A School Year in Provence: Prehistoric Paintings - Grotte de Chauvet

La Grotte Chauvet - Chauvet Cave was named after the guy that found a cave that was full of prehistoric paintings. Some of you might be familiar with the Lascaux which were discovered in 1940 in the south western region of France. The Lascaux caves have drawings that are about 17,300 years old. The Chauvet Cave was discovered in 1994 and the paintings are around 30,000-32,000 years old. Visitors do not visit the actual caves, a reproduction cave was constructed and the paintings were authentically reproduced. It seems funny to visit fake paintings but because of this the Chauvet paintings will be preserved.

picture from the museum depicting tools and technique

We learned that there were three techniques used in the cave. The first was the use of colored pigment. They used it to make palm drawings or hand outlines. The owl is an example of the second technique, scraping the wall and removing a layer of dirt/rock to reveal another layer of color. The last technique was the use of charcoal to draw on a cleaned off surface of the cave wall. Afterwards, we watched a short movie about the people that might have created the painting in the cave and we went through the self-guided museum which had interactive exhibits for all ages.

Pictures taken from the museum - Sophia using interactive drawing board

View from the waiting "holding tank" - a few minutes before our tour

Lunch was next, boy were we hungry! We stopped for lunch in Saint-Remèze at Auberge Chez Laurette. Our lunch was delicious and the company, my husband's sister and cousins, was perfect!!

My husband's cousins, Danielle and Yves, had invited all of us to come visit them in Largentière, a small village in the heart of the Ardèche region. On the way to their home, we drove through the Gorges de l'Ardèche. The views were spectacular and we were able to get a beautiful view of the Pont d'Arc in the afternoon light.

We also stopped to see some Dolmens from the neolithic era near Labeaume. Dolmens are tombs with a large flat stone placed on upright ones forming a burial mound. The earth that covered the tombs have since washed away leaving the stone formations. They are about 4000 years old! Sophia and Yves climbed down to see them and take some pictures.

On Sunday morning we took a ride to Vals-les-Bains, a natural spring town. This town reminded me so much of Saratoga Springs. There was a casino, many springs with different names, a lovely park, smelly water, and hotels where you could get a "cure"(take a bath). They say that the waters of Vals-les-Bains can help to treat diabetes, liver problems and obesity.

This geyser erupts every six hours.

It wasn't erupting while we were in the park but there was a picture of the geyser on a nearby sign! Much to Sophia's delight, there was a chocolate exposition in the Casino. The smells and samples were incredible. In one room there was a presentation of the chocolate sculptures made by students in a culinary program. They were so colorful and interesting to look at - All edible!

Our next stop was the village of the French singer/songwriter, Jean Ferrat. We stopped to see his tomb and the village of Antraigue-sur-Volane where he lived.

We returned to Largentière for lunch at, Restaurant le Loupiot, Yves and Danielle's restaurant that was closed for the day. Some regular customers saw that the doors were open and they came in for a meal. Sophia was thrilled to serve the customers. She wants to come back and work with them in the summer when it is busy.

It was sad to leave Largentière, I loved visiting with relatives but I knew that we had a few hours of driving ahead of us. I hope we return soon.

On the way home we stopped at some Roman ruins in Alba-la-Romaine. The site did not rebuild the ruins, rather they delineated the buildings and provided signs explaining the different parts of the ruins. There was a great model that explained the placement of the temples and the forum.