Montignac

We headed from Le Mans to the Dordogne and stopped at Montignac-Lascaux.

This 14th century village is in a beautiful setting on the Vézère River, perfect for kayaking apparently, but we didn’t partake this time 😉.

We walked the town, and followed a tourist map to see the highlights and get the best views.

A little cycle was next, all uphill, to the Lascaux caves, which is Montignac’s most famous feature.

We had an excellent tour guide and the experience was really enlightening. The caves were found in 1941 by a local man and house hundreds of cave art paintings over 21,000 years old!

The caves have been closed to the public as the million or so people that visited when it was open had a detrimental effect on its environment (producing damaging calcite) so an exact replica was built, which is what we toured.

The reconstructed cave took six years to paint. Montignac is the home of the most famous cave artists today who carry out this work for many other sites.

The paintings are all of animals of the day (bison, deer, bear, cow, horse, goat), they are detailed, large (one of the bulls is 5m long) and are artistic works in their own right. Little is known about why they were painted or what some of the symbolism means, all of which adds to the experience.

No photos were allowed in the caves so to see you’ll have to visit. For a meagre €14 per person it’s money well spent!

We enjoyed the evening frequenting a few bars, of which there are many, and sampled the duck for dinner.

We decided to stay another night to have some time to chill and also watch a local derby rugby match, Montignac vs Perigueux. Was a great game, the home side won, and the crowd were a little feisty at times.

The French are passionate about their rugby!