After our busy and tiring days on the river, we’ve had a more relaxing day today. It’s been partly spent preparing Bertie to move on, and partly spent visiting the Grotte Chauvet 2 to see the 36,000-year old artwork.
The Grotte Chauvet 2 cave is the world’s largest replica of a cave and is decorated in prehistoric artwork. The original cave was discovered near Pont d’Arc in 1994 by 3 cavers and has since been locked up to the public to preserve it. We had a guided tour, which lead us through the cave’s stalactites and stalagmites, past the floor covered in replica bones of animals such as huge cave bears. The walls were covered in over 1000 engravings and drawings made by many artists using different materials and methods. It was fascinating… horses, lions, rhinos, and even an owl. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take photos.
We also visited a gallery that explained how the prehistoric artists would have lived and the animals they’d have encountered, and watched a fascinating 360 degree sound and light show.
Now it was time for chores. On the way back to the campsite we went to the supermarket to top up supplies, emptied the waste water tank and filled up with fresh water. This was a bit of a palaver because someone in a huge motorhome was having technical issues and was stuck in the first service bay we tried so we had to use a smaller one at the opposite end of the campsite. Sadly, at some point today, Bertie’s been injured, probably by reversing into a pollarded tree. We didn’t even notice it happen 😦
After lunch, we finished packing away the packrafting kit, and the washing that we’d done before we went out. Then I edited the photos and wrote the blog, and found a way to access the first match of the rugby World Cup for John. I had to open an account for a French iplayer and mess with cookies and ad blockers. He was grateful later, when he watched France beat New Zealand though. Then we showered and went out for the dinner in the campsite restaurant that we were meant to have to celebrate the end of our gorge adventure yesterday, but which I felt too rough for. All in all, it was a busy but quite relaxing day and I managed not to get heat exhaustion!
PS: updated with a some photos from Grotte Chauvet 2, which they kindly supplied 🙂
Ramblings 
Dont you hate it when they won’t let you take photos? I must admit I find that really frustrating nowadays. However, it did still look like an exciting and interesting visit from the photos you were sharing.
It really looks like you’re having a great time in France.
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It does seem odd that we couldn’t take photos when the cave was a replica. I suspect it just helps them with crowd control… and souvenir sales!
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Thats possible. I know there’s a museum in Edinburgh that won’t let us take photographs. But I contacted their parent company about something else and they’re going to give me some photos I can use
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Ouch for Bertie. Seriously?
Yes we were delighted France beat NZ. J (Irish) listened to Ireland trounce Romania whilst I was driving, giving me score updates.
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