Oct 10 Font du Gaume cave

Caves--oct 10
We had a 1:00 PM appointment to tour Font du Gaume so we were up early to hit the grocery store before it closed early on Sunday.
Sven said that the paintings in the caves are about 17,000 years old, that the people here may have hunted themselves out of existence. "Font du Gaume" is the last of the French caves open to the public-- one hundred and fifty people per day. Balika had scheduled the tour several months ago and this was the only time available.

We wait in anticipation to actually enter a cave with prehistoric paintings

The path to the caves was through woods similar to the Willamette Valley--birds chirping in oaks, maples, poplars, and alders at the onset of fall coloration.
The cave was 130 meters long. We were able to view 5 percent of the paintings. Pictures of bison, caribou, and horses were etched and painted with magenese and iron oxide on the limestone walls. Our guide pointed out the prehistoric use of foreshortening, movement, twisted perspective, and fresco. These techniques had been thought to be discovered in historic times.

We are in the area famous for foie gras. At the restaurant, The kid's meal of burger and fries came with pate de foie gras as a starter. Balika and I shared a Casoulet--stew with white beans, sausage, and goose.
We spent the afternoon at another cave-site. We happened to be visiting during a national education week and a half dozen artists and archeologists were available to work with children. We attended workshops with the kids in making fire, tools, weapons, art, and sewing and carving implements with crude tools.

The cave was basically a south-facing overhang, 18,000 year old, near-life size sculptures of horses, bison, deer, and a bear were etched into the cave face where they could be seen from the valley and river below.

I am extremely fortunate to be making this trip and seeing these sites with my son-in-law, a Harvard educated ethno-archeologist; my daughter, a art historian who studied at Smith and St. Andrews; and two children who are so enthusiastically absorb their surroundings. At this place of ancient art, Balika's and Sven's careers and interests converge.