A surprising visit

“Oh my God, what for!?” That's what I said to myself when I was told that we were going to visit the Lascaux cave. Initially, the idea of seeing a cave with prehistoric paintings didn't appeal to me at all. Honestly, it seemed boring and I was pretty sure I was going to waste my time. But sometimes you have to comply with family plans, so why not go on an adventure? Either way, I had no choice. We entered the reception building, and all this modernity reassured me that visiting a replica of the real Lascaux cave would not transport us thousands of years back in time.

We joined our group for the visit. Tablets were given to us, and a few minutes later, we were in an elevator a few meters underground. As soon as we walked through the entrance, one thing immediately caught my attention: the atmosphere. The cave hall was huge, we were surrounded by stone. This freshness, this resonance, this silence... I even had to whisper to speak to my mother. I immediately felt transported to another world.

Our guide, Antoine, then began his talk. From his first words, we understood that there was no better guide for this visit. He was passionate and passing on his knowledge about this cave made him happy. His explanations of cave painting techniques, the meanings of symbols, and hypotheses about the lives of Cro-Magnon men were fascinating. For example, we learned that the paintings came from the Magdalenian culture and their main themes were animals, human figures and abstract signs. They painted with bones, stones and colourful plants. The tribes that lived there were hunter-gatherers.

We finished with a quick visit to a small museum where there were many objects dating from this period. But the experience I had just had in the cave remained in my mind; I was amazed. Ultimately, what I thought was going to be a boring visit turned into an extraordinary adventure. It was not a waste of time but turned out to be an enriching experience about our origins and the world. If I had to recommend or repeat this visit, I would without hesitation!

Justine Dubouis