Hotel des Roches

Prehistory in the Vezere Valley

by mke1963

The prehistory of the Vezere Valley is one of the great treasures in France, if not Europe, but it is important not to expect everwhere to be like the spectacular art gallery of Lascaux. The reason Lascaux is so famous is simply because of its uniqueness. Although there are almost one hundred sites in the Vezere and surrounding valleys, many are small in size or have little obvious to see. In addition, the artistic flair of the Madelenian period is impressive because it was in the early stages of man’s artistic development. Before this time, the art was much more limited and has a lot less general appeal. The older art at L’Abris de Pataud, for example, is represented by a few very small sculptures and scratched rocks. Other sites have been excavated and then returned to their natural state, as at l’Abris de Cro-Magnon. Just don’t expect a succession of sites like Lascaux: there really is only one Lascaux. Well, only two of them, now there is a facsimile site at Lascaux II.
The Vezere Valley has seen the development of a whole industry devoted to prehistoric civilizations with varying degrees of either educational or entertainment value, from excellent visitor centres at Le Thot to Palaeolithic theme parks. In a sense, there is something for everyone.

Visit the Cave at Rouffignac

by hquittner

In our Introduction we describe the mechanics of our day at Les Eyzies. You can only get to the cave by car. Take D47-D32 Northeast out of Les Eyzies (direction Perigueux) to Miremont and then right with D32 until a cave right turnoff (marked). The cave is out in the forest. The tour starts nearby.

Look At La Roque St.-Christophe

by hquittner

The cliff (roque) rises along the bank of the Vezere (actually hollowed out by it ages ago). It has rising inclined strata that the ancient humans could climb and obstruct. In a safe area they used or enlarged existing cavities and caverns in the cliff as shelters (like a sort of bee-hive). This began about 20,000 BC. The National Museum at Eyzies contains numerous artefacts from here. This was not a place for cave paintings (which were made very deep in caves, far deeper inside than humans would go to live), so the objects found here were utilitarian and "religious". We did not have the stamina for the climb and so our pictures are from a distance. There are guided tours of about an hour (in French); it is open daily but closed during the lunch hours.

Cliffs/caves of Cro-Magnon man

by edwis

"Les Eyzies de Tayac –along the Vezere River."

Le Ferme de Tayac: This was our 2nd base B&B, which is an 1100 AD Abbey.
There are several buildings which are all restored and full of fun antiques. Giant lounge rooms for reading and music. Not a TV in the place. There is a large swimming pool, hammocks to nap in, and areas where we had several picnics. It was located about 3 blocks out of the town Les Eyzies. Run by Mike and Susanna, retired South Africans who were perfect hosts. The rooms have stone walls and decorated with vintage clothing items hanging on the wood beams. Our bathroom used an antique baby chair as the toilet paper holder. We did a second canoe trip from here along the Vezere River to La Roque St. Christophe, which was more peaceful trip, very tranquil and full of nature. We only saw a handful of other boaters during this 3-hour journey.

On the Prehistory Trail

by Kettleman

As you follow the pre-history trail around the Dordogne one of the stops has to be the small town of Les Eyzies.

As well as hosting the Museum of Prehistory (see tips) it also provides the traveller with a lunch stop.

Along the one main street and only a stone's throw from the steps up tp the Museum is a small bakery selling a wide range of cakes and made-up sandwiches... plus very nice mini-pizzas. Try it.

A lot of the town is given over to souvenir shops!