Jardins du Sarlat
///choppy.ranges.rock
44°53’40.1964″N, 1°13’5.0016″E

to

La Roque St. Christophe
///profile.hesitantly.preparations
44°59’17.7468″N, 1°4’13.8180″E

to

Lascaux Cave Paintings Exhibition
///songbird.sharers.confuse
45°3’30.0096″N, 1°10’10.2432″E

Today we went back on the road again. Our first stop was to visit La Roque St. Christophe, a 30 minute drive from Sarlat. It is a natural limestone cavity about 80 meters above the road surface & one kilometer long. 

Photo above – copied from the internet.

Archaeologists determined that this area was occupied by humans as early as 55,000 years ago & were developed during the middle ages as small cities that offered excellent protection from predator animals & human enemies.

Photo above  – Catherine getting ready to pass through one of the short tunnels linking the ledges together.

Photo above – the view from the beginning of the “community”. Thank goodness there was a substantial railing all along the outside edge. But it was still all I could do to grab this photo quickly & head back towards the inside. I was having quite a time with my vertigo.

Photo above  – the tour started with a model of what the area must have looked like in its prime – based on what remains & what archaeologists have discovered. I guess you could call this one of the original high rise communities.

Photo above  – one of the inlets was set up as a church.

Photo above  – this church even had a pulpit that the priest would preach from!

Photo above  – the display even included some of the machines built to lift items from the ground below.

Photo above – this inlet depicts an area where pottery was made.  There were also sections that present a carpentry shop, a blacksmith shop & areas where food was stored.

There were 2 busloads of public school students touring the area while we were there. The kids were very well behaved but it made me wonder, if it feels this crowded on a rainy, chilly day in late September, I certainly wouldn’t want to be here during the peak season.

All in all it was a very interesting place – even with my vertigo & I am glad we got to see it.

Back on the road again, on our way to Lascaux Cave Paintings Exhibition, which was about another 30-minute drive. 

Photo above  – this area is called Lascaux IV, which was opened to the public in late 2016.  It is a museum/exhibit/replica of all of the painted areas of the original caves.

The original caves are nearby & were discovered in 1940 by a group of young men & their dog. Archaeologists have documented 6,000 figures in 600 paintings on the cave walls. The paintings are estimated to have been done about 17,000 years ago.  There are figures of animals, humans & abstract symbols painted in red, yellow & black colours. The colours were made from mineral pigments.

Photo above  – some of the paintings in the re-created caves.

The original caves were closed to the public in 1963 because the walls were starting to grow mold & fungus generated by moisture & carbon dioxide from the breath of over 1,200 visitors a day.  Authorities were concerned that the paintings would be ruined forever if something wasn’t done but it was also recognized that people wanted to visit the site, see the paintings & learn more.

The site had various exhibits & displays until this facility was created. It is truly amazing. All of the caves were 3D scanned & the location of all paintings was incorporated into the 3D scans.  Next, the caves & their paintings were replicated to be an almost exact copy of the real ones.

When you are on the tour it’s easy to imagine that you are in the real caves. It is dark & the temperature is much lower than outside. Each person is given an audio guide device that automatically senses where you are & then provides a commentary of what you are looking at.

Photo above – after touring the caves you go to an interpretive center where you can view cut-aways of replicated sections of the caves, learn more about the wall & ceiling paintings. 

This is an outstanding facility but it’s easy to become overwhelmed with details. So, if you go, you should be well rested & be prepared to absorb a lot of information in a relatively short time.

Photo above  – one of the main corridors leading from the recreated caves to the interpretive center. There are also several small theatres in the facility that give brief video presentations about the caves & the efforts made to protect & preserve them since their discovery.

We drove back to Sarlat & had a brief rest before going to dinner. We went to Chez Marcel,  a small place recommended by our hosts.

Photo above – our last night in Sarlat with a wonderful glass of wine & very tasty food.

Photo above  – the market square – very empty compared to the day before.

Photo above – the truffle museum at the edge of the square. We missed visiting this one. Oh well, perhaps on another trip. We would certainly be happy to come back to Sarlat again. 

Tomorrow we have a 3 1/2 hour drive back to Bordeaux to return our rental car. We will stay overnight near the train station & then take a train to Paris on Saturday afternoon.

Cheers!