Les Eyzies, Rouffignac, Beynac and the Dordogne River

As I had mentioned while we were in Sarlat we took a few excursions to see the local castles and the prehistoric caves.  Unfortunately we were not permitted to take pictures inside the castles or the caves.  The reason being the delicate condition of a lot of the paintings  in the caves and the decor of the castles with their many tapestries.

In the town of Les Eyzies we were able to visit a museum that displayed some really extraordinary displays of prehistoric matter and fossils.  The village itself was also interesting as it was built under the over hang of the cliffs.  At the time this was considered a good means of protection from attack as they only had to defend three sides.

View from the museum in Les Eyzies

Sitting in the overhang above the village

We visited some extraordinary caves but my favourite were the ones at Rouffignac.

Entering the caves

Waiting to go down the long path to get on board a small skiff that paddled us across an underground lake to see the cave drawings on the opposite side.  The caves ran for miles underground and we only saw a very small area of them but we were underground for close to three hours.

The following day we visited a castle in the town of Beynac on the Dordogne River.  The castle was very well preserved and we were readily able to see how the people lived in the period.  They had many ancient weapons on display some were very large such as catapults and large crossbows.

The Castle at Beynac

Looking down from the lowest wall of the castle

The town of Beynac looking up to cliffs where the castle sat.

The center of Beynac

The following day we took as scenic drive along the Dordogne River and visited a few more castles and gardens after which we boarded a small boat for a river cruise.

Small boat on the River Cruise



Village on the Dordogne River

View of the Dordogne River from a look out we stopped at on the way out of the Valley.

River cruise boats