Le Grand Roc, Les Eyzies, Dordogne

‘Le Grand Roc, Les Eyzies’
Oil on Canvas
86,5 x 76 cm ; 34 x 30 inches
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What I enjoy about this place is it is a veritiable meeting of two different ‘styles’ of landscape (three actually if you count the busy road & huge tourist parking with it’s pollarded catalpas, info panels & telephone cabins etc. besides the Vézère river). The wild huge cliff above with it’s prehistoric setlement & the genteel nineteenth century plantation below.

The trees are spruces but I don’t know exactly what kind. Sitka spruce maybe? They are very tall, maybe up to 70 metres. I enjoyed their green very much, in the middle of winter, with all the wild bare oaks twisting about. The spruces are certainly amongst the tallest trees in the Dordogne that I know of. They grow up below the cliff, which I guess protects them for wind damage. The huge limestone rears above them vertiginiously. Reels about with the reminder that there is other time scales other the human. Vertigo. Awe. You can see the markings of both Ice Ages if you know what to look for. Incredible place. Incredible cliff face.

If you look closely at the cliff face, you will eventually find a little cabin which shelters the entrance to the ‘grotte’ (cave).

A5 sketchbook

Tous Droits Reservés© The Artist.