Our day started with me looking at the clock at 8:23. The house was quiet. Julia was still quiet, and Sara was still quiet. That meant that Dan and I both got to sleep 'till 8:23! Wow.
After eggs and oatmeal for breakfast we packed into the car. We were headed to "Lascaux II" known as the best cave art in the world. Instead of me trying to tell about it, if you have time, read this quick bit about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux
Photo courtesy of Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door.
This area where we are (the Dordogne River Valley) has many caves. Our guide book mentions several that are options to see. We decided to start with "Lascaux II" since they are supposed to be among the best. What is interesting is that while the originals are 200 meters away, what we see today is a copy. (The orginals were hurt by so many visitors breathing in the caves.) They built the cave, and reproduced the art. But even with that in mind, it is still highly recommended - and is actually known to be hard to get a ticket!
We got there at 11:10 parked and walked to the ticket office. I thought there would be a chance we'd maybe get a ticket for the afternoon - and surely a French tour. But it was our *Lucky day!* we got an English tour at 11:30! We went right over to the waiting area with ticket in hand - and huge smiles on our faces. We fed the kids (bread with peanut butter) so they would be quiet in the cave.
Okay, stop reading! *Please* go to this site:
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/fr/00.xml
When you get there, look at the pictures they show you, then click on the tiny words "visite de la grotte" that appear under the big word that says "Lascaux." By clicking that you should see a video.
What an awesome place! To think that cro magnon man did these 15,000 years ago is mind-boggling. And to get a tour in English only 20 minutes after arriving made us feel lucky.
They called our group at 11:30. We lined up. All the other people crowded by the door, we were last in line. We went inside. The first part of the tour was explanation - that is a good thing, since seeing cave art does deserve some understanding before you see it.
They used 3 colors (in this cave). Black, yellow, and red. The limestone absorbed the colors. That is way it lasted 15,000 years. They drew animals. Some are stationary, and some are running. And, they are HUGE. These are not small drawings. In this introductory part Julia was not quiet, so Dan left with her. That was a bit sad, but he got to go on the next tour solo and so he probably enjoyed that more anyway, even though it was in French.
The Introduction was probably about 20 minutes I'd say, we learned about the techniques, we learned about how they made the reproduction (this cave has amazing art, but it is a reproduction) and had a chance to ask questions. I think also, the introduction was a good chance to get used to the dark, and a good chance to get used to the chilly cave temperatures. Sara given priority by the guide. She kept inviting Sara to come up front and look at things (rather being lost in a sea of adults). That was a nice touch. Sara never wanted to go up front by herself (it was dark) so she always asked me to come along. I did. Sometimes I had Sara up in my arms, sometimes she was by my side holding my hand, and sometimes she was on my lap. It was a dark enclosed space so I was glad she didn't seek independence while we were in the cave.
Finally it was our time to go into the cave! (The introduction was over.) Sara and I held hands tightly. We took tiny steps. And then, right before our eyes were the cave drawings. "Wow" Sara said. "Those are cool!" and I agree. We were looking at the output of people 15,000 years ago - a look into the distant past! We were leaving our world, and stepping into their world.
The guide used a flash light to point things out. There were four HUGE bison/bull type animals. I mean they were 16 feet tall! HUGE art. But that is not all, around the huge animals were other huge animals - they used all the space they had. It was covered with drawings. They also used the relief of the caves - so indentations were bellies - and so forth. There were huge horns, ancient black brooding animal eyes, and running feet. I really liked a set of 4 black horses that looked like they were in motion.
We weren't allowed to take pictures. That is a good thing. Everyone was focused on looking and not snapping photos. Sara was up in my arms for this part of the cave. That way we could whisper to each other about what we were seeing. She'd ask me to turn in different directions depending on what she wanted to see. We listened to the guide, who had interesting things to point out that we would not have noticed otherwise.
We moved to the second room. It was very narrow. Sara and I were near the front. It is amazing that all those years ago they could see well enough in there to make these drawings. They used candle type things by burning fat and using tree sticks as wicks. The tree sticks did not leave behind soot. The second room was just as amazing - with all sorts of animals above us, around us, and everywhere.
At the exit we climbed out of the cave and back into the real world. We met up with Dan, who went right back in the cave on the next tour. I waited with the girls outside the cave, which was easy to do since we had food and that always makes it easy to pass time!
After that we enjoyed the setting a bit - it is in the middle of a pretty forest - and then left. I've read that it is packed in July and August (the busy months for tourism) so we were so glad that we came in September. I'd say the parking lot was maybe 15% full up near the site. The whole thing cost us 9.20 x 2 Euros, the kids were free.
Whew. After we started breathing again after seeing that, we drove the 30 minutes or so back here. I put Julia down for a nap and Sara and I played, read, molded clay, and ate lunch.
Julia woke up *so* happy (she is a happy baby in general, but she was glowing) and we hung out a bit and then I took the girls for a walk to Sarlat. It was our first time going there alone (with out Da) - and only our second time there. When we were in Uzes we were able to leave our apartment and be right in the main walking area. In Vaison la Romaine, we were right by the cathedral. Here in Sarlat we are about a 15 minute walk on a tiny winding foot path (down, down, down) to town. Sometimes the path goes right along a drop off that would be severe if we lost our footing. There is no railing.
The video above is part of the walk, near the beginning of the tiny foot path to town.
When we got there we walked around. The cafes were full of people relaxing in out door tables, the cathedral's bells rang out 5 o'clock, and there were several musicians. I didn't have any goals in mind - just to stroll. Sara asked very nicely for ice cream, so I said she could have some in "2 minutes" after 2 minutes she said, "come on Mom, I'll lead the way, follow me!" and then she skipped up the cobble stones to get right back to the ice cream place. That kid is a scammer. She got her usual cone (chocolate on the bottom and strawberry on the top) and Julia had banana and caramel. They shared nicely, but always retained control of their own cones. ;)
Videos of town (above and below this text).
After that we walked back up here. I asked Sara to walk so it was easier for me to push the stroller/Julia up. I was nearly diagonal as I used every muscle to go up, up, up.
I made dinner while the kids played. Steak, snap peas, sliced apple, and some ravioli. The gobbled everything up.
After dinner while the sun headed down Sara and Julia had the best time ever playing in the yard. Sometimes they played ball. Sometimes they explored the fish pond. And sometimes they just chased each other with squeals of joy. I watched it all while grinning. No need to interfere, they just enjoyed each other. I loved it.
Then I put Julia to bed. Took 2 minutes. Then Dan read a world atlas to Sara (upon her request, she still loves geography) and she is now sleeping too.
It was a pretty amazing day.
Quotes of the day:
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Scenario - upstairs giving Sara a bath
Sara: "Mom, how does the downstairs of the house hold up the upstairs?"
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Scenario - Sara/Julia playing ball outside
Sara: "Mom, we are great soccer players!"
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Scenario - at lunch time
Me: "Sara, do you want to eat stay in here or go outside by Dad?"
Sara: "I want to stay with you Mom, so you can keep an eye on me."
End of Post (all those videos were taken by my phone, I know they aren't the best, but they show a bit!)
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