CAVES!

The Dordogne and Vézère valleys are absolutely riddled with caves, all sorts of caves. We visited one (la Gouffre de Padirac) which was hundreds of meters below the surface (over 1600 stairs down!) with an underground river and fantastic stalactite/stalagmite formations (very cool boat ride along underground river and lake). Gorgeous. We visited one (Bara Baheu) that had ‘etchings’ into the rock of animals, dating from prehistoric times. Hannah & I went to Lascaux yesterday, the famous site of fabulous cave paintings only discovered in the 1940s, closed to the public in the 1960s with a picture perfect replica opened to the public in the 1980s (Lascaux II). It was incredibly beautiful and not to be missed even though it’s a recreation. We also visited a ‘chateau’ built into the side of a cliff and its caves, with many artifacts from prehistory. Every where you look when driving along these valleys, you see what appear to be cave entrances high on cliffs, there are many, many ‘troglodyte’ cave sites, and innumerable underground cave sites both to visit and others merely visible as you pass them. Quite amazing. It was fun at Lascaux imagining the reaction of the four teenage boys who discovered the paintings in the 40s after their dog fell through a hole into the caves. We imagined taking a torch and finding those massive, beautiful, colorful paintings of bulls and horses. Must have been amazing (and a little freaky!). ps: pix taken from book about padirac as impossible/forbidden to photograph cave.