A friend of mine in France just sent me this link to an article describing the proposed sale of the cave that is right down the lane from my house in France: http://www.news24.com/News24/World/N...465876,00.html

Anyone interested?

Sorry, I just found this fascinating, and I'm eager to know who my new neighbors will be. Seems like a huge amount of money, even considering the history of the site. I hope some millionaire businessperson doesn't move in and change the character of the village!

Can these sites be bought and sold freely, just as if they were some farm or residential lot, or isn't there some kind of protected status so they can't be ruined?

Can I have it delivered?

This particular site is owned by my neighbor, Ernest Paluzzano, who purchased it from the French government - why and how, I don't know.

I'm sure if you enter into a contract with the owner to buy the site you would be subjected to numerous conditions regarding how you would maintain the prehistoric site, how you would show it off to prospective visitors, how you would market it, etc. If you're spending more than a million dollars on a prehistoric site in France, I would guess you are prepared to spend the requisite money to market it properly.

Personally, I am interested to find out if the asking price is really reasonable, and if not if Nestou (my neighbor) would sell it to me or someone else for a LOT less with the condition that I give him some of the proceeds of the visitors' costs. I think the price is vastly inflated, personally, although I'll admit that I have no experience with the price of prehistric caves. I guess we'll have to see who turns up to bid on the grotte to see what average prices are.

The town (or hamlet, whatever its status is) should buy it in order to be able to control the impact that the marketing and use of the site will have on the local way of life.

Assuming that the town can raise 1 million dollars.

True, Ira. And I guess that's not going to happen in a tiny hamlet. Someone who'd pay that much, I guess, might possibly be SO wealthy that he can afford the luxury of buying it just for the satisfaction of having it and to preserve for the future. Or, more likely, it would probably be someone who plans to make big money out of it, and that would probably radically change life in the area.