Lurasidone over the counter We started out this brisk, bright morning for Peche-Merle and got there in time for the first tour of the day at 9:45 AM. This part of the Lot area of Dordogne must be known for its narrow, windy roads. Meeting campers and buses is quite an experience. Â
collusively Peche-Merle was discovered in 1922, a series of underground caverns with paintings, drawings, and engravings of animals, human figures, including a wounded warrior, and abstract symbols. Unique to the art in Peche-Merle is the artist’s use of the geological features of the cave’s walls and surfaces to give the figures dimension. Since the tour is given in French, our guide gave us an English translation to follow along. Due to the fragile nature of the drawings, only 700 visitors per day, in groups of 25. We saw spotted horses, mammoths, bison. horses, cattle, deer, negative handprints, a fish, and clusters of red spots in addition to the nature-crafted features of the caves themselves. In one area, we saw a “pearl” fountain, where grains of sand washed into the cavern, over time, were wrapped in calcite, and polished by continuing water/rainfall into small pearls. In the middle of one gallery, we saw the root of an oak tree, which was marked above ground. Many of the drawings were accomplished on top of others and others were accomplished as a group or scene. In the “bear gallery,” areas had been scraped out where bears had hibernated and the remains of their prey, since according to our guide, they had used the cave as a “refrigerator” to store their catch. There were fossilized bones of hyenas, horses, bison, and deer. There were also fossilized footprints of an adoloscent or child. One gallery was closed off to the public. After an hour tour in the wet, dank cavern, we ascended and visited the associated museum and watched its movie with English subtitles. On the way out, we saw a two-person vehicle, a FunTech in the parking lot. Very unusual, to say the least.
Mike and the FunTech car! Very small to say the least!
This is the power behind the FunTech!
We loaded back into the car and drove to St-Cirq LaPopie to explore this hillside village and find a place for lunch. We parked above town and walked down to the center of town, perched on a cliff 330 feet above the Lot River.
The tower of the church in St-Cirq-LaPopie
We parked high above the town and above the Lot River to visit St-Cirq-Lapopie
Typical architecture of St-Cirq-LaPopie
Most of the structures in town, date back to the 13th to 16th centuries, are stone, half-timbered houses, narrow with steeply pitched tile roofs. Many of the central buildings have arcaded storefronts with all sorts of travel souvenirs, pottery, jewelry, and art available.
An artist at work
In several places along the way, we found artists at work in this picturesque town. We found a terrace bistro, named Bistrot du Pays and settled in for lunch: salads, tartines, omelet. Salads were constructed many ways: vegetarian, foie gras, duck, roasted pork, etc. Potatoes were served not in the usual French frites way, but as rounds that were fried, sort of like chips (crunchy) but much thicker. A chocolate sundae was served to an adjacent table that looked great — but no one had saved any room!
Today's lunch spot
We hiked back up to the car and picked a couple of wineries to check out on the way home. First stop Domaine Dols, where we brought the family in from their chores for a tasting. The father met us as we drove into their winery, a residence along the side of the road. First came his wife, who was able to speak enough English to explain their wines. Ultimately, their son who had worked in a winery in Napa Valley, their winemaker showed up and took up where Maman left off. Their white (a Chardonnay) was very good as was their rose. We also purchased a bottle of the Syrah. Their wines were not AOC, but vin du Pays of the Lot region. We said our Au Revoirs and continued on. Then we drove along the Lot River, where we’ll be cruising in our barge next week, to the second winery and sampled AOC Cahors wines – not very good by our tastings. We had tried a few, purchased from the grocery store – now we decided we just don’t care for them – no matter how young they are purported to be!
The blogger at work on the terrace at the end of the day...
We returned to our gite and decided on a dinner of hors d’oeuvres since we were all pretty full from lunch. Another day! As I was writing this post and the sun was setting, the postman came by on his bicycle leaving mail for the Carringtons. Only in France!
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