To fit in both our destinations (~1.5 hours away), we had to be sure to leave somewhat earlier than we had been used to, and even (gasp) set an alarm.
We got to Pech Merle, another limestone cave, accessed uphill from Caberets. While this one also has large caverns and gorgeous millenia-old limstone confections, but it also has an impressive array of Neanderthal rock art. Photos inside the cave a very stricly forbidden, so the images below are [will be] taken from other sources. Entry is restricted to 700 people a day, and no more than 25 per tour group. Therefore, even though we arrived at 10:30, we were just behind a tour bus, and therefore the earliest entry we could get was at 11:15am.
From there, we drove back down the hill, and along a bit to another gobsmackingly picturesque town perched on another cliff-top. Clearly, these defensive locations were very important. On the flat, the towns tended to be jammed between the river and the cliff, rather than on the flat. Presumably, if under attack, it was fairly straightforward to block off the two ends of the town, and thereby cut of all non-water avenues of attack.
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the terrace of a restaurant in Saint-Cirq Lapopie, and then went for a bit of a wander about town.
[More pics of pretty places here]
We took the long way back, via Figeac, but the others were fading hard, so we didn't stop and explore the old part of town. We did stop in the supermarket and got a range of local antipasto type things for dinner (terrine de lapin, jambon sec, olives, stuffed baby capsicums, and some more bread).
We got to Pech Merle, another limestone cave, accessed uphill from Caberets. While this one also has large caverns and gorgeous millenia-old limstone confections, but it also has an impressive array of Neanderthal rock art. Photos inside the cave a very stricly forbidden, so the images below are [will be] taken from other sources. Entry is restricted to 700 people a day, and no more than 25 per tour group. Therefore, even though we arrived at 10:30, we were just behind a tour bus, and therefore the earliest entry we could get was at 11:15am.
From there, we drove back down the hill, and along a bit to another gobsmackingly picturesque town perched on another cliff-top. Clearly, these defensive locations were very important. On the flat, the towns tended to be jammed between the river and the cliff, rather than on the flat. Presumably, if under attack, it was fairly straightforward to block off the two ends of the town, and thereby cut of all non-water avenues of attack.
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the terrace of a restaurant in Saint-Cirq Lapopie, and then went for a bit of a wander about town.
[More pics of pretty places here]
We took the long way back, via Figeac, but the others were fading hard, so we didn't stop and explore the old part of town. We did stop in the supermarket and got a range of local antipasto type things for dinner (terrine de lapin, jambon sec, olives, stuffed baby capsicums, and some more bread).
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