June 14 – The Grotte de Rouffogmac and the Gouffre de Proumeyssac

A Grotte is a cave and a Gouffre is a chasm.  And we are hitting both today. 

The Grotte de Rouffogmac has many neolithic cave paintings and engravings as well as many cave bear nests.  There are over 250 cave paintings and engravings in the cave.  For the cave tours the guests take a small train through the cave.  Both the paintings/engravings and nests were far into the interior of the cave. 

There were mammoths, bison, horses, ibex and wooly rhinoceros.  By far, most were mammoths with over 150. 

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed. But we both agreed that it was a fascinating and informative tour and one of our favorite cave visits.

After lunch our next stop was the Gouffre de Proumeyssac.  This was so different.  This is the largest developed cave in Périgord and contains a magnificent, large room called the Crystal Cathedral.  There are two ways to enter…by walking and by being lowered through the original opening via an iron basket.  The original explorers used such devices to enter the cave.  We opted for the basket. 

As the basket cleared the hole we could see the entire cavity that is called the Crystal Cathedral.  It was gorgeous.  We were held there suspended for a bit while they did a light and sound show.  Then we were lowered all the way to the floor.  There were turquoise pools at the bottom, adding to the beauty of the place.  There were thousands of stalactites and stalagmites, looking like massive organs and crystals.  And there was lots of leaking water falling to the bottom. 

There was a large number of pottery type objects beneath the drippiest formation.  The objects are left there for about 10 months where they bet a build up a layer of the calcium carbonate from the water.  Then the objects are sold in the souvenir shop.  We checked them out in the shop…beautiful soft cream color that sparkled. 

We walked up some stairs for more views and then through a very narrow and low tunnel to see more formations.  The walk out turned out to be relatively easy. 

It was an interesting day but, unfortunately, very few photos. 

We had ice cream for an early birthday dinner for Mary.