Moving on from the Loire, we spend the next few days of our vacation back in the Dordogne, the scene of our first French vacation last year. Even in the long weekend we spent here, we did not get to see or do what we wanted and we had left out pretty significant activities -- such as seeing anything prehistoric.
For our tour through prehistory, when the French language, nation, croissants, and penchant for lovely lingerie are still far, far in the future, we actually don't go to Lascaux but rather to Font de Gaume. This is because Lascaux was so rapidly and intensely damaged by all the tourists (even careful, considerate tourists have to exhale and emit body heat, both of which damage the paintings) that they had to close it off. Instead, when visitors go to Lascaux, it is to an elaborately and painstakingly reproduced artificial cave called Lascaux II. And though I, personally, want to see Lascaux in addition to Font de Gaume, I am rapidly and loudly outvoted by my own caveman and knuckle-dragging children. If you want to see Lascaux and happen to live near Chicago, go check out Lascaux III at the Field Museum through September. I think this is brilliant: Since Lascaux II is already a reproduction, why not ship the concept overseas? This may be your only chance. And even though it's a reproduction, the process of recreating the cave has proved intensely educational, and it's a way of letting people see it without destroying what's left of the original.
We're not allowed to photograph inside the cave, for obvious reasons of preservation, so here are some pics taken from the internet. In real life, in the semi-darkness, the lines and shapes are not quite this clear. As you can imagine, this is not a big hit with the younger half of our family. Truth be told, it's not exactly the most exciting thing for Anthony and me, either, but we do try to impress on the children that seeing a 15,000 year old painting is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime thing and rather mind-boggling. But yes, we admit, kind of boring.
In all fairness to the children and their patience levels, we should mention that in order to see Font de Gaume, we are online by 8:25am. Tickets go on sale at 9:30, and even after getting up early and waiting an hour, we still get the last four available for the day (and even then they had to kindly let us use the one remaining 3pm ticket along with the three remaining 11am tickets in order to get our whole family on one tour). Numbers shrink constantly, and at this point, the cave lets in only 80 people per day -- no advance reservations possible.
We also see the troglodyte village of La Madeleine, which is where the Magdalenian era gets its name. It's part cave dwellings, part medieval village, all built under a cliff. Last year, we saw this from our canoe on the Vézère river, and I now feel deeply satisfied to have finally visited it. Even if the kids find it -- you guessed it -- boring.
And to finish our tour of caves (though not all on one actual day, because that would be parenting suicide), we head way out to the Gouffre de Padirac. This is a cave of the stalactite/stalagmite variety, but so big that we get to ride in what is essentially an underground gondola for nearly a kilometer round trip. Plus we hike up and down stairs. So many stairs. It is a truly stunning place, a cave that dwarfs all others I've seen, and Anthony and I are kind of shocked that it's never been used as a movie location. Even Gigi immediately says how she feels like Indiana Jones inside here.
It is around 90m to the ceiling in most places, with about 9m of rock separating the cave top and the ground above. The formations are truly incredible, and most grow about 1mm per century. So to see the 75m high, 3m wide column is, not to over-use the word, again mind-boggling. To the grown-ups. And not completely boring to the children, either -- hallelujah!
No, don't adjust your screen. The size and dimness of the place makes photography near impossible -- and it's not even allowed once you're on the boat ride and touring the best of the rooms. It's so massive that flash would do nothing. And I don't have a tripod with me (I actually have the opposite of a tripod; I have active young children rushing and shoving by me). So again, for better photos, I have to turn to the trusty internet:
Photos from: http://larevenchedelaquiche.vraiforum.com/t3020-Le-Gouffre-de-Padirac.htm; http://www.colonnes.com/en/actu.php; http://www.rocamadour.com/fr/38/6/6/PCU3143CDT460001/sit/detail/decouvertes-patrimoine/visites/Gouffre-de-Padirac/PADIRAC/;http://www.francematin.info/Le-Gouffre-de-Padirac-se-met-a-l-heure-du-Telethon_a23165.html; http://servirlepublic.fr/epl-a-la-une/667/semitour-perigord--un-reseau-dinterets-touristiques; http://servirlepublic.fr/epl-a-la-une/667/semitour-perigord--un-reseau-dinterets-touristiques;
For our tour through prehistory, when the French language, nation, croissants, and penchant for lovely lingerie are still far, far in the future, we actually don't go to Lascaux but rather to Font de Gaume. This is because Lascaux was so rapidly and intensely damaged by all the tourists (even careful, considerate tourists have to exhale and emit body heat, both of which damage the paintings) that they had to close it off. Instead, when visitors go to Lascaux, it is to an elaborately and painstakingly reproduced artificial cave called Lascaux II. And though I, personally, want to see Lascaux in addition to Font de Gaume, I am rapidly and loudly outvoted by my own caveman and knuckle-dragging children. If you want to see Lascaux and happen to live near Chicago, go check out Lascaux III at the Field Museum through September. I think this is brilliant: Since Lascaux II is already a reproduction, why not ship the concept overseas? This may be your only chance. And even though it's a reproduction, the process of recreating the cave has proved intensely educational, and it's a way of letting people see it without destroying what's left of the original.
We're not allowed to photograph inside the cave, for obvious reasons of preservation, so here are some pics taken from the internet. In real life, in the semi-darkness, the lines and shapes are not quite this clear. As you can imagine, this is not a big hit with the younger half of our family. Truth be told, it's not exactly the most exciting thing for Anthony and me, either, but we do try to impress on the children that seeing a 15,000 year old painting is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime thing and rather mind-boggling. But yes, we admit, kind of boring.
In all fairness to the children and their patience levels, we should mention that in order to see Font de Gaume, we are online by 8:25am. Tickets go on sale at 9:30, and even after getting up early and waiting an hour, we still get the last four available for the day (and even then they had to kindly let us use the one remaining 3pm ticket along with the three remaining 11am tickets in order to get our whole family on one tour). Numbers shrink constantly, and at this point, the cave lets in only 80 people per day -- no advance reservations possible.
We also see the troglodyte village of La Madeleine, which is where the Magdalenian era gets its name. It's part cave dwellings, part medieval village, all built under a cliff. Last year, we saw this from our canoe on the Vézère river, and I now feel deeply satisfied to have finally visited it. Even if the kids find it -- you guessed it -- boring.
And to finish our tour of caves (though not all on one actual day, because that would be parenting suicide), we head way out to the Gouffre de Padirac. This is a cave of the stalactite/stalagmite variety, but so big that we get to ride in what is essentially an underground gondola for nearly a kilometer round trip. Plus we hike up and down stairs. So many stairs. It is a truly stunning place, a cave that dwarfs all others I've seen, and Anthony and I are kind of shocked that it's never been used as a movie location. Even Gigi immediately says how she feels like Indiana Jones inside here.
It is around 90m to the ceiling in most places, with about 9m of rock separating the cave top and the ground above. The formations are truly incredible, and most grow about 1mm per century. So to see the 75m high, 3m wide column is, not to over-use the word, again mind-boggling. To the grown-ups. And not completely boring to the children, either -- hallelujah!
No, don't adjust your screen. The size and dimness of the place makes photography near impossible -- and it's not even allowed once you're on the boat ride and touring the best of the rooms. It's so massive that flash would do nothing. And I don't have a tripod with me (I actually have the opposite of a tripod; I have active young children rushing and shoving by me). So again, for better photos, I have to turn to the trusty internet:
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