Searching for the Caveman,our quest, in the Southwest ,of France, that is!
Written: Mar 15 '01 (Updated Apr 26 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: discover the fascinating and beautiful past.
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: This is a fascinating and beautiful place to visit.
I would recommend it to all who enjoy the unusual with a glimpse into the past.
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| ifif1938's Full Review: Périgord - Dordogne |
A few years ago, as I watched the evening news, a story came on about an underwater cave found off the coast of France. The walls were covered with paintings and figures within a chamber dating back twenty to thirty-thousand years. For some reason, the elements hadn't done any damage to these primitive drawings and art works, so they were in perfect condition. Also mentioned in the news story were the other caves of Southwestern France, Perigueux, or the Lot and the Dordogne "Departments" as they are called.
What an amazing and fascinating thing to see, I thought, as I made my way to my local Barnes and Noble, to spend what turned out to be many hours, reading, researching and buying books about this region. (This was BC, before I got my computer)!
After checking many maps, we decided we could combine this trip with our other destination that year, Provence, and have quite an adventure between the two of them. We were so right!
Provence, of course was wonderful, but, since so much has been written about it already, the lavender, the red Poppies and the sunflower fields as far as the eye can see, the beautiful villages at every turn, the Roman Ruins and the light, the light, as all the impressionists exclaimed, when they came to paint. But, I will concentrate on the Southwestern part of our journey, and the reason for our visit, the caves and the extraordinary beauty of this region of France.
To get to the Dordogne and Lot from Provence we drove through the Gorges of Tarn, sometimes called "the Little Grand Canyon" of France. It was a take a deep breath and hold on to your seats kind of drive, white knuckles all the way, on twisty very narrow roads, but I wouldn't have missed it for all the world. With each turn the vistas unfolding before our eyes were unbelievable. Deep gorges, with the river flowing beneath us, Medieval castles perched on the highlands, sheep grazing in the fields. We just couldn't believe our eyes.
We had chosen a village called Rocamadour as our base and, as we approached, we gasped at the sight before us, for just ahead, was a town that looked as if it had been built vertically and carved out of a giant cliff on the side of one of the gorges. It was breathtaking! As we drove through the middle of the village (there is only one street) I thought I had stepped back in time, right into the middle ages. This is, and was, a world famous pilgrimage center, one of the oldest, dating back to the 13th century when notables and not so notables, came from all over, to climb the 216 steps, on their knees, to view the Black Madonna, a small wooden statue, carved sometime in the ninth century and placed in a chapel high above everything. Now, there is an elevator, but I heard some people still climb to the top.
We stayed at the Hotel Beau Site, with stone walls built some time ago in the 15th century..There was a reception area with beamed ceilings and a huge fireplace big enough to roast an ox..Luckily, the bedrooms are a bit newer! The hotel occupies buildings on both sides of the street and we were lucky enough to have a corner room with a sweeping views of the Val'd Alzou, just on the other side of the village. The restaurant also is on that side and as we looked out at this panorama before us, while feasting on Fois gras, Agneu, (lamb) for me and Canard, (duck) for my husband (the best he ever had, he said, and, to top it off, the most beautiful desserts we ever saw, we just couldn't believe our good fortune, to have chosen this wonderful place for our stay. So beautifully presented was this meal, that we videotaped each course as it was brought to us, Those crazy Americans, I'm sure was a thought that passed through our waiters mind.
In the morning we were told that we needed reservations for the famous caves of the region, Lascaux and the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume but that they weren't available at this time. Just as I was getting really frustrated that I hadn't known about this, the owner of the hotel suggested a few caves, not as popular but just as interesting he said. So, off we went, a local map of the area in hand, for our first day of cave exploration.
Our first stop was the Grotte de Peche Merle. When we entered I knew we had stepped back in time to prehistoric times, the time of the Neanderthal man and the Cro Magnon. Before us were paintings and drawings done by these people 20,000 years ago, pictures of horses, bison, reindeer and many other animals. There were hand prints on the walls, actual outlines of their hands, painted in red and footprints on the floor, left there in the oozing primordial cave floors, since then, hardened and preserved in time for all to see. We were mesmerized.
Next, we visited a cave called Padirac, a subterranean world reached by a series of elevators and stairways. This was a journey in itself, finally, we reached the port where you board a boat, and travel through immense caverns until arriving at The Lake of rain. There you disembark and continue on foot through more galleries of vaulted ceilings and incredible sights. Then, something totally unexpected, a tree that grew from the bottom of the cave reaching up, out to the sky, viewed from in and out of the cave. The is the last vision you see as you drive away from this remarkable place.
The next few days we spent exploring many other villages and wonders of the area. We visited Sarlat, a town that looks like it's still in the medieval ages, and a village called Domme, with its view high above the Dordogne River, we watchedit flow past as we feasted again on another unbelievable, but typical meal of Cassoulet and wine from the nearby vineyards of Cahors.
We visited more caves, a small one, right beside the road where there was an active archaeological dig going on and, on the walls, you could still see the geographical remains of the fires built by our ancestors when they tried to keep warm on those cold winter nights so long ago. In one small cave,( I've forgotten the name), there was a museum, where the skulls found in these small caves were on display, one, that particularly caught my attention, was a young girls skull, on which, the guide pointed out, was the dental work that had been done to her. Dental work, 20,000 years ago!!
These are places of wonder, of surprises and spectacular sights. It's hard to list all that we saw and all that we didn't see. This whole region is still very new to travelers, at least, Americans, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in spending time in a place where every view, every village, every corner you turn, is someplace more astonishing than the one before.
Happy and Safe travels..
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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