Meandering With Murphy

Wednesday, April 17. Scott and I had a “discussion” about which town to put in so we could get close to our destination, the Lascaux caves. We decided that Thenon was the best choice (2 1/2 hrs away). We were up and out at 6:30. We plugged it in but it was sending us toward Bordeaux which we thought was not correct. We had forgotten to put our map in so I looked on my phone. It said Thenon was 1 1/2 hrs away so off we went. (Little did I know my GPS had a different Thenon, not the one we wanted.) I couldn’t get the voice working to guide us. We made several wrong turns and I lost the signal. Now we were blindly driving. UGH!!! I turned my phone off and we got a signal back but we still did not have voice guidance.

I am sure you have heard of the play, Cyrano de Bergerac. Before we left we saw the play at the Guthrie and really enjoyed it. Well Bergerac, the city, was not so kind to us. First, they were setting up rides for a fair and we had to go different ways to avoid it. Secondly, we needed gas and we were looking for a gas station. We drove through Bergerac one way, then another and then back again. Scott said it felt like the movie Ground Hog Day.

Lessons learned: First, Take a “real” map and use it. Second, when putting in the city if it says a shorter time than you thought triple check your destination. Finally, when your phone is plugged in for charging, unless you are synced to the Bluetooth, the voice will not work. As soon as I unplugged the phone in the parking lot, the voice began.

We finally got my phone to work, but still no voice, and we plugged in the right city, Montignac and off we went. As you may recall from yesterday, our tour was to start at 10:30. As we drove on we realized we were going to be late, yet again, but this time by only 15 minutes. When we arrived we flew up to the ticket counter and they said we could not join the tour late BUT there was an English tour that started at 11:06 The same woman that we saw yesterday changed our tickets and said, “DO NOT MOVE!!”

All of this, yes, all of this was well worth it. The Lascaux Cave tour was amazing.

Lascaux is described as “the Sistine Chapel” of prehistory. In 1940 the cave was discovered by four teenagers. The mouth of the cave had been hidden by fallen rock. The cave dates back to 17,000 BC. There are approximately 6,000 figures mainly bulls, equines and stags. There are also human figures and signs. The art in the first and second chambers, the hall of bulls, is well preserved, very colorful and rich because there is clay soil above the limestone which did not allow water to seep into the clay.

The cave was opened to the public in 1948 and approximately 1,200 people a day visited the cave. By 1955 carbon dioxide, heat, humidity and other contaminates were damaging the cave drawings. The cave was closed to visitors in 1963 and the paintings were restored to their original art.

This exhibit has two parts. The first is an exact representation of several chambers, including the hall of bulls. No pictures are allowed in this part. It is amazing. Everywhere you look there is yet another drawing. Pictures cannot justify what the reality must have been in the real cave and what the representation is now in person.

One of the most fascinating painting was of several reindeer that looked like they were running. It showed a sequence of reindeer so they looked like they are in motion. The guide said they think it is a picture of them swimming.

The second part is the exhibit hall. The pictures below were taken there. They have a few of the pictures that appear in the first part of the exhibit.

After that amazing experience we headed back. We are both very happy we decided to push on and experience Lascaux.

We topped off the day by having dinner with Megan and Julien at one of their favorite restaurants, L’Ecluse. It is located on a canal in Castet et Castillon. What a beautiful spot. We had a wonderful dinner with wonderful friends.

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Plat Principal: Magret duck, roasted carrots, potatoes, puree of carrots and potatoes.