Route nationale 9

The original N9 has now been renumbered D909 and passes through small villages and towns bypassed by the A75 which now takes the majority of through traffic.

The surroundings are very scenic consisting of rolling green wooded hills and steep sided river vallies, as the road is now crossing the edge of the Aubrac plateau.

The road then enters Causse country a series of barren limestone plateaus divided by deep river valleys.

The road passes the source of the Aveyron and into the Parc Natural Régional des Grandes Causses.

Historically, the N9 used to cross the river Lergue at Pegairolles de l'Escalette and follow what is now the treacherous D149 right through the city of Lodève.

After a series of improvements starting in 1969, the road now stays on the left bank of the Lergue and bypasses Lodève.

It skirts the Lac du Salagou, which it once ran right through, before reaching Clermont l'Hérault and a junction with the N109 to Montpellier.

The roads run parallel to each other until just to the North-East of Béziers when the A75 turns South-East to intersect the A9 autoroute.

The road is downgraded to D900 and passes through the plain of Roussillon to the city of Perpignan where it crosses the rivers Têt and Tech.

It then passes Le Boulou where it enters the Monts Albères which form the Eastern ridge of the Pyrénées.

The road was narrow, rough, and extremely accident prone due to the extensive mountain sections.