Font de Gaume

While Lascaux II was very interesting, we found the first cave we visited, Font de Gaume, even better. Near the little town of les Eyzies, this is one of the last original caves (or THE last, if our French comprehension was correct) still open to the public in which ancient cave-painting is found. The man-in-the-mountain-like cliff shown here dominated the first half of our hike up to the cave's entrance, and is also called Font de Gaume. Those bits of blue sky you see in the background? They were very new and exciting for us, which added to the experience of the day. In the picture below you can find the entrance to the cave in the lower edge of that frame.

It is difficult to describe how impressive it is to squeeze through narrow passageways into a large underground cavern and stand inches away from art that has existed for on the order of 15,000 years, but it was truly extraordinary. Our guide took extra time with our small group, making sure everyone got to see everything, and sharing her enthusiasm in a really infectious way.

Since it is not permissible to take pictures inside the caves, these photos are some from the area nearby instead, in particular from a tiny medieval town called Limeuil at the confluence of the Dordogne and Vézère rivers where we had a late-afternoon snack after our first day in the area.

Top to bottom, the last three pictures are: Sandy and Molly standing at the confluence (the Dordogne is actually in the picture, the Vézère coming in from the left of the frame); four people waiting for their dessert crèpes to arrive; and the same four people standing in a very steep, very narrow, very cute little road in Limeuil.