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Published: July 13th 2014
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Font de Gaume
The opening to the cave. What was it like to stumble upon this cave? Sunday, July 6, 2014 - Font de Gaume - Off we went in my cute little automatic rental to Font de Gaume in the Dordogne. Font de Gaume is an art cave dating back to prehistoric times, much in the same vein as Lascaux, in the same area. http://leseyzies-tourist.info/dordogne-caves-and-shelters/font-de-gaume Now, the interesting thing is that they aren’t taking reservations. Over 6 months ago I got online to them and mentioned that we were coming from New Zealand, could only understand English, and had to make many associated reservations in conjunction with the visit to Font de Gaume and I NEEDED reservations. I got them, but I don’t recommend you try it…There are many restrictions being put on the entrance to the cave now - visitations are limited to about 80 people per day to prevent further disintegration of the artwork. Kevin and I had been here 14 years ago, and it was thrilling to see it again. I spoke to people on the tour who had done Lascaux II the day before and they said it was like a Disneyland ride, not really realistic. Draw your own conclusions, but I will recommend Font de Gaume. We didn’t have time or energy
to stop in Les Eyzies - there were WAY too many tourists and we couldn’t cope for the amount of time we had available.
Tonight we went to Kevin’s and my house-swap friends, Francoise and Raymonde Blet, who live outside of Bordeaux, for dinner. Their daughter, Fanny, was there as well, and it was delightful meeting her. Raymonde is the chef in the family and never fails to impress: a lovely salad, magret de canard and cheese for dessert…a perfect way to end the day. Knowing that we had to get up early, Wendy and I reluctantly said goodbye and I look forward to seeing them in 2015.
(As an aside, Harrison turned 25 today….hard to believe. I do love my "little boy" and wished him a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the net.)
Monday, July 7, 2014 - The Dordogne - Wendy had never been to the Dordogne before and I thought I would show her a few of the sights in the Valley. The Dordogne is the cradle of prehistoric man in France, and the center is in Les Eyzies. I recommend a visit to the area if you can, but plan OUTSIDE of tourist season…
It is also the home of some of the 100 Year War seiges and so we headed out that way, but not before going to Ground Zero for Foie Gras, in Sarlat. Kevin and I had been here 2 years ago and I loved it, but it was rainy so we didn’t see much. Wendy and I saw much more, since the weather was better, and I was surprised at how big the center of town is… http://www.northofthedordogne.com/sarlat.php. It has been designated a World Heritage Center, back in the 60s, and it is lovely. We went in to the Manoir de Gisson, which was wonderful to see how people lived back then…The furnishings were wonderful and inspiring. We did a bit of shopping for things on our lists and then piled into the car to take the long way home….Driving down at the Dordogne river you come across a couple of beautiful villages (Les Plus Beaux Villages de France - at least two of them) with wonderful castles left over from the 100 Years War. Since we had to get the car back, and I wanted to save Wendy something for her next visit ( see my blogs from 2
Magret de canard
With home-canned cepes, potatoes and zucchini years ago if you are interested) we gave a miss to Chateau de Beynac and Castelnaud, two of the spectacular castles open for viewing. If you get a chance, spend a couple of days, or even a week, discovering this valley, and don’t forget to brush up on your history. http://southweststory.com/dordogne-valley-castles-tour-suggested-itinerary By the way, the evil, evil Simon de Montfort showed up here too…
What a long day, but what fun! We were shattered by the time we got back to the hotel. And we couldn’t have done the last two days without my SYGIC GPS app for my Ipad, and it is also available for other machines. Check it out - reasonably priced and really pretty accurate.. http://www.sygic.com/en/gps-navigation (I’m starting to feel like an advertising page,,,)
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