Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
year-round,nophotos,tel.0553596030.InJulyandAugust,tickets andreservations are
also available at the Font-de-Gaume cave ( fontdegaume@monuments-nationaux.fr ) .
Getting There: AbriduCapBlanciswell-signedandislocatedaboutthreekilomet-
ers after Grotte de Font-de-Gaume on the road to Sarlat. From the parking lot, walk 200
yards down to the entry. Views of the Château de Commarque (described on here ) are ter-
rific as you arrive.
More Cro-Magnon Caves
▲▲▲ Lascaux II
The region's—and the world's—most famous cave paintings are at Lascaux, 14 miles
north of Sarlat and Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. The Lascaux caves were discovered accidentally
in1940byfourkidsandtheirdog.From1948to1963,morethanamillionpeopleclimbed
through this prehistoric wonderland—but these visitors tracked in fungus on their shoes
andchangedthetemperature andhumiditywiththeirheavybreathing.Injust15years,the
precious art deteriorated more than during the previous 15,000 years, and the caves were
closed.Acopycave—accuratetowithinonecentimeter,reproducingthebest40-yard-long
stretch, and showing 90 percent of the paintings found in Lascaux—was opened next to
the original in 1983. Guides assure visitors that the original is every bit as crisp and has
just as much contrast as the facsimile you'll see.
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