Today we are sad to be leaving Annecy. We head Southwest passing through Lyon., to the region of Périgord Noir and Dordogne River valley to the village of Sarlat
Sarlat is a medieval town with cobblestone alleyways to wander. They are known for foie gras and cepes, a local wild mushroom. Lucky us! Fall is cepes season. Almost every restaurant had cepes prepared several ways listed on their charming chalkboard menus.
We had a beautiful AirBnB in Sarlat. We were able to walk to dinner every night.
This area of France is well known for prehistoric art or “cave paintings” over 17,000 years old! The term Cro Magnon is from this region. “Cro” means cave and the first cave was discovered on a farm owned by the Magnon family. We were able to visit 2 caves and one prehistoric rock shelter site. They only allow 70 people into each area a day to keep locations well preserved. We visited The Font-de Gaume and Combarelles Caves, about 2 miles from each other. These caves are very tight to walk through but once in its so amazing we forgot the close walls and were only focusing in the paintings. You don’t see them~ then the guide turned on a flashlight. There before us are bison, horses, deer, and even a wooly mammoth. We were lucky to just have 4 people and a guide on our English language tour.
If you have an opportunity to visit this area be sure to go into these caves, soon they will be closed to visitors to protect these art treasures.
