do not want to miss. I did that in the Harz mountains in Germany and stayed for 2 days without moving on. I made some life long friends.
It is not about how far you travel or how many countries you visit. It is about the experiences on the journey.
It took me a while to realise it too.
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7 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adrian74
...my plan is to travel from Callais to Belgium (Bastogne), thru luxemburg to Germany (black forest), to Switzerland (alps), to northern Italy (Turin), to France again (millau viaduct), to Andorra, to Spain (Santander) for the ferry back to Plymouth...
... I'm not planning to use motorways or toll roads (except for millau viaduct) and would like to keep my milleage down to about 200 to 250 miles per day.
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Hi Adrian,
We covered some of the same ground recently and my 2 cents worth would be to take the motorways and cover big miles between the main sights you've chosen in Belgium and Germany to get to the Alps and northern Italy (e.g. the Lakes) spending most time liesurely winding around the mountains and lakes. We were a little disappointed by the Black Forest. Then motorways again down to Millau, winding back roads again through southern France. Cheers
Quote:
Originally Posted by wile e
I can't seem to locate that bridge on google maps satellite view.
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Wile e,
Try these coords in Google Earth: N44 04.861 E3 01.243 - You'll see the tall pilons in place (or their shadows) and the construction work, but no bridge/viaduct road platform as the maps are still too old! We took these photos of the Viaduc De Millau on 4th August 2007:
Last edited by Grant Johnson; 12 Apr 2025 at 03:27.
Reason: .
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7 Nov 2007
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Nice pics John. I must have missed that rest area under the bridge, good location.
Here's my ride over the bridge.
YouTube - Riding over the Millau Bridge
I was travelling away from Millau and the visitor centre entrance is on the right just before the bridge.
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7 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor
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I see you too slowed down crossing it - everyone seems to but unfortunately a very restricted view from the bridge itself. And the viewing points either side require a bit of a walk. We were there at start of European main holidays, so traffic was thick to say the least and thoe carparks chockers!
The main visitor centre is on the D992 which passes under the viaduc (not D41). The viaduc is on the A75. To get over the top and underneath, we were travelling south over the top then exited the A75 about 4 miles south, after a mile or so turned west on the D999 for 5.3 miles, then north 7 miles to get underneath to the visitor's centre. We didn't pay to sit through the doco movie on its design and construction. I actually saw that in-flight on our Qantas flight home a few months later! Very interesting. Continuing east on the N9 (we avoided Millau traffic) you can get a great view of Millau and the viaduc in the distance from the hillside on the N9/Route de la Caval.
Cheers
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7 Nov 2007
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Yes a boring video, not much to see. A lovely bridge to view from afar. Millau is a large town, I got lost in there for an hour before making my escape.
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7 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor
Yes a boring video, not much to see. A lovely bridge to view from afar. Millau is a large town, I got lost in there for an hour before making my escape.
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It's not easy to make a good video from a bike camera!! Look at all the ones on Youtube et al.
I tried to get B&B in Millau a few years ago, with no notice and in the height of August hols - no chance! It is a very popular town and that was when the bridge was being built - could be more so, with all of the publicity about that bridge.
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7 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wile e
Ok, apparently I need to rephrase my above question.
That bridge shot is stunning. As an ignorant American I am having difficulty in understanding how the autoroutes are set up in Europe and have no idea of how to locate that exact location. I would love to include that location in my upcoming European motorcycling travels if someone could help me out in locating it. Thanks for any help I can receive.
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Being Europe, each nation has its' own road classification system (having said that, there is also an EU system in place as well, I believe for just major motorways, just to clarify things  ).
D roads in France are run by the local highway people; D = Departement, something about the same size as a county in the USA.
Therefore, there are loads upon loads of D roads and the numbers, as you have discovered, can repeat themselves across 100s of Kms of roads.
Having got that out of the way, the very best twisties in France are often the D roads!!
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