This morning we slept in, had breakfast and then headed to Vallon-Pont-d’Arc to see a museum that is a recreation of the Chauvet Cave which is actually located 3km from here.

The owl is unique because not many birds have been found in cave drawings.

The cave was discovered in 1994. It had been closed to the outside for thousands of years. Before that it had a large entrance and was a hibernation place for cave bears. Humans also visited this cave and though they didn’t live there, they made drawings on the walls. Some of the animals depicted are unique to this cave. The original cave needs to be preserved for research and historical purposes so it will never be open to the public.

Cave bear bones

It is the oldest known site in France and the second oldest in Europe at about 35,000 years old. It is very well preserved because it was closed off to the outside for so long.

After we finished at the cave, we headed into town to find a bakery to buy some bread. Of course, the first two we tried were closed on Wednesdays. We found a third and had a little impromptu picnic near where we parked because we were pretty hungry by then.

Esme’s dream: mint merengue. Nova got lemon.

Then we went to a beach on a campground on the Ardèche. It had sand which the kids loved. It also had lots of river rocks with mica and quartz in them.

Asa releasing a butterfly he caught.

Cal and I walked out to check out the dam that people had made with piled up rocks.

The kids found some bits of charred wood in the sand and made their own cave drawings.

There were lots of flat rocks that were great for skipping. Our highest record was 5 skips.

We came back to our hosts’ house and the girls played Playmobil and snuggled with the cats some more.

The boys really like this stay because our hosts have older boys, ages 11 and 17. The 17 year old loves kids and speaks English so he has been a great help.

Tonight it’s hamburgers for dinner made by me with cucumber salad and fresh salsa with chips.