Mark and Ita Go To France 2016: June 2016

Paris and Monet's Garden

Near the end of our 16-day tour through the country roads of France we returned to Paris on the same day that the Euro 2016 football ("soccer") tournaments began. As you can see, the French added a soccer ball to the Eiffel Tower!

Because of the unusual wet Springtime in France, the Seine River is swollen and tour boats are banned from operating until the water recedes sufficiently for the boats to safely travel under the many pedestrian bridges spanning the Seine.

Monet's Garden:

On Saturday, June 11th, we traveled to the town of Giverney where Monet lived and painted. They have turned the land around his home into a wonderful and colorful exhibition of gardens. There is a Japanese garden because he was influenced by Japanese art in the late 1800's. There are beautiful traditional flower-filled gardens that are awesome and inspiring!

Inside Monet's home - the paintings are not the originals, which are hanging in galleries and museums all over the world:

Lascaux Caves, Sarlat-La-Caneda and Collonges La Rouge

A lot of our touring days are filled with two to four interesting stops. This one, the day after Cahors and Rockamadour, included these three:

Lascaux Caves

In 1940, a little boy and his dog Robert were wandering around the forest of Lascaux when the boy found a small opening into a cave he had not seen before. He arrived back a few days later with a couple of his friends and they entered the cave with ropes and lights. Inside, the boys found gigantic cave paintings by Cro-Magnon man depicting horses, bulls, cows, and symbols, such as dots and dashes. The boys initially made a pact to not tell anyone but within a few days, the village and French scientists learned of the boys’ discovery. The caves (“Lascaux I) were opened to the public, but contamination from this exposure began to degrade the artwork, so the cave was blocked once again, but Lascaux II was made – an exact replica of the caves, which is opened to the public. We enjoyed our tour through Lascaux II. Soon, Lascaux III and IV will be opened, featuring a larger and more modern display of the cave paintings.

We were not allowed to take photos in Lascaux II, but we picked up a few books at the “Boutique”.

Sarlat-La-Caneda is a medieval village whose structures, buildings and homes are all nearly entirely yellow using the local yellow limestone rocks. Sarlat is also famous for its foie gras and duck confit, both of which Mark and I ate for lunch while visiting Sarlat.

One of many train trestles we've seen on the country roads of France

Collonges La Rouge is a medieval village that is made up mostly of red sandstone, quite a contrast to Sarlat! This red village is so picturesque that it inspired the creation of the “Association of the Most Beautiful Villages of France.” This area used to be more volcanic, which accounts for the red sandstone being used in Collonges La Rouge’s buildings.

Cahors and Rocamadour

Cahors

Part of the city's defenses with a couple of battlements. It took 60 years to build because there were so many delays; hence the name "Bridge of Devils."

Cahors (“cooours”) is a very nice tourist stop where we had lunch at one of their lovely outdoor cafes. The weather was warm and sunny – a nice change from our regularly cloudy and sometimes rainy days. Cahors is famous for its black wine – red wine mixed with cassis liquor, a very nice treat.

Their outdoor farmer's market

A cathedral

Another view of the same cathedral

Rocamadour

Rocamadour (“rock-a-madoor”) is a town built high into the cliff side above the Alzou River. The town is built up in three levels: the city, the chapel and the castle. The name is derived from a Saint Amadour, whose body was found inside the chapel area intact after being dead for many days. It was declared a miracle, so the area was named after him. It is now a religious destination for pilgrims coming from all over Europe.