The Velvet Underground at Last

A rainy day in old Sarlat

The Hôtel Les Remparts (48 Avenue Gambetta, Sarlat-la-Canéda) was a charming, small, stone-fronted hotel on the edge of lovely old Sarlat. It had a welcome and handy elevator, and free parking (though it was a bit of a hike up a hill). My second floor room was small and cozy, and looked out on a neighboring roof covered in moss. There were plenty of restaurants and shops nearby in the old village, and easy walking everywhere. I based here to see the caves in the region, the most well-known of which is Lascaux II, a reproduction of the actual cave, which has been closed to the public for decades. However, I planned to see the REAL thing, as there are other caves in the region with prehistoric art that are open to view.

Huge limestone formations loom over the narrow roads

At the entrance to Font-de-gaume; I'm psyched!

After an early wake-up, I drove to Les Elyzies (pronounced LA zy—the French make fun of the way most English speakers pronounce it: LEZ ZE, as it sounds like zi-zi, a child’s term for pee.) I arrived at Font-de-gaume in the dark, much too early for the 9:30 opening, but only 40 people per day are allowed in, and it was first-come, first-served. While waiting, I had a great conversation with a Dutch/French lawyer/wedding planner. 

I got to be La Fortunata again, as my friend’s husband, Christoph Kusters, had arranged an English-speaking tour at 10 (he runs a multi-lingual tourism company, Taxi a la Carte), and they let me come along. Font-de-gaume was a fantastic introduction; the cave opening was at the end of a steep quarter-mile trail up a hill. The cave itself was narrow and tall with genuine cave paintings and carvings made 18,000-14,000 years ago. Bison butted heads and elk-like creatures stood together on the walls. Incredible. In the dark, the guide lit the paintings from the side with a flashlight and traced the outlines with a laser pointer to make it easier for us to see; the paintings were part of the wall, and often used features of the walls, such as cracks or bulges, as part of the painting. 

Font-de-gaume wall painting

Artist's rendition of the same bison

After the 45-minute tour ended, I tried to reach the cave of Rouffignac—about 40 minutes away--before it closed. I didn’t make it, but the drive on country roads through late October farm fields was spectacular. I was in love—not only with the presence of the people who marked these walls so long along, but the Dordogne in general; verdant and peaceful, dotted with towering limestone ramparts. 

Chez Fany

I went to Montignac, had lunch in a local non-tourist cafe, Chez Fany Bistrot du Marche (where the public market is held, behind the church at Place de L’eglise, 05 53 51 23 78) for 14.5 Euros (about $21)--soup, salad, lamb couscous, no room for desert. Then I went to nearby Lascaux II,  (quite a nice website) the reproduction of one of the original prehistoric art caves. As a repro, they did a pretty good job, but after Font-de-gaume, I was underwhelmed. The original artwork must have been stunning—I tried to take a few pictures on the sly (absolutely no photography was allowed, either in the repro cave or the real ones), and was rightfully harassed by a fellow tourist.

My bad

I returned to Sarlat, and attempted to book tour of El Castillo in Spain on the hotel computer (a two-day advance is required). I was falling hard for the Dordogne, and considered staying longer rather than returning to Spain, but El Castillo was only open on Friday, according to the website (which was consistently wrong, by the way). Walked around Sarlat old town in the evening, and had perfectly awful Thai soup for dinner; I banished the memory of it with an amazing apple tart from the patisserie across from hotel.