Villefranche-de-Rouergue, a rest in the Aveyron

Monday 25 July, midday

On the weather front, the game is almost won for this edition of the Tour ULM. Our weather engineer forecasts clear blue skies for the whole week. The flip side will be the heat, which tires the body a little and makes flights more turbulent in the middle of the day. But we are not going to complain. Complaining is generally not very productive. After all, we are here for pleasure. On the organisation side, we have had no incident or breakage since the start of this Tour.

To make weight-shift flights more pleasant, our flight director, Louis Collardeau, decided to send the weight-shift machines off first this morning so that they could enjoy more serenely this lovely flight over the south of the Cévennes, the Grands Causses, the Millau viaduct and the more rural, less arid landscapes of the Aveyron, where we are at midday at Villefranche-de-Rouergue.

Leaving Montpellier among big Grumman aircraft setting off to fight the mosquitoes, we headed north with a slight headwind to reach the Cévennes fairly quickly and the imposing Pic St-Loup, which marks the entrance to the massif. We had been warned in the morning about the vulture risk, which must be taken very seriously. There have been three fatal accidents since the start of the year between France and Spain following collisions with vultures, some of which have a wingspan of nearly 4 m. This is new behaviour, partly due to the reintroduction of the species. So more than ever, in visual flight: see and avoid! Passing the Séranne mountain bordered by the Vis gorges, we were dazzled by the Cirque de Navacelles, wide and deep, which gives this site the look of a lunar canyon. We flew on the Moon!

Then, with a few little bumps from the heat, we followed the Larzac plateau to the great classic that is the Millau viaduct, which we have often flown over on the Tour. It sometimes gives an almost unreal feeling of déjà vu, where you can no longer tell the familiar images of the viaduct from what we see. But this magnificent bridge has an aeronautical aesthetic: long and slim, light and strong like a glider wing. Besides, for us it is free!

We head west to reach Villefranche-de-Rouergue and a greener, more cheerful countryside; the aerodrome is next to the town and gives almost the impression of a picture-postcard scene. A large grass runway with a few undulations in the terrain that give views over the surrounding countryside. The weather is fine and the big, generous trees are ideal meeting points. The welcome is like the airfield: relaxed and smiling. There is only one club here, the Aéroclub du Rouergue (http://aeroclub-du-rouergue.com), where aeroplane and microlight pilots mix without tension. The presence of Jean Daniel Roman, a major microlight builder, shows the face of seriousness, modesty and simplicity that recreational aviation can embody at its best (www.aeroservices.fr).

We will soon resume our flights to Toulouse, where we will stay for a day. You can watch the first reports from France 3, still faithful to the Tour, at the following link:

http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/rhone-alpes/drome/le-tour-de-france-en-ulm-decolle-saint-rambert-d-albon-26-1053921.html

Sébastien Perrot

(Diogène GPS beacon)

Sunset over Montpellier airfield

In the morning the Grummans go to war against the mosquitoes

The next generation is assured

Sponsors are needed to fund a machine for adapted flying

Lorry traffic resumes this Monday

The Pic St-Loup

The Roc Blanc of the Montagne de la Séranne

The Cirque de Navacelles

North of the village of Les Liquisses, the Larzac camp

The town of Millau

The viaduct..

A field...

The Tour de Peyrebrune

Lake Villefranche-de-Panat

The Villefranche-de-Rouergue runway

Visitors who love the region, Playmobil and class 6

The rest circle

The Aéroclub du Rouergue team, a school of wisdom...

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