When it’s raining in the Dordogne sightseeing is high on the agenda as this area is jam-packed full of caves, ideal for dodging the raindrops. We took advice from our trusty guide book and had an amazing tour of the Gouffre de Proumeyssac, otherwise known as the Crystal Cathedral. We’ve seen a few caves with stalactites and stalagmites in our travels but I think this one must count as one of the best. It’s the biggest underground cavern in the area and is quite breathtaking inside with its calcite formations named The Medusa and The Waterfall. What was spectacularly kitsch was the presence of large tables underneath the dripping stalactites filled with little clay models. The figurines remain on the tables for 12 months until they have built up a deposit of calcium carbonate crystals. Once above ground they are polished up and put in the gift shop to sell to excitable people like me. I bought myself a little traditional Sarlat goose.The Vezere valley is also the home of the earliest form of art, painted on cave walls by prehistoric man. There are two famous examples: Font-de-Gaume, which you have to pre-book a month in advance (we hadn’t) and Lascaux. The original Lascaux caves, with their striking images of animals and mysterious symbols, is no longer open to visitors in order to preserve it. However in 1983 they opened Lascaux II, a replica of the original cave. It took artists 11 years to reproduce the paintings using the same pigments and methods. So do we drive over an hour to see a fake? I was tempted to go but Dougie wasn’t budging, not keen to see the Blue Peter (here’s one I made earlier, or should it be later?) version. I had a leaflet for the Grotte du Sorcier, famous for the drawing of a chap who is very well-endowed but both husband and son refused to travel any distance just to see a dodgy drawing of a big todger.
Ha ha ha. We would be the ones getting asked to leave I fear
Maybe the egg cups were the wine glasses?
ere we ave ze masseeve weellee… Hmm. Probably wise that he glossed over it! 😉
@The Mad House – surely not! I'm sure the minis would be delightful 😉
@goonerjamie – maybe shot glasses?
@Steve – haha – the Rowan Atkinson sketch on Not the Nine o'Clock News – that takes me back!
Think we would have been in the naughty corner on that trip for giggling…..p.s.so what distance would you have travelled to see the big todger? just asking….
@Libby – haha! Not that far, 20 minutes drive. Saw the photo on the leaflet and wasn't that impressed 😉
I never knew 'they'd' done a fake Lascaux for us gawpers! Not sure of the point really apart from boring school parties to tears. Obsessives like me want to soak up the atmosphere, imagine the scene of thousands of years ago, sniff the rocks etc. All I'd be thinking about is the how this one was probably knocked up by very nice people in stripey jumpers and a warm thermos to hand. Jealousy would strike hard. I'd have killed for that job but would never respect the results of anyone else – I'd just be looking for mistakes. It would have ruined my holiday. In fact I think it should be destroyed immediately! Kill them!!!
MSG – if we'd gone I suppose at least I'd have been able to have a proper opinion. Your reaction was just that of Dougie's who thought the whole thing ridiculous. Apparently critics, wary beforehand, claimed it was a great success and it's the main draw for tourists even though it's "pretend".
A little gem for you: I read that in 2000 the powers-that-be employed a company with experience in cooling supermarkets to give the original Lascaux an air-conditioning system as they felt its natural ventilation wasn't good enough!
Wow! I wonder if that helped all the green mould that started growing on it after they started letting dirty great modern people in.
It has also reminded me of the Victorian copy of the Bayeux Tapestry. Some very nice ladies of good character sewed on good stout pants for the poor little naked savage people. I can't now remember who the poor little naked savage people were….. the English presumably.
But the best 'copy' of all has to be in a WWII PoW camp for Italians somewhere in West Wales – of the Sistine Chapel. They were obviously bored and needed something inspirational to keep them going so they recreated it in their hut which may or may not still exist. It's on a farm somewhere – my landlord at-the-time knew the farmer and he took me along to see it when I was staying with them for a few weeks pretending to be an Artist In Residence in their village about …blimey…probably nearly 20 years ago. (OMG – that's scary.) I often wonder about it now.