Monday and Tuesday, May 27 and 28
Lascaux II
It was raining heavily Monday morning as we set out for our English tour of the Lascaux II cave. A cave seemed like the right place to be while the weather was being uncooperative.
When we visited this cave in 2012, we were surprised at how much we liked seeing it. I had never been that interested in seeing the prehistoric caves that are quite numerous in this area. Nor did I relish being deep in a cave. But when we saw it, we completely changed our minds. The art is pretty amazing, and the story of the cave dwellers is compelling as well.
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Lascaux has mostly horses and bulls represented in its artwork, and it is done in several colors.
Chateau de Losse
On the way back toward Sarlat, we took a road designated on our map as scenic. It ran along the Vezere River—pretty little river, bucolic countryside. Suddenly we saw a turret across the river, then a pretty chateau on a rocky outcrop, vines dripping down to the river. We spotted a sign that said it was open to the public and decided to take an unplanned detour in our day.
We couldn’t take any pictures inside, but the grounds were pretty photogenic too. The Losse family has been located on this site since the 11th century. The great hall dates back to 1576.
If we wanted to tour a chateau, this was a very nice choice. Just walking through the gardens was worth the price of admission.
Chateau de Beynac
As we and Jill and Randy discussed our options, we had decided we would pick one castle, and Beynac looked like our best choice. Beynac was the primary sight for our Tuesday explorations. What a spectacular site. The village is huddled almost literally underneath the castle. The views were spectacular, and we all counted this as a real highlight.
Grotte de Rouffignac
After our castle touring, we decided we had enough time to drive north to visit another prehistoric cave—this one not requiring advance tickets. We got there in time for one of the last tours of the day.
This cave differs significantly from Lascaux. Lascaux is a faithful, carefully executed replica just 200 meters from the original. It was created because of the significant deterioration that was occurring from all the visitors. One walks in only a few hundred meters, and some of the passageway is quite narrow.
Rouffignac is an actual cave. A little train takes you in about 1-1/2km, stopping frequently to view different cave art. We got out in the farthest gallery to look around.
One especially interesting aspect of the art in Rouffignac is that it has mammoths (158 of them!) and woolly rhinoceroses. Who knew such things were in this area?
After our busy and sight-filled day, we headed out for a nice dinner. It’s a rough life.
Nice pictures- looks like you had a great time together— and back home soon!