Périgord – Day 11 – Prehistory Museum, Font de Gaume, and Commarque
Thursday, 29-May-2025
Tags: Travel
Our plan for today was the National Prehistory Museum right in Les Eyzies and nearby Font De Gaume.
A picture of our room entrance, our room, and the view of the gardens and pool from a balcony above our rooms.
After breakfast, we walked into town and went to the National Prehistory Museum. The museum is built in an overhang shelter on the face of a cliff. It has a collection of six million objects. The collections date back to 1913, when researcher Denis Peyrony persuaded the French government to acquire the 16thcentury Château des Eyzies. The modern museum, built on the same cliff overhang, focuses on the people of the Palaeolithic era – Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons – though the entrance starts with the panels of Hominids development.
A view from the street of the Museum area with the statue of Cro-Magnon,
The first picture is a display of a Cro-Magnon man hunting a reindeer. The second is the skeleton of a 2-4 year old child found in a tomb at La Madeleine in Tursac. She was buried with numerous ornaments. The third is a replica of a relief carving of horses.
After walking through the exhibits in the museum, we went to the outside section of the museum under the cliff overhang to read some of the information panels and enjoy the view.
After walking back to our hotel and snacking on bread and cheese in front of our room, we drove to nearby Font de Gaume. Font de Gaume is one of the last Dordogne caves with polychrome paintings still open to the public. There are six tours a day, alternating between French and English, and are limited to 30 minutes and a maximum of 13 people. The slots are booked online and available 4-6 weeks ahead of time, and on April 7, we were able to book a slot at 1:30 pm for this day. The cave was discovered by Denis Peyrony, a local schoolmaster, in 1901. There are more than 200 instances of painted and engraved cave art displaying animals and mysterious nonrepresentational designs. (Unfortunately, prior to it becoming a controlled tourist attaction, prior visitors have left some graffiti here and there.)
The cave entrance and our guide, a panel showing the cave layout, and a panel showing the images in the cave. The cave was quite narrow in spots and pretty dark except for a few lights and our guide's flashlight.
Here is a photo of some of the bisons, courtesy of the National Museum of Prehistory.
After Font de Gaume, we decided to go to the last item on our Bruno list, the Château of Commarque, and thus leave our last day open to just walk around and enjoy the area.
Gérard de Commarque initially built a fortress on this strategic site in the 12th century. Other buildings were added later. As we have learned, the history of the area is full of intrigue, switching back and forth between French and English control. The site was eventually abandoned and turned to ruins. In the 1970s, descendant Hubert de Commarque came to the rescue and began restoration. The tower is now sound and can be visited, along with the ruins of the other buildings. It should be noted that this site was inhabited during prehistoric times, and a full-size drawing of a horse was discovered in a cave (not open to the public) under the castle.
Checking out the view from the top.
After our visit, we drove back to the hotel to relax. Later we walked to the Pizzeria La Milanaise on the path along the Vézère. Opting for a light meal, we had vegetable salads and wine, and then strolled the town, successfully finding some ice cream for dessert.
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Larry and Eileen Samberg
