Gouffre de Padirac

To the Depths of Gouffre de Padirac

Kate arrived late Saturday night, but Sunday morning, the group was off and driving. First stop was two hours away, one of the many caves to explore in the Dordogne.




The tour books warn travellers not to go to Gouffre de Padirac because there are too many tourists and long lines, and nothing very interesting for kids. So of course, that's where we went.

There weren't many tourists, no long lines,
and the kids had a pretty good time.




The first thing we had to do was go down into this very deep hole. This is what it looked like from above.

This is what it looked like going down... 

And this is what it looked like from below.

We walked down - and up - these stairs, and many more once we got into the cave. Hundreds of stairs.  Once we got to a certain level, we were ferried by gondolas through crystal clear waters, passing by incredible stalactites and stalagmites, and then we climbed and descended more stairs. We'd love to show you some amazing views from underground, but we carried our cameras in vain, because we weren't allowed to take any pictures.

However, thanks to Google, we're able to borrow a shot that will give you an idea of what we saw.

Take our word for it, it was impressive - even the kids thought so. But if you ask Tristan what the best part was? It was going back up those stairs and beating Maggie by four and a half minutes - even though she took an elevator part of the way!