Les Eyzies

A pleasant circuit from Les Eyzies

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The route was to La Roque St Christopher thence St Leon sur Vezere. Again a relatively early start with a brisk climb at the beginning, which of course meant a great descent on the return.

The route for the day

On the road to La Roque St Christopher

The prehistoric site La Roque St Christopher

A fascinating education on cave dwelling in which for more than 20000 years humans and their ancestors carved villages out of the cliff face using the natural caves with modifications. It was primarily for security rather than to market penthouse dwellings!

One of the more fascinating pieces of history which caught my eye was the reign of Charles 111, King of West Francia from 879 to 929. He managed to father 6 daughters by his first marriage, a son by his second marriage and several “bastards” . He was affectionately called Charles the Simple, although obviously able to do more than simple arithmetic! Actually the French word was more literally translated as “straightforward”.

Britain will, in the near future, have its very own Charles the Simple.

The longest staircase carved out of a single piece of rock in all of Europe

The Romanesque church in St Leon sur Vezere

The interior of the church – which has parts of the original frescoes on the dome

Yet another small street this one in St Leon

The river Vezere running through St Leon

La Roque-Gageac to Les Eyzies

/ graham3693

Another beautiful day of “doable” cycling setting out a little before 9am with crisp, cool windless weather. Here is the route map:

The early morning sun and trees on the road to Les Milandes

Another bloody Chateaux on the road to Milandes.

I have a sense that almost all of these fairytale chateaus are privately owned and at least one of which I rode past, by a middle Eastern oil sheik. I don’t for one moment assume that it’s the only such one.

A remarkable chateau in Milandes which belonged to an equally remarkable woman Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was an Afro American singer and dancer who rose from poverty to become one of the most famous stars in the Paris music and vaudeville shows of the 30s and 40s. Equally famous for serving in the French resistance, sheltering people wanted by the Nazi and also after the war adopting 11 orphans from all parts of the world and espoused that great truism “all men are created equals” well before her time. She died penniless, so generous was she with her philanthropy that was forced to sell the chateau. Look her up on Google

The view from yet another chateau- the Castelnaud Castle

The church at St Cyprien

Thus Romanesque church in St Cyprien once belonged to an Augustinian Abbey. Of course like all Roman Catholic Churches it had to have a “relic” and as Jesus’ foreskin had already been claimed, the Augustinian monks were quite circumspect about the dilemma and bid for a thorn from the crown. Being a frugal Order they were more than content with just one thorn. It was called the “Sainte Epine” or holy thorn! But there is more to this delicious story as it ( the thorn) had naturally miraculous powers and so sick pilgrims would flock to the church so that the Abbey would rub his thorn against the body of the sick!

The practice of rubbing a little prick against a parishioner’s body is still carried on to this day in some monasteries.

The Dordogne in Les Eyzies