Fortunately, France is not on Spanish time. There were a couple of cafes across the street from the station selling fresh coffee and just-baked croissants. And fortunately for Trout, the train station vending machines had his new favorite, Schweppes Agrum, so neither of us minded the wait to get on the train for Sarlat.
When I originally planned the itinerary, this DB route seemed to be the fastest and best.
But when I made the reservations, they routed us this way. I assumed the schedule had changed since I did my research in August and the timing for arrival in Sarlat was roughly the same, so this seemed fine and maybe a bit more interesting that the other route.
We enjoyed the scenery along the way and loved seeing cows everywhere. After we got to Sarlat, we joked about them with people we met, saying the light colored ones were for milk, the more yellow ones gave butter and the darker ones provided cheese. We thought it was a cute joke about the famous limousin cattle of the Dordogne. It's a very old breed and restaurants listed higher prices for limousin meat dishes. The cave drawings in this area of France feature cattle that look a lot like today's limousins.
People didn't get the joke. I didn't know why until I pulled these pictures for this blog entry. (The train was going too fast to snap them myself.) The darker cows are probably the limousins. The lighter colored ones are a breed called Blondes of Aquitaine. No wonder people were puzzled and looked at us funny.
We arrived at Le Buisson, a very small village where we were supposed to change trains for Sarlat. We were late and we had a layover because the train we were supposed to get on was later. If you need to kill time in France, there's always someplace good to eat -- even the only place close to the train station. Lunch was fine, but we were still there at the time we were supposed to arrive in Sarlat and our B&B owners had arranged for us to be picked up at the train station. So I called them and told them where we were and what was happening and that we would call when we finally arrived.
We went back over to the train station, read the board and started to walk across to the track to get the train. This is Trout at the door.
Then we learned that the train was not going past Le Buisson because of track issues between there and Sarlat. Apparently, it was late because of the same thing coming from Bordeaux. The SCNF provided bus transportation for all of us on to Sarlat. We stopped at all the train stations along the way and it was fun to go on the narrow roads through the little towns.
The owners were fantastic. They even washed our clothes for us. We learned a lot about living in France from them and why they moved from England. Of major interest to us were the health benefits which everyone gets. He mentioned a friend who has to go to another town for dialysis 3 times a week. Transportation is provided for free each direction and the trip each way is about an hour. Needless to say, the care is also free.
One of the advantages of having Philippe guide us around was that he was able to get us advance tickets to the only English language tour on the day we would be in the area. So we were two of the 13 on that tour. He waited for us outside.
Access to the cave entrance is pretty high up the hill. I took this picture on the way back down the path.
This is another shot showing how sheltering these cliffs are. Philippe said the area is very similar to the way it was when the paintings were done 17,000 years ago, but it is believed that it was about 5 degrees colder in the area then than now.
Another great advantage to having a local tour guide is that he was able to suggest a recently open site that was not touted anywhere else I looked in planning to visit the area. It is the Maison Forte de Reignac. You can click on the British flag to get an English version of the website. To really enjoy the website, click on Visit and then on the lights in the windows. You'll see many more pictures than I have here.
They provide an English guidebook and we were allowed to take all the pictures we wanted. This is Trout in the room we'd call a dining room, but it was the major room of the house.
There's a "sink" here next to the fireplace to wash up before eating.
This is a detail of the floor in front of the fireplace.
These slots on the back wall of the room look into the back of the cave the house is built into. The guidebook said they think that they were used for defense before the entire building was finished, before things were buttoned up so that no one could get around behind the building and into the back of the cave.
This is an arrow slot out the front of the building.
These were probably servants or young boy's quarters. You can see that the ceiling and back wall of the cave forms part of the ceiling and back wall of this room.
This is a natural chimney hole in front of the fireplace in the living room or Grand Salon on the top floor.
This is from the top of a central stairway that goes outside and all the way up into the rock above.
This is a view of a bell that is the kind that hung here to be used to alert people to potential attackers.
This is that chimney hole from the top. Even 600 years ago, they put log beams like this above it to prevent people from falling down into the room.
We didn't climb all the way up to the top of the cliff. This is what we saw from the top of the living area. That's a corn field. More about the acres and acres of corn we saw growing in France later.
This is looking the other direction from the same viewpoint.
This is a sink in the kitchen.
These are more pictures of the kitchen. I always love these kitchens. They seem so efficient to me for their time.
This is the well outside.
On our way to Lascaux, we had time to drive by another outcropping that was lived under and in from 55,000 years ago until it was abandoned in 1588, La Roque Saint Christophe. Once again, click on the British flag to read the text in English and be sure to click on History to learn more about the site over the ages.
Holes like this were drilled into the rock wall, beams were shoved into them and buildings were constructed using the beams for floor and roof supports.
The caves in this wall were shallow, but this picture shows a rebuilt pulley system created to bring stuff up from the ground.
This door goes right into a wall built into the side of a cave. Many of the terraces and caves were walled up like this to create dwellings and indeed an entire village.
Why did they go to all this trouble? 
And the stream we crossed to get to it.
This was another bridge we crossed along the way.
Here are Trout and Philippe talking along the stream.
Philippe got us home right about on time. We followed our usualy old folks pattern of resting in our room until time for dinner and then we walked the other direction to the Auberge de Mirandol. I couldn't get the English version to work, but the French is fine.
After dinner we walked all around downtown. It was lovely.
This gas lamp has a mantle similar to those used in Coleman lanterns. Most of the ones we saw were like that.
But I did see one with a flame to shoot.
Only a few brave souls were still sitting outside in the cold.
This was the view from our room that night.
And here it is the next morning with the market on the other side.
It's so nice to have a camera with a 12x optical zoom...
One final note. I don't think we stayed in more than 5 places the whole trip where we did not have a double flush toilet, and most were like this with the tank in the wall and big "handles" to push. Designs like this made it easy to figure out which one to use for which job.
Then we learned that the train was not going past Le Buisson because of track issues between there and Sarlat. Apparently, it was late because of the same thing coming from Bordeaux. The SCNF provided bus transportation for all of us on to Sarlat. We stopped at all the train stations along the way and it was fun to go on the narrow roads through the little towns.We got to the train station in Sarlat and called our B&B owner. He came and picked us up in his right hand drive car. He's a Brit. The place we stayed is called Les Cordeliers. We had British/French breakfasts both mornings we were there and it was in a great location on a square next to the market.
If you go to the link, you can see some good pictures of the rooms and of the town. But you won't see our room. Here's Trout in it. He only hit his head on the cross beam once while we were there. The building was originally a granary. We were on the top floor facing the square.
The owners were fantastic. They even washed our clothes for us. We learned a lot about living in France from them and why they moved from England. Of major interest to us were the health benefits which everyone gets. He mentioned a friend who has to go to another town for dialysis 3 times a week. Transportation is provided for free each direction and the trip each way is about an hour. Needless to say, the care is also free.Also of interest was how retirement income is calculated. If we understood correctly, everyone gets about 2/3 - 3/4 of their averaged income over the last five years they worked. That's similar to what public employees get in this country. So it's to your benefit to do well in your business the last five years before you retire.
I probably mentioned in earlier entries that France has a very different philosophy about the responsibilites of government vs. those of religious organizations. First and foremost it's a secular state. The French believe that government's primary purpose is to make life better for the people. They also believe that religion is about faith and providing for people's spiritual needs. It is not about providing for people's basic needs.
On a lighter note, our B&B owner said that Brits joke that France's slogan of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity from the Revolution now includes Radioactivity since most of its power is provided by nuclear power plants.
We also learned a couple of new acronyms: SKIers are retirees who are Spending Kids Inheritance. KIPPERS are Kids in Parents Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings.
We arrived so late that we were really tired, so we settled into the room, rested and went out to dinner just a few blocks from the B&B. We went to Le Bistro de l'Octroi. Go to its website to get a good idea of French style and food for this area. Under Le Restaurant you will find photos and links to La Carte (the menu of entrees and plats) and Les Menus (fixed price meals with selections among entrees, plats and desserts). Note that in France, an entree is an appetizer and a plat is the main course.
We walked back to the room and settled in for the night. The next morning we had a tasty breakfast and our tour guide, Philippe, picked us up for a great day of seeing the caves and the countryside in the area. It was pricey, but I corresponded with him before we left and he planned the day for us, including getting some tickets that are very hard to get.
Our first stop was Font de Gaume. It is one of the very few caves you can still go inside. They limit the number of visitors to 200 per day and only 13 at a time. You can take nothing inside, no cameras, no purses, no backpacks, etc. You put them in a locked cave entrance to the left of the picture below.
The limitations are to try to prevent the damage people do to the walls where the images are. The artists actually laid on their sides or backs to do the painting and carving. The cave was made accessible many years ago by digging out the floor so that people could walk. It is constantly provided with fresh air and monitored to make sure everything is okay inside for the people who visit and the priceless art work they see.
The mat in this entrance is to help keep people from bringing fungus and debris into the cave.
One of the advantages of having Philippe guide us around was that he was able to get us advance tickets to the only English language tour on the day we would be in the area. So we were two of the 13 on that tour. He waited for us outside.We were not able to take pictures, but this bison is from the Ministry of Culture.
This rock outcroppings on the way to the cave is typical of those all around the Dordogne Valley.
Access to the cave entrance is pretty high up the hill. I took this picture on the way back down the path.
This is another shot showing how sheltering these cliffs are. Philippe said the area is very similar to the way it was when the paintings were done 17,000 years ago, but it is believed that it was about 5 degrees colder in the area then than now.
Another great advantage to having a local tour guide is that he was able to suggest a recently open site that was not touted anywhere else I looked in planning to visit the area. It is the Maison Forte de Reignac. You can click on the British flag to get an English version of the website. To really enjoy the website, click on Visit and then on the lights in the windows. You'll see many more pictures than I have here.I loved this place. It's a house/castle/fort built right into the side of the cliffs in the 14th century.
They provide an English guidebook and we were allowed to take all the pictures we wanted. This is Trout in the room we'd call a dining room, but it was the major room of the house.
There's a "sink" here next to the fireplace to wash up before eating.
This is a detail of the floor in front of the fireplace.
These slots on the back wall of the room look into the back of the cave the house is built into. The guidebook said they think that they were used for defense before the entire building was finished, before things were buttoned up so that no one could get around behind the building and into the back of the cave.
This is an arrow slot out the front of the building.
These were probably servants or young boy's quarters. You can see that the ceiling and back wall of the cave forms part of the ceiling and back wall of this room.
This is a natural chimney hole in front of the fireplace in the living room or Grand Salon on the top floor.
This is from the top of a central stairway that goes outside and all the way up into the rock above.
This is a view of a bell that is the kind that hung here to be used to alert people to potential attackers.
This is that chimney hole from the top. Even 600 years ago, they put log beams like this above it to prevent people from falling down into the room.
We didn't climb all the way up to the top of the cliff. This is what we saw from the top of the living area. That's a corn field. More about the acres and acres of corn we saw growing in France later.
This is looking the other direction from the same viewpoint.
This is a sink in the kitchen.
These are more pictures of the kitchen. I always love these kitchens. They seem so efficient to me for their time.
This is the well outside.
On our way to Lascaux, we had time to drive by another outcropping that was lived under and in from 55,000 years ago until it was abandoned in 1588, La Roque Saint Christophe. Once again, click on the British flag to read the text in English and be sure to click on History to learn more about the site over the ages.
Holes like this were drilled into the rock wall, beams were shoved into them and buildings were constructed using the beams for floor and roof supports.
The caves in this wall were shallow, but this picture shows a rebuilt pulley system created to bring stuff up from the ground.
This door goes right into a wall built into the side of a cave. Many of the terraces and caves were walled up like this to create dwellings and indeed an entire village.
Why did they go to all this trouble? Two reasons.
1. The area is riddled with streams feeding the Dordogne River. The Vezere is a stone's throw from this wall. Flooding was a constant problem, so they were smart enough to build higher than at ground level. The access also allowed people to have a place to go during floods.
2. Those nasty Vikings. They just wouldn't leave anyone alone. Being able to get up high to see them coming or fight them when they got there was a real advantage.
I have no pictures from the Lascaux cave area, the major reason we went to Sarlat. However, if you want to explore it on your own, use the Minstry of Culture's wonderful website. It's similar to those already linked for other sites, and takes you right through the cave. If you want to see it as if you were walking through, click on "Visite de la grotte."
If you want to stop the movement and see something specific, click on the "explorer" box floating in the moving image. That stops the movement and allows you to pan around the "panneau" to see things better. Click on "Retour a la grotte" to go back to the moving image. You can also click on "En savoir" to stop the action. Click it again to read a description of the paintings, in French, of course.
Whether you're moving through the passages or seeing still shots, there is a map of the cave to the right bottom of the screen showing where you are in the cave.
One final thing that isn't obvious is that there is a white triangle on the left. Click on that to see a list of what's available to view.
We visited all you can visit in person, Lascaux II, which is a faithful reproduction of the original. It was built because people were causing so much damage to the paintings. The Wikipedia article has lots of good information about that.
Philippe drove us through the countryside on back to our hotel in Sarlat. We learned a lot from him along the way. Remember that corn in the field below Reignac? The French do not eat corn. They consider it to be food for animals. In this part of France those animals would primarily be geese and ducks. This is the major area where they are force-fed the last 2 weeks of their lives so as to create foie-gras.
Common since the Egyptians did it in 2500 BC and a French delicacy, the process for making the duck or goose liver fat by force feeding is highly controversial today, although not so much in France. Be sure to go to the Wikipedia link for information on this process and its history.
I didn't have any foie-gras while we were here, but Trout did. I have no problem with the process (sorry PETA), but I just don't like the taste or texture.
This was a little town we drove through.
And the stream we crossed to get to it.
This was another bridge we crossed along the way.
Here are Trout and Philippe talking along the stream.
Philippe got us home right about on time. We followed our usualy old folks pattern of resting in our room until time for dinner and then we walked the other direction to the Auberge de Mirandol. I couldn't get the English version to work, but the French is fine.Sarlat is the only town in France that still has most of its historic area lit with gas lamps. This is the Mirandol. It was cold so we ate inside.
After dinner we walked all around downtown. It was lovely.
This gas lamp has a mantle similar to those used in Coleman lanterns. Most of the ones we saw were like that.
But I did see one with a flame to shoot.
Only a few brave souls were still sitting outside in the cold.
This was the view from our room that night.
And here it is the next morning with the market on the other side.
It's so nice to have a camera with a 12x optical zoom...
One final note. I don't think we stayed in more than 5 places the whole trip where we did not have a double flush toilet, and most were like this with the tank in the wall and big "handles" to push. Designs like this made it easy to figure out which one to use for which job.
After two nights and a full day in Sarlat, we headed for Bayeux and the Normandy Beaches on Saturday, October 10th. The Dordogne Valley was beautiful and I'm sure there's a reason why people have lived there for 55,000 years. It's very sheltering, but I felt somewhat claustrophobic driving through those areas where the trees went over the road and you couldn't see very far. I like to think that may be another reason why people lived in the caves high up on the cliffs or high on the sides of the hills.
