I'm surprised you found the artwork at the Font-de-Gaume site hard to see - I always thought it was extremely beautiful and clear. It's in fact my favorite cave site in the Dordogne. <BR>Rouffignac has never incited my interest - there are far too many bear-scratching sites in the Dordogne and far too little research to support the notion of the bear cult. I don't think of it as "spooky" at all - just sensational with regard to the bear culture, which is a theory that has not yet been verified. <BR>Rocamadour is a major tourist attraction, nothing more, nothing less. It's second only to le Mont St-Michel. Take it for what it is. You need to line up a couple of hours in advance of getting tickets for the Gouffre de Padirac; you need to plan to spend at least an hour getting down and up the escalator to/from the town, and you need to plan to find accommodations nearby (recommend the Domaine de la Rhue) <BR>

Yes, I agree that the bear cult theory is difficult to swallow. I didn't buy it and I didn't think the scratches deep in the Rouffignac cave were from bears. How would they travel so deep into the cave in total darkness? Seems unlikely. When they turned out all the lights in the cave, it was spooky to me. Didn't people die in there after getting lost? I might have my cave stories mixed up but I wouldn't want to be in there with just a flashlight. <BR> <BR>At Gouffre de Padriac, there was no wait at all. We walked straight down to the boats and waited for 9 others to show up for the boat ride. So, if you go off season, no crowds. My guidebook confirms, however, that in the summer, be prepared to wait 1 hour for tickets and 30 more minutes to get on a boat. <BR> <BR>I stayed at Domaine de la Rhue and it was wonderful and I recommend it highly as well.

How far in advance do you have to reserve for Gaume and Lascaux? Can it be done by mail or e-mail?

sorry, thats a new e-mail address and it's backward. should be near_n_far

How difficult is it to make these reservations for Lascaux and Gaume for early Oct and how far in advance?

L. Murphy, <BR><BR>I went to the Font du Gaume in September 2000. Made reservations for 5 of us for the English tour at least 3 months ahead of time. Now is not too early. Do request the English language tour. <BR><BR>Also, I had heard rumor that the Font du Gaume was being closed to tourists. Does anyone know if that has happened?<BR><BR>John H

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There has been talk for at least 5 years about closing down Font-de-Gaume, and a couple of years ago it was indeed closed for several months. But there is no imminent permanent closure being dicussed right now to my knowledge. Still, the number of people who are allowed to go in each day is severely limited. To make reservations, I would call or fax. The numbers are at http://www.arachnis.asso.fr/DORDOGNE...m#reservations

Thanks for the update, StCirq.<BR><BR>John H.

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Amanda: The discussion about Cussac in that other forum was in July 2001. There's a little info here about it, but not current.

Ger, this is one of the threads that I thought you'd find helpful.

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