On Tuesday we walked to the other side of Périgueux were there are many remenants of the Roman civilisation that thrived here 2000 year ago.Sitting next to the railway line here’s a tower which was the central part of a Roman temple:

Behind the tower the remains of a large Gallo-Roman dwelling was discovered in 1958. Very recently a huge glass structure has been placed over restored ruins to preserve them, creating a unique museum which also contains many amazing artefacts from the period. The museum is called Vesunna after the name of the Roman town the dwelling was part of:

We returned to the town centre for a very pleasant meal that evening, crossing the river Isle and catching the early evening sun on the cathedral. The rather odd ‘house on the wall’ turned out to be a 14th century lookout on the city walls.

The following morning was market day so we spent a few hours wandering the streets looking for some tasty items for future lunches and dinners.

Around midday we packed up the van and headed east. After an hour’s drive we stopped at a very nice campsite in Montignac. The site had some very welcome facilities including a bar and a swimming pool – very useful for cooling down as the temperature had now reached 30C! 

Within walking distance of Montignac and the campsite was the Lascaux Centre International home of the most impressive prehistoric art in Europe. In 1940 three boys & their dog discovered a small opening the hillside caused by a tree collapsing in storm. The opening lead into caves housing the most incredible prehistoric art dating from approx. 20000 years ago. In 1948 after the war the caves were opened to the public but within 15 years the pollution caused by over 1 million visitors was causing significant damage to the artwork. The French government closed the caves to the public in 1963 and since then they have been building increasingly accurate replicas of the caves so that the public can appreciate the fantastic art for themselves. The latest replica was opened 18 months ago at huge expense after years had been spent on the latest digital 3D imaging techniques. You are guided through exact replicas of the caves (just a few hundred metres from the originals) and the latest AV tools are used to explain what you are seeing including a touch of Virtual Reality!