Bonjour mes amis! One of the most fascinating aspects of the Dordogne River Valley was seeing the prehistoric caves and cave art. On Friday, June 2, we visited Lascaux II. These are by far the world's most famous cave paintings. Lascaux II is located 14 miles north of Sarlat. The Lascaux caves were discovered, quite by accident, in 1940, by four children and their dog. From 1948 to 1963, more than a million people climbed through these caves to witness this great discovery. Unfortunately, due to fungus on shoes and changes in temperature and humidity from crowds of people, this amazing art deteriorated more than it had in 15,000 years. The original caves were then closed and a "copy cave" was opened in 1983. The reindeer, horses, and bulls have been amazingly reproduced using the same dyes and techniques which were used 15,000 years ago. From Lascaux II, we moved on to La Roque Saint-Christophe. This is a cave village built into a cliff. This cliff towers 300 feet above the road and the Vezère River and stretches more than half of a mile. It is made up of 5 terraces, which were hollowed out 60 million years ago by erosion and the effect of frost on limestone. This cliff first served as a shelter for hunter-gatherers, and was probably first inhabited by Neanderthal man (50,000 BC), then by Cro-Magnon man (25,000BC). This settlement was continuously inhabited until, during the Renaissance, in 1588, it was destroyed during the Wars of Religion. The greatest period of habitation was during the Middle Ages when people lived there to protect themselves from Norman invasions. After exploring La Roque Saint-Christophe, we drove to a charming village along the Vezère River for lunch, called St. Léon-sur-Vezère. We then drove to the Grotte de Rouffignac because we wanted to see some authentic cave art, not reproductions. We explored half a mile of cave art, dating back 13,000 years. We knew France had many symbols of its great history but this was INCROYABLE!!!
Mme. Wallace
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