One Afternoon in France

Everywhere in France the history is thick. Even in the country there were signs of the passage of time all around. This part of France is especially interesting because of the mix of pre-history and medieval history. The one thing the two do have in common with each other, is the use of stone in living spaces. The two are unrelated but are found in close proximity. A visitor may enter an extensive cave system and spend time examining the traces left by the people who lived in and near these caves. The caves themselves were forgotten for centuries until re-discovered by French adventurers in the late 19th Century. The famous Lascaux Caves are in this area.

At the same time there are many castles dating back to between the 700s to the 1700s. When you see the location of these impressive buildings, you can almost hear the conversation:
"You wanna build a what?"
"You wanna build it where?"

The castles fortify a line along the Dordogne River, which during the 100 Years War, was the boundary between England and France. French castles on the north side of the river, and English castles on the south side.

In later episodes, we will explore these castles, and their surroundings... for now, contemplate the marks of a rope tied around a tree while the tree grew, embedding the rope in its bark. How many decades for a tree to grow that much? The rope undisturbed the whole time, then, someone took pity and unbound the tree. It gets its revenge.