#1 B&B in Les Eyzies de Tayac and Dordogne

November 18, 2007

B&B Ferme de Tayac. The most loved and talked about B&B in Les Eyzies de Tayac. Ferme de Tayac, a beautiful 12th century former farmhouse / monastery situated next to St. Martin, the fortified church of the lovely peaceful village Tayac, and 1km from Les Eyzies known as the “Prehistoric Capital” of the world.
For hundreds of years Ferme de Tayac was worked by the Monks, and with all of it’s authentic buildings,ruins, rooms carved into the rock, meter thick fortified walls and original oak beam construction, it’s no wonder that Ferme de Tayac is a much loved and talked about B&B.
The bedrooms at “Ferme de Tayac” are former Monks quarters, all with lovely peaceful views of the valley and the many Prehistoric dwellings in the cliffs rock face.
The Vezere valley in the “Black Perigord”,where Ferme de Tayac is situated is known to be the most beautiful region of France,and with more than 250 UNESCO sites, has earned title of being the Prehistoric Capital of the World.
B&B Ferme de Tayac is the ideal place to stay whilst exploring and enjoying everything this amazingly beautiful area has to offer. All the main attractions (and there are LOTS of them) are within 20 minutes from Ferme de Tayac, some are even in walking distance, and one of them is Ferme de Tayac.

Visit the official Ferme de Tayac web site : www.fermedetayac.com

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Font de Gaume

November 18, 2007

Located near Les Eyzies, on the Sarlat road, Font-de-Gaume Cave is a showpiece of Magdalenian engravings and paintings from around 14 000 BC. The flints (chisels, scrapers, blades) and other things found in the cave during the excavations testify to a continual occupation since the Mousterian age, or the age of the Neandertals.

Famous bison Font de Game Discovered in 1901 by D. Peyrony, the Cave, 130 m long, contains about 250 paintings. The visitor can only see 30 of them, the most beautiful ones and the best preserved. After 60 m underground, the “Rubicon” is the beginning of the decorated part of the cave, with red dots on the left wall. These caves were not used as dwellings, they were shrines, according to A. Leroi-GourhanThe Grotte de Font-de-Gaume is famous for its cave paintings from the Magdalénien period. It is entrance is 20 m above the valley floor of the Beune valley, at the lower edege of a huge limestone rock.

There are many polychrome paintings and some engravings. The 240 figures show 80 bisons, which are the dominant motive. Most other pictures are also animals, 40 mammoths, 23 horses, 17 reindeers and deer, eight primitive cow, four goats, a wolf, a bear, and two rhinoceroses. More interesting, but less frequent, are four hand outlines and 19 geometric figures.

Font de Gaume

Written by admin · Filed Under Tourist Attractions

Les Eyzies de Tayac

November 18, 2007

It is commonplace for Les Eyzies to be introduced as the world’s prehistoric capital and the numerous painted caves and, particularly, the proliferation of rock shelters only confirm this notion. The most varied prehistoric, and historic, styles and periods are represented, making Les Eyzies the archetypal town for travelling through the past. This vast, motionless promenade will enable us to appreciate more thoroughly the passing of prehistoric time. From La Micoque to Laugerie-Basse. from 300,000 to 5000 years B.C., prehistory at Les Eyzies lasted sixty times longer than history and one hundred and fifty times longer than the Christian era.

Even if you only have a passing interest in prehistoric times, Les Eyzies would be worth a visit. if only for its site. At the confluence of the Vezere and the Beune. the little village. out of which rises an old castle converted into a museum. clings to the bottom of tall cliffs containing shelters, caves and troglodyte dwellings. crowned with green oaks and juniper trees. Having crossed the Vezere. a little road which winds between the river and the rocks follows the prehistoric “Royal road” an unimaginable succession of caves and shelters in an impressive framework of cliffs.

The chalk uplands which surround Les Eyzies are rich in flint, crisss-crossed with dozens of secret clefts and valleys, dominated by cliffs with hidden caves made fine hunting country for prehistoric man. Solid natural materials abound for making weapons and tools, and the shelter of the rock formations made the Périgord a perfect place to live. 100,000 years ago neanderthal man walked the valley of the Dordogne and left sufficient remains to make it a focal point of prehistory. Although he was named after the small valley in Germany where, in 1856, bines were found that fit his description, it was at Le Moustier, near Les Eyzies, that archaeologists first catalogued his weapons and tools.

The oldest human skeletal remains found in the Dordogne are of Neanderthal Man. The Moustier site yielded three complete skeletons another was found at Le Rigourdou, and at La Ferrassie, near Le Bugue, seven were unearthed, including some young children’s. These skeletons reveal that Neanderthal Man rarely lived to the age of thirty, and had Sophisticated burial rites involving funeral ceremonies. In some cases. the bodies were placed in dug graves and covered with earth, stones or slabs. Such respect for the dead must surely indicate that Neanderthal Man was capable of Philosophical reflection and perhaps a belief in an after life.

Les Eyzies de Tayac. Prehistoric Capital of the World