...but someone has asked....and I think that I should now anyway.
It felt strange.
It is (I'm sure) a VERY good replica, however, the whole process of the visit, unfortunately, leaves you in no doubt that you are not in the real thing.
Too many people in a group makes for overcrowding...
Too short a time between groups - only 10 minutes - means that there are actually three groups inside at any one time...and two groups in the actual "cave" part. When we entered the first cave, we could hear the guide and chatter from the French tour in the second cave. Our guide had to raise her voice so that we could hear her......and she didn't stop talking the whole of the time.
I think some spells of silence would have helped the experience.....
None of this detracted from the beauty of the paintings though. The whole thing is absolutely stunning and well worth the visit. It's not even that expensive 10.50 Euros per adult.....
...as long as you don't count the cost of the lunch you buy because your tour time isn't until 2.50 pm!!
I am very glad that we went....and I shall enjoy it for much longer than the 30 minutes we had in the "cave" as I work into my sketchbook here at the Gladdyvan!! :-)
Now...
...page #2...
This is (obviously) one of the stags....stenciled onto a waxed/batik paper using Sepia acrylic ink.
I hadn't intended to use this paper here.....but....when I sponged my black Brusho through the stencil I had my sponge too wet and it bled dreadfully. So I had to do a "cover-up-jobby" on it and stuck the batik paper on top of the original mess!! I still like it though :-)
This left a space free on the left side of the page for a bit of writing...
....part of a poem entitled "Magic Words"...
...and Inuit poem translated by Edward Field...
...that had been posted by lovely Penny here.
I shall now continue my underground adventure with a few more pages...
...before moving on to work on some Romanesque inspiration that I've found in abundance since arriving in France!
It's going to be another hot one today......
....maybe some stitching in the shade too....
x C
