After the magnificent backdrop of la Roque Gareac we left early in the morning for Les Eyzies-de-Tabac-Sireuil and since no one could pronounce it that was the last time it was mentioned. It is in the Vezere Valley and has been one of the most important centres for archeology in the world. For 400,000 years early mankind has lived in the rocks in and around this quaint little town and the surrounding area. In fact 15 of the major pre-historic sites in the area are listed as UNESCO world heritage sites. As we arrived in the town we were blown away by yet another amazing site of a huge outcrop of rock into which houses have been built. It was under this outcrop of rock that Neanderthal Man lived and hunted and cooked his food. The two museums in the town offered a real insight into the history of the place and the people and animals who roamed the landscape. After Les Eyzies..,,.. We moved up the road about 15kms to the Grotte de Rouffignac where we entered a cave which has been there for hundreds of thousands of years. We were taken on an electric train ride 1km into this cave which was of course pitch black. (No photos allowed unfortunately). The first known inhabitants where the bears, a model of which was in the museum. These bears hibernated over winter in some of the huge caverns within this cave and their 'nests' are still obvious today. I fact there are dozens of nests so I guess in the day the smell would have been pretty high! You can see the bear scratch marks in various places in the cavern. After the bears came early mankind and there are hundreds of early drawings and paintings done by these people of the prehistoric animals of the time such as the wooly mammoth and the wooly rhinoceros as well as horses, and other animals. The detail of some of these pictures is amazing as our guide pointed out they had even drawn in the 'anal flap' the mammoth had which kept his private parts warm in winter!