The other bridge to nowhere

Alaska is not the only place in the world with a bridge to nowhere. To the left is the ascent to Pont des Tourradons (not too far from Vauvert in the Gard region of Southern France).

From the top of the bridge the view over the canal stretches on both sides. The route to the right takes you to the Mediterranean sea and the one to the left all the way to Avignon though more realistic is the approximately 20 km bike route
which forms part of the Canal du Rhône à Sète first constructed in the 17th century.




I took the road to the left Galliacian where there is another bridge that links Gallician to Scamandre, a 200 hectare natural reserve centered around a still water lake. Near Gallician several boats are docked. There are also several people who fish by the canal side even in the direct heat of the southern sun.

If one ignores the turns to the right and left of the Pont des Tourrodons and continues across the bridge, one reaches, within seconds, the end of the road which stops dead in its tracks!

Biking back from Gallician to La Laune, a small hamlet where the Writers Residence of Le Diable Vauvert is situated I took the inside road. Unlike the route parallel to the canal it isn't flat but it is less strewn with pebbles. Two large dragonflies flew in tandem beside me for a while.

Last evening Laurent Herrou and Jean-Pierre Paringaux drove me to the canal at dusk. The sky behind us was saturated a deep pink-orange and the full moon was still low in the sky. It reflected in the small étangs (still water pools) by the canal. Back at the residence we could see all the way to the Pont des Tourradons from the window and now the moonlight turned the waters on the horizon a glinting silver.