So at this point I definitely think I should steer clear of driving in NZ when I return. Last night I had a dream and the car followed the french road rules (the opposite side for round-a-bouts and things like that). My parents will definitely be happy to keep me off the road!

Last week was equally as amazing as the 1st week of holidays. On Wednesday we biked to the small city of Sarlat, famous for it’s medieval buildings and history. “Because modern history has largely passed it by, Sarlat has remained preserved and one of the towns most representative of 14th century France.” – Wikipedia. Sarlat is often used as a back ground for movies because of it’s authenticity, even all the power lines have been put underground so it was like I’d stepped into a different century! We went to a market held in the town centre and spent the day exploring the small back streets and suvineer shopping – safe to say I might have gone a teensy bit over board!

Thursday was the day I’d been waiting for – our visit to Lascaux II! Lascaux is a huge cave in the region of Dordogne famous for its Palaeolithic cave paintings which date back to 20,000 years old. The cave was rediscovered by some teenagers in 1940 and was open to visitors in 1948 – 2008. An exact replica (Lascaux II) was created so that tourists could still appreciate the history and paintings without the risk of damaging the original.

Before the tour started, everyone was given some headphones and a tablet so that we could hear the guide talking and find out more information on the tablet if we wanted to. I took the tour in French, and even though I didn’t understand much it didn’t really matter because I was too distracted by the cave itself! It honestly looked just like a real cave and while I was in there, I totally forgot it was a replica. Thousands of cave paintings ( nearly 2000) decorated the walls and ceiling, there was literally no part left bare. The original paintings were painted with mineral pigments, and the paintings consisted mainly of large animals. As well as paintings, there were also drawings engraved into the wall. My favourite part the Great Hall of the Bulls, where a heard of bulls were painted stampeding over the wall. If anyone has seen Ice Age 1, the cave paintings reminded a lot of the ones in that film.

After the guided tour we were taken to another building full of exhibitions and hands on activities where I had a great time learning about the history of Lascaux. We used the tablets to watch mini documentaries on each exhibition, fortunately they had an English translation for this so I could actually have my questions answered! Once again, I got a few nice suvineers before we left. For anyone going to France, Lascaux II is A MUST.

Once again another chocka blocka day on Friday – La Roque Saint Christophe. La Roque Saint Christophe is the largest suspended rock shelter in Europe. There is so much history behind it and I won’t get into it all but basically a town was carved into the actual cliff face and lived half way up the cliff. Throughout the century’s the reasons for living there changed, at first for the neanderthal men it was just a natural shelter, but later in the 3rd century it was a place of refuge from the Barbarian invasions. We were allowed to walk through the ruins on the cliff face, it was hard to imagine how people could live in such a dangerous place – I just kept thinking of earthquakes!

We drove back home on Saturday and had a very lazy Sunday after a busy week. I went to my friend Ilona’s house and stayed the night. Her family actually offered to host me if something doesn’t work out with my new one. I feel so loved 😉 We biked to a river and had a picnic equipped with heaps of baguette bread, cheese and champagne (yes champagne!). Ilona is leaving for a 3 month exchange in Germany the day I get back from my trip with the JPC group so it was my last opportunity to see her. Her sister Liane is really cool though so I will still drop:)

I’m off to Floriane’s house in a bit for her birthday sleep over! I must have done something right if I’ve been invited to her’s again! I’m so excited to see all my friends there and catch up.

Once again the photo’s aren’t working!!!! The second they do I will upload them, but there aren’t that many because you are limited to the photo’s you are allowed to take in places such as Lascaux.