elvira

I found a brief mention of this in some obscure magazine, that it contains sculptures by Robert Hebard of Merlin, Don Quixote, etc. but have found nothing/nada/rien/zip/zilch in any guidebook or website. Anybody know this place? It sounds like an off-the-wall sort of place to visit, but I'd like to know more.

Martha B

Just got back from there. I didn't forget about this question, but it took me awhile to track it down. Merlin, Don Quixote, etc., are gone. This year's theme is Egypt. The labryinth itself is carefully planted corn, with statues, and live actors playing Egyptian gods popping out of the maze. And, of course, Champollion, the local boy who deciphered the Rosetta stone. As one of the actors explained to me when he was off duty, "It's like Disneyland, but with culture and nature." Plus, at Disneyland, I'll bet the Egyptian gods don't have zoze sexy French accents. Unhappily, the whole thing closes September 5. I guess they have to harvest the corn or something. <BR>If you drive toward Gluges along the Dordogne River from the west, you absolutely can't miss it. You're on this hair-raising one and a half lane road along the cliff, and all of a sudden, there it is, spread out below you! Follow the signs to Labryinthe, and there you are.

Martha B

Elvira-- I guess the key phrase for you is "closes September 5." Too bad. It's really lots of fun. I think we'll go back, but in the morning when it's cooler. They recommend 10:30 to noon as the best time.

elvira

MarthaB, thank you so much for the help! D**n, closed September 5...is the whole labyrinth closed, or just the Egyptian hoo-ha? Geez, French people dressed like ancient Egyptians jumping out of the maze would be just the best sight in the world. Isis with heavy eyeliner, long red finger nails, blood red lips... oh wait that's what Isis looked like anyway. Not much of a character stretch. <BR>Maybe that's what makes the French so entertaining...their ability to take themselves SOOOO seriously under the most...unusual?...circumstances.

Martha B

Elvira-- Here's the deal; the Egyptian gods, on September 5, will be magically transformed into unemployed Parisian actors. The labryinth will still be around for a few more weeks, and still visible from the cliff road. It will absolutely and definitively be closed to the general public. HOWEVER, we checked this information with the owner himself, who is a very nice man who likes California because he was treated royally there by some California farmers, some of whom, by the most amazing coincidence, are old friends of my husband, and, well, what with one thing and another, it seems that some publics are more general than others, so if you still want to get in, e-mail me directly. <BR>P.S. For those members of the real GP, The same brand, Labryinthus, has labryinths in France at Gemozac, Charente-Maritime; Reignac-sur-Indre, Touraine; and Cordes-sur-Ciel, Tarn; and at Barvaux, Belgium.