November 28th

28^th November Saint Cyprien and environs

Another fresh and fog bound morning but we had an itinerary that had to be followed so after breakfast we headed about 14kms north east to a grotte Hilary had rated as her number one choice from a pamphlet we had. It was called Les Grottes du Roc de Cazelle  and is billed as the cliff cave city. It is actually very well done, though the fierce cold detracted from the occasion for me, I suspect I was near hypothermic by the time we had finished the self- guided tour of the area. Because the area had been settled for so long (55,000 plus years ago (Neanderthal man)) the first part of the display was focussed on the evolution of man from homo-erectus through to homosapiens, with model skulls showing the differences between the races?  There were 32 sets made up, very well displayed in the bush, and we had a very good informative English guide/information booklet which went through the displays as well. There were displays about the food eaten, including hunting styles, the clothes worn and made from the animals, gathering of seeds, nuts, fungi etc the different animals in existence then in the area (reindeer, bears, wolves), others showing the painting done on rocks by the people from as long ago as the Upper Paleolithic Period (not the real thing, but replicated drawings and models in the act (so to speak).

There were mammoths hanging out in parts of the forest, wild boar, lions, lynx, all sorts in caves and bush, watching us walk by. After a few hundred metres and about 12 displays I guess, we entered a cave which had been used thousands of years ago, and then again in the middle ages when it was used more as a fortified village. Apparently it was virtually impregnable as the only way in was from the front, cliff face, which could be well guarded and all those nearing the area observed. The caves were about 25 metres or so at least (at a guess) above the valley floor  and the walls of course thicker and stronger than anything man made, so they made a great safe (if a little cramped and cold) dwelling for the inhabitants. Once out of that cave area the walk continued through more forest, gradually winding back down to the valley floor where there was a small farm area with a couple of cold and hungry looking black pigs (we fed them some celery we found in the vegetable garden and a few sugar lumps we had in our pockets, usually reserved for horses or donkeys, but happily consumed by the pigs), four very woolly sheep with long curved horns, a turkey, some hens, some geese and a very lonely and sad looking ferret who came running up to  the wire of his cage when we approached, looking hopeful for either food or company , neither of which we could supply.

The last part of the exhibition was the house that the most recent inhabitants of the caves dwelt in. It was inhabited by a farmer and his wife (it didn’t mention children) whose farm was nearby. They left in 1966, and the cave is preserved as it was then. One quite large room, with whitewashed walls,  not at all grand, but functional. I wouldn’t want to live there for very long at all, and certainly not in any season other than the height of summer. A few metres further on was another small cave (read cell) about 2 metres by 1.5 metres which was the spare room used by Uncle ??Tom I think it was, one of the couple’s uncle’s, when he came to stay. As I said to Di, I bet he didn’t come often!!! His bed was only about 1.45 metres long, and had a very lumpy mattress on it. There was nothing else in the room, and to get up to it (the room) he would have had to climb 4 very steep, uneven and narrow steps, very dangerous at night, especially if he’d had a wine before bed!!! Amazing to think it was in my lifetime that they were living like that, but now I think about it, there are still troglodytes in many cities in Spain and France, who I imagine don’t have many more facilities now, just different to what I would want to have as my permanent home. (Admittedly the farming couple’s house had  about ten times the space of our campervan).

Once we had finished here we went back to the campervan and sat in the car park (inside the truck), eating hot soup and fresh bread, and drinking hot cups of tea and anything else we could lay our hands on to help us warm up. It was bitterly cold outside, damp cold, with grey sky and an icy chill. Once defrosted we drove about 10 kms to our next destination, this being Di’s number one pick, the Maison ... Reignac This was another cave house, but nothing like the one we had just visited. This had been owned by "The Billy Goat" a medieval Lord basically it was a flash front on a cave in a cliff, with three internal storeys and then extra caves up higher still which were part of the property, and connected by outside stairs to the dwelling, but not really part of it. Again there was an excellent guide-book in English (though a little out of date) which took you through each room, but also gave a lot of historical information about life in those times for the lords but also their staff, and knights. Pretty hideous I gather if you weren’t one of the gentry, and even for the gentry by our standards, with sons being sent from home as very young boys so they didn’t become “soft” I guess, and the life of potential knights sounded pretty hard and cold (no motherly or fatherly love I mean).

We did a lot of our reading of the history while standing over a large not quite roaring, but very welcome open fire, in the main room. It was designed so that a natural chimney carried the smoke out of the house, and the heat managed to warm not only that room, but other walls of the servants quarters up stairs (boy they would have needed it too as their furnishings and possessions were sparse to say the least). …………………

Despite lingering by the open-fire, by the time we were ready to head on, or back towards St Cyprien and our camp site, we were all really cold again. Thankfully the heater in the truck kicked in after a few kms and so we started to thaw, but instead of stopping in a small village part way back for a coffee and afternoon tea, we went directly back to St Cyprien where we boiled the jug and had a hot cup of tea instead.

A bit later, about 4.30 I felt the need for some exercise and the desire to see the village we were staying two nights in, so I went for a wander up the hill. There was hardly any life, a tabac was open, so I got a postcard, and the tourist info centre was the only other building showing any signs of life, so I popped in there and got a city walk brochure. I walked about 30-45 minutes up hills and through narrow lanes reading about the history of the town and its buildings (when I was in the right place), before curtailing the walk and going back to the truck.

We had dinner, and later sat reading, stitching, doing the book, looking at brochures, and drinking tea and eating French sweet treats I had picked up at the patisserie, on my walk.