Prehistoric France

France has more than its fair share of prehistoric monuments – although in truth it is the north around Carnac (Brittany) that has the greatest concentration of menhirs and dolmen.

But the south has its occasional treasures as well. in addition to the sprinkling of standing stones found in many parts of France there are a few specific highlights:

Lascaux caves and the Vezere valley

The Vezere River runs through the Dordogne department to meet the Dordogne River. The Vezere valley has been occupied since prehistoric times, and has one of the greatest concentrations of cave paintings in the world – typically dating back15,000 years.

The most famous of these is the Lascaux caves but there are many other cave systems nearby that also have extraordinary paintings and are well worth visiting. the whole Vezere valley has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site because of these prehistoric paintings and artefacts.

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Cingle de Tremolat

The Dordogne region is well known for its scenery, its castles and its beautiful medieval villages, and rightly so.

There are many places where you are close to the Dordogne river, and plenty of opportunities to canoe along with the flow, passed villages and castles. There are also a couple of places where you can admire the view from high above the river.

One such place is Tremolat – the Cingle de Tremolat is a large curve in the river where the river follows a giant meander, with the two sides of the loop almost close enough to join up.

You can’t see from this picture (which shows perhaps one third of the scene) because it can only show one part of the loop, but from a vantage point high above the river you can see the entire circle formed by the river.

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