Today the plan was to head toward the region of Perigord (Northeast) and check out Lascaux and Rocamadour. But after a slow start (albeit a pleasurable one having coffee and conversation with our host Carol) we headed for Perigeux (capitol of the Perigord region). The city was beautiful with many ancient Roman ruins. We came across an archeaoligical museum with en enclosed excavation of the ancient Roman city at Vesoné named after a local Celtic/Gaul goddess that was adapted by the Romans into their polytheism. The self-guided tour of the excavation (with English translated headset) allowed us to tour and experience the site at our leisure. It was an amazing find for us! It seems our unplanned adventures are so richly rewarding!
As all museums are set up to do, we exited via the gift shop. I was amused to find (and purchase) a comic book version of an historical fiction novel I had read years ago (called "Druid") where the Gaulish prince prepares to become king and his aided by his friend who becomes a Druid master; The book culminates with a major battle of the celtic Gauls vs the Romans. Finding the comic book and seeing that these figures are very well known in France was interesting.
We ate a late lunch in a Boulangerie (Fournil) in Perigeux. I treated myself to a birthday treat in additon to my salad of pearl onions, smoked meats, lettuce and baby pickles (cornichons), I had a luscious chocolate tart. Yum! After lunch we walked around the old part of the city a bit. We peeked into the local church (St Etienne) and walked to the lookout tower. After a brief visit to the tourism office we decided to head off to Lascaux.
Lascaux has always been a place that I hqd wanted to see; hearing about the Neanderthal cave paintings that were dicovered nt the 1920's, shown on the History Channel. Although the guided tour was completely in French, the essence of the place was not lost on Tami, nor me.
Lascaux, like the dig at Vesoné in Perigeux, was one of those places that had an energy about it. Like it was a special place on earth that man felt that it needed an embellishment to mark its existance. An adornment of sorts. We learned that the original cave at Lascaux was closed to tourists in 1969 due to the pollutants that were ruining the paintings that had been there for 80,000 years. Lascaux II was built and opened to the public in 1983. It is a replica of the orignal caves, complete with almost 90% of the original paintings done by an artist; It in itself, was an amazing feat of workmanship.
After a full day we headed back and stopped to pick up a few groceries at Carrefour (local grocery store chain). I made dinner of steak cooked with shallots, garlic, green pepper and finished in red wine. We had red potatoes with dill, and a green salad (with home-made dressing à la Tami), and of course more baguettes and wine! Dishes done, laundry washed... Time for bed. Bon Nuit!
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