In museums I find that I’m often looking at the exhibits through a prism of my family history. There was no question of this today.
The Musée National de Préhistoire in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil takes you from 100,000 BP (Before Present?) bang up to date at 10,000 BP. Even I admit that this is BB (Before Bellew). It wasn’t a walk in the park for early hominids – most of the time the average annual temperature was below freezing. However, there was some Irish content: a reconstruction of an Irish elk.
Lulled into a false sense of security by a surfeit of Bergerac rosé at lunch I agreed to go canoeing in the afternoon. Surprisingly, all went well. The river was beautiful, went past sites where some of the artefacts in the museum had been found and, crucially, the current was strong enough that there wasn’t much need to paddle. No pictures, as I assumed I’d fall in and lose my telephone.
Prawns for supper. I have made a stinging aioli to accompany them. My own flesh and blood had proposed something out of a bottle.
