23/09/08 - Bridge spotting.

The plan today, was to get some miles behind us, as we head north. In
saying this, we still had to take the scenic coastal road and not the
motorway.

Around Gironde - a big inlet that reaches down to Bordeaux, past a few
of surf beaches and up to Rochefort - luck would have it that we
stumbled across France's last operating transporter bridge!! This
wouldn't normally be much to excite us, but Dave is a bridge engineer
so the question of whether we should stop to check it out was rather
simple.

How to describe ... this is a structure with two towers about 90
metres high on each side of the river, with a joining 'bridge'
crossing the river sitting high up on top of the towers. Then cables
hang down from the 'bridge', supporting a platform, that used to carry
cars, but now only tourists, across the 270 metre wide Charente River.
At first glimpse, this metal structure looks like an object that
wouldn't be out of place in a port, unloading cargo off ships, instead
of spanning a river.
The rest works just like a ferry - you drive/walk onto the 10 square
metre platform, and then the cables guided by rails, carry the
platform across the river. Simple!! In 1900 when the bridge was
built there was still a lot of shipping traffic going up and down the
river, so it was necessary to have enough height clearance.
We paid our €2 each for the privilege of a return trip across the
river, where on the other side we found a pretty cool bridge museum!!
It was rather interesting reading about the different ideas for
crossing rivers and seas over the centuries.

Back on the road we arrived at the very pretty harbour city of La
Rochelle. This very white city (due to its limestone buildings) was a
major port from the 14th to 17th century, and was the setting off
point for many French immigrants to Canada. Its tiny old port is
guarded by two 14th century towers, that at night used to have a chain
stretched between them to stop any ships entering the harbour.

We took a quick walk around the towers, and along the city walls
before finding an outdoor cafe and enjoying a drink in the afternoon
sun, taking in the atmosphere.