maitaitom

"Next we stopped in one of my favorite places of the trip, St.-Léon-sur-Vézère."

Great report. This was also one of the best highlights of our trip.

francebound

I sent an email (in french) to the office at Font de Gaume yesterday, asking if there would be any english language tours during the time we will be in the area and this morning I got a reply that yes, there were, and yes, I could book 2 tickets now. I speak and understand french fairly well, but my husband does not so now we can both enjoy it and not have to be there at 8:30am. Hurrah!

Michael

<i> I speak and understand french fairly well, but my husband does not so now we can both enjoy it and not have to be there at 8:30am. Hurrah!</i>

Don't count your chickens yet. We were supposed to be with an English speaking guide when we visited Font-de-Gaume, but for some reason he was not available.

MaineGG

francebound - I'm amazed that you were told that you could book two tickets in advance since it still states on the official website: "access limited to 80 person/day
No reservation available, all the tickets are sold at the entrance every day for the day." If they have changed their policy, they have not changed the information on the site.

http://eyzies.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/

francebound

Below is what I read on that website so I emailed the office and was offered a reservation at 3:15 on May 12th. If it's actually and english speaking guide we'll have to wait and see, if not, c'est la vie.

Grottes de Font de Gaume et des Combarelles: pour des raisons de conservation, nombre de places limité par jour
Billets en vente sur place le jour même, dans la limite des places disponibles.
En 2014, il est possible de réserver ses billets pour Font de Gaume pour 2 visites :
- en basse saison : 15h15 (12 places) et 16h (12 places)
- en haute saison : 13h30 (12 places) et 14h15 (12 places)

MaineGG

That's really good news. To see that info I had to go to the French language link -

http://eyzies.monuments-nationaux.fr/fr/

Hope you get an English guide!

trvlgirlmq

We wanted to visit Font de Gaume and were even willing to get up extra early to be in line but then I found out that they don't offer the English tour the last 3 weeks of June. That happens to be when we are visiting. We are now going to visit Pech Merle for our bigger cave experience and Grottes du Domme for something closer to our gite.

StCirq

The Grotte de Domme is just stalagmites and stalactites - no prehistoric chromatic art or engravings.

And I concur with Michael. The Grotte de Font de Gaume often offers English language tours when it can't really follow through on them. I have had to act as interpreter several times when the English-speaking guide didn't show up. They tend to hire English speakers for the summer months when they expect more English-only visitors.

MaineGG

If Font de Gaume is now offering 24 reserved places per day, that means that it will be even more challenging to just turn up for one of the remaining 56 places. I wonder how quickly the reserved spots will be filled.

Let's hope they correct the information on the English language site soon.

MaineGG

maitaitom - We really enjoyed the time we spent along the Vézère. It's lovely. And thanks for the compliment. It's especially nice coming from someone who always gives us truly great trip reports.

Day 8 -

It had started raining hard during the night and the forecast was for the rain to continue into the afternoon. We had planned to go to Monpazier and Belvès today, but were discouraged by the weather. So, what's there to do that can't be affected by the weather? Visit another cave. Or two.

The Grotte du Sorcier - www.grottedusorcier.com - sounded really interesting, so we set off. On the drive up to the cave, I wondered if we might see StCirq in the neighborhood. This cave turned out to be one of my favorite sites of the trip. It's a very quaint and small enterprise, and on the morning we were there was staffed by one woman who sold tickets, operated the gift shop and was the tour guide. There's a nice small museum to visit while waiting for the tour. In the cave, there are some images of animals, but the main attraction is the engraved image of a witch or shaman, a rare depiction of a human form.

It was still pouring rain when we left the Grotte du Sorcier and went back to Les Eyzies where we had lunch at the Café de la Mairie.

To round out our bonus cave day, we then went to the Grotte de Rouffignac - http://www.grottederouffignac.fr/index.php/welcome , a very large cave system with images of hundreds of animals including woolly mammoths, rhinoceros and ibex. The tour here is on a small electric train because the distances are too great to walk.

Although it was disappointing that we didn't get to Monpazier, we did enjoy the two additional caves. Seeing the cave art in this area was a top priority for me, and we certainly saw a good variety across the four caves we visited plus the replica of Lascaux. Since they seem to be increasingly restricting access to Font de Gaume, there's a real possibility that it, like Lascaux, will be closed someday, so I feel very fortunate that we were able to see it.

Tonight was a special treat since we were having dinner, along with some other guests, at Les Granges Hautes. Béatrice and Jean-Yves prepared a beautiful dinner featuring local specialties. We gathered in front of their huge fireplace for apéritifs and amuse-bouches. The fire was lit on this chilly, damp night, and my French conversation skills were greatly tested since none of the other guests were English-speaking. Our entrée was, of course, foie gras. The plat was a sort of lasagna made with confit de canard. The wine was a Cahors. By now you might have noticed that we are not really foodies, but I know many here are interested and I'm trying to remember the details of what else we had, but can't find my notes for this day. Whatever it was, we thoroughly enjoyed it and would heartily recommend taking the opportunity to have dinner there if possible.

After a beautiful dessert and coffee, we walked back to our apartment to pack for our departure the next morning.

StCirq

MaineGG, I live next door to the Grotte du Sorcier. Next dwelling up the hill. The grotte was purchased a few years ago by a Monsieur Touron, who owns all the Intermarchés and Bricomarchés in the area and has recently completed restoring about 20 buildings/homes in Sarlat. The grotte is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Blaise22

MaineGG, I am really enjoying your report. I'm looking forward to more!

MaineGG

StCirq - Interesting info about the owner. It sounds like he's doing good things locally.

StCirq

Yes he has. Did you by chance visit the Manoir de Gisson in Sarlat? That's his most recent accomplishment, and it's quite breathtaking.

MaineGG

I remember seeing the Manoir de Gisson, but we did not visit. Sarlat is a lovely town.

aliced

Bookmarking for print-out, we too have done France several times with Paris for hal the time and another region for the other half-- only area remaining is SW!

MaineGG

aliced - I wish we had had more time for the SW. There's so much beauty and so much of interest.

Day 9 -

Today was May 1st, a major national holiday. Our plan was to take a scenic route to Toulouse, going through Figeac, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, and Cordes-sur-Ciel. We were hoping for nice weather and the day dawned bright and clear. We headed for Souillac where we would get on the A20 autoroute for the first 50 km. And, once more, we almost missed the turn, but caught ourselves just in time to stay on the right road. There is definitely something off with the signage there.

It was hard to find a parking place in Figeac, but we finally found one a few blocks away from Place Carnot and set out to walk around. Because of the holiday, lots of shops and businesses were shuttered and there were few people out and about. There was a carnival with rides taking up all the space in Place Carnot, but it had not opened for business yet. It was hard to get a sense of this medieval space because of it, but did notice the architectural features of several buildings. Many buildings of several stories were constructed of stone or brick at ground level, then the upper stories were half-timbered with the top story being left as an open porch.

We happened upon a crêperie, Le Sarrasin, on a little street between Place Carnot and the river. It was very small, but we were early and were welcomed in. Several tables had "reserved" cards on them, and soon two extended families arrived. They were the parents and children of the proprietress, and the children arrived laden with little bouquets of lily of the valley for their mother. It was a lovely scene and the crêpes were good.

After walking around a little more, we got back on the road. We certainly didn't see Figeac under ideal conditions given the holiday and carnival, but had enjoyed our look around. Now we set off down the D922 for Villefranche-de-Rouergue and Cordes-sur-Ciel.

This route is very scenic. Nothing spectacularly eye-popping, but just beautiful countryside. Because we had missed visiting Monpazier, a bastide town, I decided we needed to take a look at Villefranche-de-Rouergue, another bastide. There were few signs of life in this town, too, because of the holiday, but I was happy to see the classic architecture of the bastide and we spent some time walking around underneath the arcades surrounding the main square. Unfortunately, the main square is torn up with some sort of construction project, so not very picturesque at the moment.

Continuing down the D922, we were tempted to turn off several times, especially to Najac, but because of time constraints continued until our next brief stop, by the bridge over the Aveyron river in Laguépie. From this spot, you can see a ruined castle above the town. By the bridge is a display plaque about this ruin, and what was really interesting to me was that the information was in French, English, and Occitane. I wondered if there is some sort of movement to keep the old language alive since we had seen it several places on signs.

Back on D922, we continued on to Cordes-sur-Ciel, a beautiful old hilltop town where we had planned to spend some time walking around. Here, though, we encountered very congested traffic and crowds of people. Because of the holiday? Something special going on in town? Not sure, but after driving around very slowly for twenty minutes or so without seeing anywhere to park, we decided to forgo a visit and continued on toward Toulouse.

A little while later, we needed a break and coffee and decided to stop at the McDonald's in Gaillac near the A68 autoroute. It looked very nice, and although very busy, the service was fast, the coffee good, and the restrooms clean. Perfect. An interesting feature of this McD's location was the system of ordering and paying at automated kiosks which provided a receipt to show when picking up your order. Very fast and efficient.

Next door to the McDonald's was a Leclerc hypermarket and we noticed people getting gas so decided to try to refuel. Unfortunately there was no human to pay, so even though it had never worked before in a fuel pump, I inserted my US Bank Visa card with chip and it worked! (So far, I think this is the first reported occurrence of a US-issued chip/signature card working in a fuel pump in France.)

So it was on to Toulouse where, after stopping at the Ibis across from the Gare Matabiau to check in and leave our bags, we drove up a steep and tight spiral ramp to the top deck of the station's parking garage to return our car to Europcar.

Back across the street, we were happy to find our room at the Ibis to be larger than we have usually found at an Ibis. The hotel is on a busy corner, but our room was quiet, on an upper floor and looking into a courtyard. The bed was very comfortable, the lighting good, and there was a long desk area with several power points. The bathroom was large with a full-sized bathtub. At €55, it was a great bargain. Friendly, helpful front desk people too. We have stayed in Ibis hotels several times recently and all have been very satisfactory and moderately priced.

We walked up to the Place du Capitole, then wandered around some until we found the Maison du Cassoulet where we had an early dinner. We shared an Ardoise Basque entrée that included chorizo, serrano ham, and other charcuterie, then shared an order of cassoulet that was ample. We couldn't finish the cassoulet. Including a beer and two pichets of wine the total tab was €37.50.

Toulouse deserves much more than a brief look and we will certainly be back someday, probably as a starting point for visiting the Pays Basque.

Tomorrow morning we're off to Paris.

StCirq

<< I wondered if there is some sort of movement to keep the old language alive since we had seen it several places on signs.>>

Yes, there has been a movement for the past two decades. It's not Occitane, actually, but the langue d'oc (they are closely related). Children are learning it at the bournats (my neighbors' first language is the langue d'oc). There are bournats in many towns in the Périgord, including Les Eyzies, where the language and old customs are taught, and every year there is a huge festival called the Félibrée, usually at the end of July, where people dress in the old costumes and re-enact the old community get-togethers, and there are bals-dansants and communal feasts. There is always a parade and a queen is elected to be Reine de la Félibrée.

Sorry you missed Cordes-sur-la-Ciel. The upper town is beautiful, with some interesting shops and a couple of outstanding small mom-and-pop restos with amazing food. Same for Figeac.

MaineGG

StCirq - That's interesting about the attempts to preserve the old language and customs. I wish them success, but believe it will be very hard to keep young people using the language to the same extent as their parents and grandparents. Keeping old customs and traditions should be more easily done.

There's an interesting article about Occitan (I mistakenly added a final 'e' in my previous post) and its dialects -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occitan...er_of_speakers

I also found these maps interesting -
https://www.google.com/search?q=regi...w=1280&bih=685

Hope all this isn't TMI

Need to get back to the trip report.

MaineGG

Day 10 -

On the way back to the Ibis the night before, we discovered a boulangerie nearby that had some nice looking sandwiches and patisseries. This morning P was there early to get provisions for our long train ride, and some breakfast goodies to have with our Starbucks Via coffee we make sometimes when staying in hotels.

Then it was only a few minutes walk across to the station to catch the 9:05 iDTGV to Paris Montparnasse. Two years ago we took an iDTGV train from Paris to Lyon. The carriages on that train were painted with the iDTGV logo, and the interior was done in bright colors. This time, our carriage was identical to the one on the TGV train we took from Paris to Angoulême the week before, no iDTGV branding. Again, I bought these 1st class tickets for €46 each as soon as they went on sale, and when I checked later, they were considerably more. I booked this train on the iDTGV site which I like because you can pick your exact seats from an airline-type seat map.

A few days before this trip, I got an email from iDTGV offering a car service that would meet us at the platform and take us to our destination in Paris for a fixed fare. I filled in a form with the address of our destination near the Place de la République and they replied with a fare quote. I didn't book the service and ultimately we decided to just take a regular taxi which worked out fine. It turned out, though, that the taxi fare we paid was very close to the quote. Maybe the iDcab service would have worked out well.

We phoned our apartment owner as soon as we arrived and he was relieved to hear from us since he had just heard that trains into Montparnasse were running hours late due to some problems. Later we heard that mainly trains from Brittany were affected, but after experiencing two transportation delays so far, I was happy we had not been affected this time.

Our Paris apartment was a nice studio on Boulevard Jules Ferry ( http://www.vrbo.com/232791 ), near the corner of the rue du Faubourg du Temple. This apartment fully deserves all the glowing reviews on the site. If you're happy with a studio, there's really nothing not to like here. The kitchen is better equipped than many we've had in much more expensive apartments. The sofa bed was excellent with very nice bed linens. Everything was very clean and neat. The photos make it look a little dark, but it's not at all when the curtains are open. It was very quiet as it looked out on a large green space. The République Métro station is a few minutes walk away, and bus stops for several lines are nearby. There's a Lidl two doors away, a Picard just up the street, and many other stores within a couple of blocks. When we were there, the Place de la République was still completely torn up, but that project is finished now.

We spent our first afternoon and evening in Paris exploring the neighborhood, shopping for food, unpacking and doing laundry. One great feature of this apartment was a combination washer/dryer that actually worked very well, wasn't noisy, and didn't take hours. The owner left excellent directions for using it (as well as everything else in the apartment). I like the Purex 3 in 1 laundry sheets and 1/2 sheet works very well in these small machines.

It had been a long day, and after a light supper including our favorite tomato tarts from Picard, tortellini in brodo and something yummy from the patisserie, we went to bed.