Cave Paintings

Today we went to see the cave paintings in the area. First we visited Font-de-Gaume where we got a chance to see the only polychromatic (multi-colored) paintings that are available for public viewing to preserve the paintings - they do this by limiting visitors to 180 people per day to this site, and we reserved a few months ago. Although the girls weren't overly impressed, Trish really loved it (having an interest in the subject already). Personally, I found the paintings much more engaging than I expected. For example, the integration of the natural rock contours into the paintings, such as for the spine of a bison, or the belly of a deer, was fascinating - even more so when our guide simulated the flicker of a flame and you could see these animals almost pop out of the walls.

Our second stop was Lascaux II. Lascaux is one of the most famous painted caves in the world - so successful that a million people visited it between 1948 and 1963 (it was discovered in 1940). However, all those people caused chemical reactions which caused more damage to the paintings in 15 years than in the previous 15,000 years! So, they built an identical cave next door - a replica down to the nearest 1 cm, and duplicated the paintings there using the exact materials and techniques as the original. These paintings were stunning - some animals were 10 or more feet in length. Seeing them in their context - much like seeing a series of Monets in one room - made a huge difference over the photos I've seen of individual paintings in books.

Sophie was still a little disappointed in not seeing a mammoth - there was a creature in the first cave that Marie and I thought was a mammoth but the guide pointed out some differences. Our last stop was Le Thot, which was a museum that showed how they made the paintings and had a few other reproductions in a museum setting. They also had a mini-zoo with animals descended from those in the cave paintings. As we came through one of the bushes, lo and behold, there was a mammoth, in living animatronics, drinking water moving one of its legs, and trumpeting loudly. Sophie's day was made.


Trish looking at a reproduction in Le Thot. This was the only picture we could get, as there are absolutely no photos - with good reason - in the actual caves.

Sophie meets a mammoth