Cave Paintings

 I love anthropology, as long as I don't have to do the research, and I love archeology, as long as I don't have to do any digging.  So I was very excited to go and see the pre-historic cave paintings at Lascaux, about 90 miles from here.

Or rather, I was excited to see the replica that has been built to accommodate all the tourists like me.

The cave was discovered by a couple of boys chasing after their dog, around 1930.  By 1963, the paintings were decaying because of the humidity brought in by the humans wanting to see them.  I believe there was also a blooming mold problem, so the cave was shuttered.

Lucky for us humid humans, the scientists decided to create a replica so people could still see the images.  In fact, the one I saw was the fourth iteration of the model, thus Lascaux IV.

Obviously very modern on the outside.  An interesting contrast with the ancient display.

I have come to France not knowing the language and really not preparing as much as I should have, so I am constantly making stupid mistakes.  For instance, the tour I booked turned out to be in French.  I was given a device to hook to my earphones, so while everyone else was hearing the guide through their phones, I was hearing some English woman who did not seem to have much to say.  Or at least not as much as the guide.

It reminded me of my first time in Paris when I took a tour boat along the Seine.  It was supposed to be in French and English.  And I guess it was.  The guide would speak for a minute or two in French and then switch to English and say, "To your left, the Eifel Tower."

The woman in the device said I could take flashless pictures, but I don't think the guide gave the same direction to the French speakers.  I was the only one taking pictures with my phone.  I stopped about halfway down the cave, but I got some good ones first.

(Click on the pictures to make them larger.)

I've seen pictures of the painting before, but I always thought they were on the walls.  Turns out they were mostly on the ceiling.  And the floor was much higher than it is today and in the model, so the artist or artists were probably on their backs, like Michaelangelo.

And, of course, the cave was dark so they worked by lamp light.  Over 100 lamps were found in the cave.  They certainly are impressive.  One thing I noticed, the artist used perspective to create some of the animals.  Painters in ancient and medieval times had apparently forgotten that skill.

One curiosity.  The local town, Montignac, gives out maps of the area; the maps do not show Lascaux.  A little rivalry, perhaps?

On my way home, I stopped for lunch in St. Emillion, a lovely town known for its great wines.  I had a very nice glass of it with my Ceasar salad (no fries!).  Here are a few pictures.

Really beautiful town.

While my lack of French is keeping me from having in-depth conversations, I did talk to an older woman walking her grandson when I was trying to put out the garbage which involves taking to bins to the end of the block.  I worked out that I should only bring the garbage and not the recycling because Friday was not a recycling day.  I thanked her but then she grabbed my arm and took me down the block a bit to show me someone else who had made the same mistake.  I thought that was very nice of her, to try to make me feel better.  Her grandson handed me a flower that he had just picked.

When I got back home, there were two identical bins where I had left mine.  Except that one said No. 2.  I didn't remember that on my bin, so I left it there.  Who knows if I was right.