Day 30 - Aventignan - Grottes de Gargas
Today we woke up very excited to go to the Gargas caves (Grottes de Gargas). Daniel has been wanting to go since he did a report for school back in California. Gregory had found an app where you can actually rent a car from a local person. Some kind of Airbnb for cars. That morning during breakfast they told him that they needed more documents so we were waiting to see what would happen. Renting a car was too expensive and taking the train and taxi very complicated because of the remote location of the caverns.
We decided to go to the train station to wait for the car. We took the metro into town to make the connection with another line that stops at the train station but that line was under construction. I asked a security person who told us that we could walk to the train station that it would only take us 7 minutes. Well, it was more like 20 minutes in the heat.
When we got there we waiting in the free wifi section waiting for the car. The email finally came and they told Gregory that they couldn't lend him the car because his driving license was new (he had just renewed before we left) and they needed proof of him driving for 2 years! I was very disappointed and thought we were not going to make it but Gregory kept looking for options.
We went to information to ask how much would it cost to take the train, we went to the car rental counter to ask how much would it cost to rent a car. It was just going to be too expensive so I started to look for things to do in Toulouse during the hottest hours. Suddenly, Gregory found a deal with a car rental so we went back to rent the car. I was all excited again. We did it in no time, there is no doubt that with money you can do anything easier!
We went to get our citroen C1 and in no time we were on the road to see the caves. I was the navigator, not a very good one, I may add. I just can't keep my eyes open when I get in a car! We got a little lost because I think I pushed a wrong button and we got to see a very pretty village. Which would have been fine except we had reservations for 2:00 for the cave. They only take a certain amount of people per day so I was worried. We emailed the cave people(?) that we were running late and they responded right away, rescheduling our tour for 3:00.
We swung into the parking lot and ran inside at 3:02, and were informed that we were too late. What?!? But, they would put us in the 3:30 tour. Whew! We paid and then we were told to drive up to the caves. The place is beautiful, clean, green and full of trees, it kind of reminded me a little bit of Oregon. We waited until 3:30 for our French guide to show us in. She gave the tour in French and it was really neat to be able to understand the language. Gregory was translating in the back for Daniel and Sunshine. I have no words to describe this amazing and magic place. The caves are magical and archaeologists believe they were a sacred place for our ancestors but I got goosebumps when we saw the paintings of animals and especially the paintings of the hands, close to 150 of them of all sizes, men, women, and children, all over certain walls.
The Gargas caves are located near Aventignan in the French Pyrenees. It is one of the most famous caves of the upper paleolithic in Europe. This cave has the most hand printings of all the other caves in Europe. They used the stencil form using ochre for red and manganese oxide for black. Paleontologists still don't know why they are so many handprints there. For us, it's the beginning of art but for them (they think) it was something spiritual, maybe a connection between the earth and heaven. Unfortunately, due to conservation, you can not take any pictures, not even without flash, so I don't have any pictures of us inside the caverns.
After an hour visit, we went back to the exhibit area to learn more about the caverns. There was a small room with hands-on and kid-friendly activities. I think we all were very impressed. We spent like an hour there and then another hour and a half to go back home. We had dinner at home and then, Gregory and I decided to go out for drinks. We drove our car to the metro station, parked there and took the metro. Toulouse looks very nice at night. We walked through a very crowded and animated street called Rue du Pharaon. There were so many cafes, brasseries (restaurants), and bars that we didn't know where to stop. We choose Cafe du Matin and sat outside to enjoy a nice cup of wine. Oh, I started to drink since we got to Spain and I'm loving it. I needed to relax! We walked through the streets at night and just like Cinderella, we took the last metro before midnight to get home. The kids were, of course, waiting for us. I sent everyone to bed because tomorrow we have another exciting day!
We decided to go to the train station to wait for the car. We took the metro into town to make the connection with another line that stops at the train station but that line was under construction. I asked a security person who told us that we could walk to the train station that it would only take us 7 minutes. Well, it was more like 20 minutes in the heat.
When we got there we waiting in the free wifi section waiting for the car. The email finally came and they told Gregory that they couldn't lend him the car because his driving license was new (he had just renewed before we left) and they needed proof of him driving for 2 years! I was very disappointed and thought we were not going to make it but Gregory kept looking for options.
We went to information to ask how much would it cost to take the train, we went to the car rental counter to ask how much would it cost to rent a car. It was just going to be too expensive so I started to look for things to do in Toulouse during the hottest hours. Suddenly, Gregory found a deal with a car rental so we went back to rent the car. I was all excited again. We did it in no time, there is no doubt that with money you can do anything easier!
We went to get our citroen C1 and in no time we were on the road to see the caves. I was the navigator, not a very good one, I may add. I just can't keep my eyes open when I get in a car! We got a little lost because I think I pushed a wrong button and we got to see a very pretty village. Which would have been fine except we had reservations for 2:00 for the cave. They only take a certain amount of people per day so I was worried. We emailed the cave people(?) that we were running late and they responded right away, rescheduling our tour for 3:00.
We swung into the parking lot and ran inside at 3:02, and were informed that we were too late. What?!? But, they would put us in the 3:30 tour. Whew! We paid and then we were told to drive up to the caves. The place is beautiful, clean, green and full of trees, it kind of reminded me a little bit of Oregon. We waited until 3:30 for our French guide to show us in. She gave the tour in French and it was really neat to be able to understand the language. Gregory was translating in the back for Daniel and Sunshine. I have no words to describe this amazing and magic place. The caves are magical and archaeologists believe they were a sacred place for our ancestors but I got goosebumps when we saw the paintings of animals and especially the paintings of the hands, close to 150 of them of all sizes, men, women, and children, all over certain walls.
The Gargas caves are located near Aventignan in the French Pyrenees. It is one of the most famous caves of the upper paleolithic in Europe. This cave has the most hand printings of all the other caves in Europe. They used the stencil form using ochre for red and manganese oxide for black. Paleontologists still don't know why they are so many handprints there. For us, it's the beginning of art but for them (they think) it was something spiritual, maybe a connection between the earth and heaven. Unfortunately, due to conservation, you can not take any pictures, not even without flash, so I don't have any pictures of us inside the caverns.
After an hour visit, we went back to the exhibit area to learn more about the caverns. There was a small room with hands-on and kid-friendly activities. I think we all were very impressed. We spent like an hour there and then another hour and a half to go back home. We had dinner at home and then, Gregory and I decided to go out for drinks. We drove our car to the metro station, parked there and took the metro. Toulouse looks very nice at night. We walked through a very crowded and animated street called Rue du Pharaon. There were so many cafes, brasseries (restaurants), and bars that we didn't know where to stop. We choose Cafe du Matin and sat outside to enjoy a nice cup of wine. Oh, I started to drink since we got to Spain and I'm loving it. I needed to relax! We walked through the streets at night and just like Cinderella, we took the last metro before midnight to get home. The kids were, of course, waiting for us. I sent everyone to bed because tomorrow we have another exciting day!
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| Waiting outside for our turn to go in! Notice the jackets for the cave. |
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| On our way home! |
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| Toulouse at night! |
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