Jonathan Kemp; A naturalist in the south of France

An Alpine Ibex   Deep inside an Ariège mountain, about an hour from the Mill, is a cave that I think of as a womb; it is called la Grotte de Niaux. The 800 metre walk from the surface carpark half way up the mountain is through windings of labyrinthine complexity; sometimes wide subterranean river-gouged caverns  (these caves are always found in limestone country, which is a water soluble  rock) sometimes tight passages where you have to be careful not to knock your head. The small group, never more than 25, inevitably talks in hushed tones; to be in such a place elicits a sense of awe.   The entrance to the Grotte You are, of course with a competent guide, often an archaeological student. I have been several times over the years and they are always knowledgeable and engrossed in their subject. They stress, however, that there remain many aspects of the ingress by humans there that will never be completely understood. Niaux, and the other examples of pre-histor...