A rose coloured cave (Grotte de Dargilan)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Grotte de Dargilan
Date:	19/10/09 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good visit

Disadvantages: None

Come with me to the underworld and see pink .

On Holiday this year we were staying not to far away from the Grotte de Dargilan.
This cave is in the Cevennes the south of France.

We arrived at area of the cave and there was plenty of car parking. After parking we went to the little visitors centre to buy the tickets and items such as crystals , key rings and postcards were also available to buy. This is also a small café selling drinks, ice creams and snacks to eat .We bought our tickets the price adult E 8. 50 , from 6 to 18 years E5.50 the price did include the guide. (You can also leave him a tip at the end) you can not walk around unaccompanied.

The cave is shut in the winter from late October or early November till the spring .check the site http://www.gralon.net/tourisme/a-visiter /info-grotte-de-dargilan-meyrueis-19166.htm

Outside the visitors centre /shop there are benches and chairs overlooking the tarn.
The tour we took was about 1 km. I seem to remember it took us about 1 hour The path was quite good although you did have to watch your step on the rocks and steps. There are rails to hold for safety. The caves are light by electric light

When we got there we had to wait about 20 minutes for the next tour.
The tour begins at the cave entrance which is down a rocky path below the visitors centre. There are many more passageways and caves which the general public can not visit. The path widens out to a large cave high and wide.

The tour we took was about 1 km. I seem to remember it took us about 45 minutes to 1 hour The path was quite good although you did have to watch your step on the rocks and steps. There are rails to hold for safety.

The caves were full of calcifications which madder it very attractive. his series of caves is often called the rose /pink caves as some of the limestone has frerrous oxide in it.

Walking along the path the stalactites and stalagmites are quite fantastic, the guide does tell us all about them but in French, my French but good enough o translate so we just looked with awe and wonder. As we walked along we noted some of the calcifications had names like the tortoise, the minaret , macaroni, the elephants ear , with a bit of imagination I could identify these shapes (a bit like making picture out of cloud shapes ). One of the passages was made by a river and has speleothems (formations made by mineral deposit in a cave.) one a waterfall is huge.

We left the cave at the same place we entered. The view from here across the Gorges de la Jonte is spectacular. I should like to return one day and explore this region further

I enjoyed our cave visit well worth going into we took with us a 3 and a 6 year old and it was suitable for them. By the end the 3 year old was tired though The children particularly enjoyed the shaped rocks and the names given to them trying to see what shapes they could make out of the calcifications too.
Before we went I though it might be cold in the cave but the temperature never falls below 10 C chilly yes but not cold.

I found out that the cave was first discovered in 1880 by a young shepherd who followed a fox in through a crack. In 1888 a caver Edouard -Alfred Martel explored further, soon after this it was visited by other people and became a show cave in 1890.

If ever you are in this region I really would recommend a visit.

Summary: A cave in the Cevennes