France and England on $98 a Day - Itinerary

Metro in Paris

Because David and I are heading this spring to some places off the usual tourist track, we've relied even more than usual on the Internet. We had to find mass transit to get to and from London and small towns in France with car rental offices. While we rely on public transportation in big cities, we are traveling much of the countryside in France where train and bus service is limited. We'll need a car.

Since we've always wanted to take the Eurostar which travels under the English Channel, we'll take that train to Paris after our overnight flight to London. It's possible to buy a ticket 120 days in advance, and the earlier the purchase the more the ticket is discounted. Buying our Eurostar tickets months in advance meant we saved 50% off the usual price!

We didn't want to rent a car in Paris and have to deal with traffic snarls, so we next had to find a small French town that was easily accessible from Paris. Vernon seemed to be the answer. It's only 45 minutes from Paris, easily reached by train, and is the gateway to Giverny where Monet's house and gardens are located. Starting our trip in such lush, inspirational surroundings will be an auspicious beginning we hope.

Driving the car to Brittany should be easy. After touring Giverny, we're heading to Dinan, one of the best preserved and still functioning medieval cities in France. Our rental house is within walking distance of the ancient town so we plan to park the car and explore on foot. We'll also take in as much of Brittany as we can on daily drives.

We follow that town with a trip to the countryside in Normandy. Our gite near Picauville and St. Mere Eglise will put David in the center of the battle area he longs to see. 

Where Guidebooks Fear to Tread

Michelin's map of Brittany

Actually, guidebooks do exist about a couple of the lesser known places on David's and my itinerary this spring, but we had to special order them. While several books about European countries crowd the library shelves, there were none about the Brittany and Normandy areas of France. 

Still, we were undeterred. I've wanted to see Brittany ever since I read Mark Greenside's intriguing book, I'll Never Be French. When I wasn't laughing out loud about his attempts to understand French culture, I was delighted by his description of an area that seemed to jut away from France like some rogue appendage, 150 miles out to sea. A place where rivers meander aimlessly but, nevertheless, charmingly, down to harbors clustered with sailboats.  Not only is the whole of Brittany dotted with cobblestoned old cities and a few castles while a rugged coastline jogs along its perimeter, but it's inhabited by independent folks of Celtic and French descent. Add culinary treats like crepes and galettes (made from buckwheat), artisanal cheeses, and special buttery cakes called kouign amann, and you can see why I absolutely have to see this part of France.

David's goals are more noble. He's wanted to visit the Normandy battlefields since his dad first told him about World War II. He wants to walk every battle site, linger at the museums, and see the town where The Longest Day parachutists were shot as they floated down from the sky. We've scheduled four nights near Picauville, but it may not be long enough for him.

France on $70 a Day – Font de Gaume Cave

This was written in the Dordogne, but, because Internet cafes were difficult to find, it was posted from California.

Last night we took chairs outside to study the sky. It was an especially clear night with little light from the new moon. When we both saw the shooting star, we knew it was a good luck sign commemorating our 21-month anniversary. (Okay, so maybe nobody else would have thought so, but, then, it was our shooting star so we still stand by our interpretation!)

This morning we got ready for our second trip back in time. We had tickets, purchased from the Tourist Bureau in Sarlat three days ago, to the Font de Gaume cave. It is necessary to purchase tickets in advance because only 180 visitors are allowed per day. Even with this limitation, our English-speaking guide hinted that it might close, too, eventually, if the cave develops the same problems that closed Lascaux.



Knowing this cave is the only one of its type (the others are Lascaux in Montignac, France, and Altimira in northern Spain) still open to the public adds a certain excitement to the visit. And, even though the Lascaux II reproduction—called the Sistine Chapel of Caves—may have been more vivid, we were looking at the actual drawings made by man over 19,000 years ago.

Our guide was particularly reverential in the cave, implying, as had the Lascaux guide, that the cave drawings probably had a spiritual purpose for Cro-Magnons. At one point, he stood silently to allow us the opportunity to absorb the knowledge that we were staring at drawings our ancestors had made thousands of years ago. What compelled these people to communicate will always remain a mystery, I suppose, but I will never forget the connection I felt to them that day in the dark cave.

Wanting to know still more about our ancestors, David and I headed to the Musee National de Prehistoire just up the road a mile or so in Les Eyzies. This lovely and unusual museum, seemingly hewn from the cliff itself, traces the history of mankind's development over the past 400,000 years. There are English information sheets in every section to help you understand the many displays.



As we studied the rocks, called flakes, that early man used for cutting and for weapons, I was struck by this comment from the information sheet:

What distinguishes man is not walking on two feet (chickens do, too) but
the refusal to accept biological limitations. Man uses tools to shape his
existence and maneuver the world's resources for his uses......tools
indicate that there was, consciously or not, a refusal to accept the place
in nature determined by biology: an evolved primitive primate transforms
materials to his needs and endows it, through cleverness, with a power
inaccessible to his own body.




We looked at as many displays as we could before hunger drove us back to the car for our ham and cheese croissant sandwiches. After finishing lunch on a pleasant park bench, we explored Les Eyzies, a one-street tourist town, in hopes of finding a memento of this special day.

We discovered a store, owned by an archaeologist, that sold remarkable, to us at least, fossilized creatures trapped in rocks millions of years ago for reasonable prices. David bought a sea-oursin (looks like a sand dollar) which is 165 million years old, and I got an orthoceras (ancestor of the cuttlefish) which is 380 million years old.

With much to think about, we let our car meander through the countryside to Le Bugue, a pleasant but not remarkable town, and then headed back to our home in the countryside.

Practicalities -
Because only 180 visitors are allowed to visit Font de Gaume daily, it is necessary to make reservations in advance. Purchase your tickets from a tourist bureau in the area, or before you go by telephone (33-05) 53.06.86.00 or by fax, (33-05) 53.35.26.18. The ticket costs 7.50 euros and entitles you to a 1.50 euro discount (3.50 instead of 5 euros) at the nearby Musee National de Prehistoire.

Note that there is a steep climb to reach the cave that some visitors might find too difficult. It might be wise to check the ascent before you make reservations because no refunds are given. Also, cyclists should note that bike shoes are not allowed in the cave.

We were not allowed to take photos inside the cave, but this site displays many and provides more information.
http://www.donsmaps.com/fontdegaume.html

France on $70 a Day – Lascaux Cave II and Forte de Reignac

This was written in the Dordogne, but, because Internet cafes were difficult to find, it was posted from California.

We slept so well that it was almost 8:00 before we got up, and then we had to scurry to reach the cave site before the office ran out of tickets. Our most important reason for visiting this valley of prehistory was to study what we could of Cro-Magnon man, and our first stop would be, perhaps, the most famous cave, Lascaux II.

We drove to Montignac where we easily found free parking and a short walk to the ticket office. The clerk assured us we'd be able to get to the 11:45 tour because the caves were only a five-minute drive away. She was right.

We joined the small group of fifteen or so and were led into the cave reproduction by our English-speaking guide. She explained that the caves were discovered in September, 1940, by some fourteen-year-old boys. When they rescued the dog, Robot, that had fallen down a hole, they stumbled upon the cave. The boys' vow to keep the cave a secret lasted all of a few days (They were fourteen-year-olds after all.), and soon archaeologists and scientists were studying these amazing 16,000 year old drawings.

The cave opened to the public in 1948 but was closed in 1963. Visitors' shoes were tracking in contaminants, and the breath of so many guests was causing damage to the paintings. In the mid-70s, though, when it was decided that a re-creation of the caves could be made available to the public, work began on Lascaux II.

The caves were painstakingly reproduced using resin and modern materials, and then one artist labored six years to create the drawings and etchings. The artist discovered the methods used by Cro-Magnon painters and employed them herself in the re-creation. One technique involved putting the pigment material in her mouth to mix with saliva and then blowing the result on the cave wall. Obviously, she was dedicated to her craft.

As we stood in Lascaux II, which surely is every bit as fascinating as the actual cave, our guide explained that Cro-Magnon man lived outside in the forest and used the cave walls for his art. Scaffolding must have been used because the drawings are high up on the walls, with light provided by primitive animal-fat “candles.” It is assumed, because of certain variances in style, that five artists created the drawings and signs that depict bison and the almost-extinct oryx. In the Lascaux cave, there is only one drawing of a human figure and no depictions of the deer that was hunted for food. No one knows why the artists chose the subjects they did for their drawings, but our guide hinted that there must have been a spiritual reason.

After leaving the cave, we blinked outside in the sunlight as we thanked our guide and gave her a 2 euro tip. Much as we'd loved seeing Lascaux II, we were anticipating our drive down the sinuous D 706 and whatever surprises it might hold for us.

We ate our picnic lunch on the grounds of a castle—there seems to be a castle every few miles in the Dordogne—then drove on until we reached the Maison Forte de Reignac.



This unusual castle, built high up on the cliff under an escarpment, has been home to man for 20,000 years. The brochure says it is, “...the only monument in France of the 'Chateau Falaise' type totally intact and preserved in exceptional condition, with period furnishings throughout.” It was not open to the public until 2006, so David and I felt almost like pioneers as we climbed the hill to reach the entrance.



The View from the Upper Floors

The entire back of the mansion is a cliff, of course, with walls and floors added to the front to comprise the mansion built during Louis XIV's time. We saw dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and even a tiny chapel and a dungeon. The period furniture was fascinating, and I was particularly intrigued by the huge chair, beside the lady of the house's bed, that contained the chamberpot. She evidently had one of the first en suite bathrooms!


The En Suite Bathroom

After leaving the mansion, we toured the exhibition space next door which housed items of torture from the Middle Ages to today. This traveling exhibition, which has been shown in Mexico, San Francisco, Tokyo, Madrid, and Florence, contains authentic instruments of torture and execution. The aim of the presentation is to make people aware of the use of torture; judging by David's and my horrified response, the presentation certainly succeeded.

When we go outside tonight, I hope we'll forget the worst man can do with torture devices, and think, instead, of the beauty he can create with cave paintings. Cro-Magnon artists don't have much in common with David and me, but I'll bet we both looked at the same stars. That's what I want to remember tonight.

Practicalities-

For a thorough explanation of Lascaux, see http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/00.xml
Tickets must be purchased in the village of Montignac (not at the tourist bureau but close by), 8.50 euros, and the cave is a short drive away.

For a brief explanation of Maison Fort de Reignac, see
http://scenicdordogne.com/Forte_de_Reignac__g67.htmlTickets were 6.50.