A pique-nique with a troglodyte

You may look at this title and say to yourself "uh what!?". On the other hand, you may just realise that I am a wanky traveler who likes the spelling of certain words. Well either way, this heading seems to sum up my last few days in the Cenac et Saint Julien area.


This is where I explain myself (or, attempt to), so be prepared!


The last few days in Cenac et Saint Julien have been rather beautiful. The housekeeper was right about the weather saying that we were in for a treat of a sunny and warm france. Well, to be honest they weren't her EXACT words...seeing as though she spoke french. But I specifically remember hearing the word 'semaine' which means week. You can see that my french is just remarkable!
Being Tuesday the 5th of April, it was Fraser's birthday and the weather had made it particularly good for exercise and adventuring. We decided to take a walk up to Dommes, which is a lovely town above Cenac et Saint Julien. Basically the two towns are situated directly above and below one another, separated only by a massive hill/cliff and a lot of shrubs. The walk was quite exhilarating with the top providing a medieval type town equipped with arrow slits which were used 'back in the day' when the French and English were fighting over land and castles. We stopped a little way and had some not so medieval sorbet and ice-cream.

Scenic views was apparently a thing of ours. Dommes and Cenac were the first that our eyes took sight upon, yet it was only the next day that Sarlat and Beynac joined the queue of picturesque views. Sarlat was where we walked the streets through the Wednesday market and Beynac, the town where we walked to the high tops which looked out over farms, rivers and ever so green grass...Oh and a really cool run down old car!

Yet, I cannot forget lunch that day. We were faced with our first french picnic. Which in french is spelt 'pique-nique' (I really enjoy that spelling!) 

Now to yesterday. Yesterday was quite a big day as we traveled to Le Gouffre de Padirac. What seemed like just a 'big hole in the ground' from the top, le Gouffre de Padirac was much more. The cave Padirac is the most famous chasm in Europe. It is 103 metres underground with amazing rock formations, such as the 60 metre tall stalactite which takes the shape of a ram's head from a particular angle. Other popular shapes include mushrooms and jellyfish. At one stage in the cave, the water stretches out to form a river and the only way across is by boat and a tour guide named Yvre (I think that's how it was spelt on his name-tag). The cave allows you to view the bluest water, so pure from the minerals in the cave. 

Later on that day, after yet another 'pique-nique', we traveled to a place called Rocamadour. There we viewed the 'black Mary' which is Mary made from black stone. This is not Mary, it is just a cool coca-cola sign. 

Our cave expeditions continued today, as we got up nice and early to attend the 11am tour of the 'Font de Gaume'. This is where the troglodytes come in. They used to live in the caves around the area and perhaps were even involved in the amazing cave paintings in which we were lucky enough to view. Bisons, horses, mammoths and reindeer were carved and painted into/onto the walls of the caves. The paintings show perspective through the use of 3D shaping and shading. These artistic testimonies illustrate the two stylistic phases (early and middle) of the Magdalenian era (15,000 BC!)

Tomorrow brings Barcelona. Vaya España!