Rocamadour

Our destination for the day was Rocamadour a town that was built on the side of a cliff. At the site they have a designated parking place for motorhomes, you have to love the French they make it very easy for motor homers. We parked up among the many others already there and felt glad that we are out of the season as I would hate to think of the crowded carpark then. We bought a return ticket for the funicular and went to explore the town.

From the top level it’s about 150 metres to the second level where a church is located and from there we walked the steps down to the old town. Of course the tourist shops were there but not as tacky as some other places we have been to. The man at the chocolate/nougat shop was very entertaining giving us plenty of samples in a very flamboyant way. He made a sale from us as opposed to the girl in a similar shop who was too busy on her phone and we seemed to be more of an imposition that a potential customer. After a few hours we headed back up to the top again to have a peaceful night, the carpark was very quiet.

Les Eyzies-de-Tayac- Sireuil

Wednesday 23rd September we went to the town of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac- Sireuil in the Dordogne. In this region are caves where many Prehistoric cave paintings can be seen. The aire at the town was only a short walk from the main street where we found out some information about the region and the town. We followed a walking tour of the town and went into a Museum, which surprisingly was free with some interesting exhibits. Armed with information about the cave sites we decided to view one the next morning.

Pre-historic cave paintings

The caves at Rouffignac were said to be worth a look and the lady at the tourist information office told us that we didn’t need to book ahead as it was out of the season. Arriving at 10.00am we bought our tickets for 7 euros each and we were on the first train through the caves. The tour takes an hour and we saw cave bear scratching’s and nests, wall and ceiling drawings and etchings. The tour was in French but we had a hand held English guide which we could read as we stopped at the various locations. All very interesting, photos were not allowed and the photos in the blog are courtesy of Google images.

That night we headed for a campsite as Lori had some study to complete and send off. The Wifi in the campsite was free but very slow but in the ended it worked.

Hautefort Chateau

The comforts of a campground were convenient and we spent some time on the phone talking to family back home so we didn’t leave until midday. After a pleasant scenic drive we arrived at the Chateau in time to have some lunch and explore the place.

The chateau is where the film Ever After starring Drew Barrymore was filmed in 1998. We spent a few hours exploring the gardens, the underground tunnel, the first and second story and the tower. As you can see on the gardens were amazing with plenty of hedges in intricate patterns. In the afternoon we drove to Oradour sur Glane and were lucky to get a spot in the aire. It has 30 places but it is a popular place. In the season you have to get there early.

Oradour sur Glane, Village of Matyrs

This is not a pleasant place to visit as it is the site where on the 10th of June 1944 an SS Panzer division killed 642 people in the village and set it on fire. After the incident the village had a wall placed around it to serve as a memorial. The place is free to visit and they have signs on many of the building saying what they were used for. It’s a sobering place to think that only a few people in the whole village managed to escape, only one child. We walked around and as it was early the place was very quiet.

There was also a crypt which had the names and ages of all the people who died as well as articles from the village. Can’t really say we enjoyed the visit but it serves to remind people of what went on during the war, the sad thing is that it hasn’t stopped since that time.

Back at the aire and on the road again. In the last few days we have seen pre-historic cave paintings, historical chateau and recent history of a world war two site. Europe has much to see of historic interest.