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TheCaptain visited on 11th Sep 2005 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5 This is a wonderful day out, in a beautifully landscaped park in the wonderful Pyrenees. The visit starts in the Grand Atelier, a sort of museum of prehistoric artwhich explains all the whys and wheres of prehistoric art, not only in this region, but all over the world. There is a special emphasis on the nearby Grotte de Niaux, and there is an excellent model of the cave to be seen. There are all sorts of audiovisual items to be seen, and the visitor is guided round with a pair of infrared headphones which pick up signals from each display. There are lots of full size recreations of parts of Niaux, including the footprints in one deep section which are not seen in the real cave visit, and copies of many of the animal paintings, including the solitary known weasel. The visit round this museum part (in my case a very interesting hour and a half) with a full size recreation of the Salon Noir from the Grotte de Niaux, with all its Buffalo and other animals. Fantastic. Outside, in the wonderfully landscaped park, are all sorts of activities for all to take part in. There are demonstrations of archaeological techniques, footprint recognition, a musical maze, a prehistoric camp with many types of shelter recreated, with firemaking and flint knapping. Then there are hunting displays which include types of propulseur from around the world (and have a go at throwing your own spear using one - and yes, I would have gone home with dinner!), and even have a go yourself at cave painting, with demonstrations of the various techniques. This sort of museum is something I am realising that the French do very well. All of this takes you on a lovely walk through beautiful scenery too, with grasslands, woodland, lakes and a lovely cave section - complete with footprints, fossils, idols and waterfalls. I just loved it here. I thought that I would quickly rush round the place, but spent nearly all day here. It even has a decent restaurant and a good shop, which unfortunately means buying more books! Thoroughly recommended as a top day out for all.

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