Ariège Highlights
- La Grotte de Niaux - The Prehistoric Painted Cave
- Tarascon - the Prehistoric Park
- The Miniature Train Demonstration/Museum
- Kayaking, Canoeing the Ariege River
- Pyrenees Gastronomy - Duck and Geese Galore
- Cathar Castles
Looking for a place that's a bit off the beaten track in the South of France? How about a location featuring an important prehistoric cave as well as a prehistoric art park that is both a museum and outdoor open classroom for learning about prehistoric times? And it's a place where the food is extrordinary and the river kayaking fine. Tarascon-sur-Ariege is where it's at, and the cave is called La Grotte de Niaux.
Let's Get Situated - The Ariège department
The Ariège is a department in the central Pyrenees just north of the tiny country of Andorra and the Spanish border, located within the region of Midi-Pyrénées. The largest city closeby to Tarascon is Foix.
The closest airport is Toulouse international, a 1-2 hour drive. You'll need a car to really explore the region.
La Grotte de Niaux - The Prehistoric Painted Cave
While the Dordogne region is held to be the king of the prehistoric caves, the extent of Europe's prehistoric cave culture extends from there south through the Pyrenees into Northern Spain and into Portugal. Ariège, in fact, has the most prehistoric caves of any department in France.
La Grotte de Niaux is an exceptional example of a painted prehistoric cave in that the main gallery (the salon noir) is a long but interesting walk from the cave's mouth. After a dim walk in the silent, womb-like stillness, you'll break into a large naturally domed space to marvel at the paintings above. There are extrordinary representations of horses and bison here.
To researchers, the exceptional size of the Niaux gallery indicates that many people could be assembled in this one sacred space. The animals are painted in black, all of the same kind of paint--no doubt created within a relatively brief spain of time (somewhere between 12,000 and 9,000 bc). And there is evidence that scaffolding was used to the get paintings high up on the dome.
For a good treatment of how the cave art may have affected people of prehistory, see the lavishly illustrated "The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves" (compare prices) which contains numerous references to Niaux.
So What does all this Prehistoric Art mean?
Ok, here's where Tarascon's Prehistoric Art Park comes in. Here you'll find out how water creates voids in limestone to create caves, how the prehistoric cave culture lived and survived, how their tools were made, and how the pictures were created and what experts think they mean. It's quite a complete experience. In addition, pleasant walking trails are found throughout the park, often leading to signboards explaining the importance of some aspect of the landscape or to areas were activities like atalatl and spear-throwing are demonstrated (and kids are allowed to try their luck!).
The Prehistoric Art Park museum contains replicas and photos of drawings and paintings found in other caves, many of which are no longer open to the public.
How to visit the Cave and the Park
In summer there is a single tour of the Cave in English around 1 pm. You'll need a reservation, but there are often places available if you drive in earlier in the day and reserve. (You'll have to take a guided tour; they don't just let you wander around by yourself.) If you can get on the English tour, then I suggest visiting the cave first. If not, go to the Park to get some background in English before seeing the cave with a French guide (the audio tour is a great introduction and quite well done--you just walk up to any exhibit you're interested in and the tape goes to the right place for an explanation). Your ticket to the cave includes a discount to the park. Visiting information and a fax form in French and English is available here.
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