Exploring the Secret Homes Hidden Inside These Cliffs

Exploring the Secret Homes Hidden Inside These Cliffs

Welcome back to the Midlife Travelers France road trip. And we’ve been buzzing about this all week. Today we’re heading to these incredible prehistoric caves. Some of the oldest in the world. We couldn’t wait to finally see them in person. Wo wo wo. Plot twist. No tickets. Totally sold out. So instead, we found something we didn’t expect just down the road. And honestly, it turned out to be amazing. Morning in Bonjour. So, breakfast done. Yeah. What a grim affair that was, Jane. It wasn’t great. It was um dirty. Yeah. I picked up three cups from the clean cup shelf. They were all dirty. I picked up some spoons from the clean spoon pot and they were dirty. Yeah, it wasn’t great. Table were filthy. Table was ourselves. Proper self service. I was It slept really well in our tiny little room, but yeah, I wouldn’t recommend the budget IBS. Oh, no. We’re going to We managed to get ourselves that position. Yeah. Probably stay here in future. Yeah. But anyway, any So, we’re on a gamble trip now, aren’t we? We are on a gamble trip. We are heading down south. Yeah. Towards Berserk, but not Berserk. So, the place is called Brat Deont. Obviously, that’s really good French pronunciation. We’ll go with that. About a 2-hour drive south to this place and we’re hoping to get some caves. Yeah. Now, you tried to book it online, didn’t you? I couldn’t do it. Just wouldn’t have you do it. So, it’s open apparently. So, we’ll see. Then, cuz I can’t see, but we have got a plan B if required. Yeah. So, if not, we’re going to have a little rumage around because there were some other caves that we could go and look at. But the one that we want to see is particularly good because it’s got proper prehistoric cave paintings. Nice. Yeah. So, fingers crossed for us. Sad faces all around. We ain’t going in. No. Not unless one of us goes in. We only had a ticket for one, so I’m off to see that. No, no, no, no, no. Unless we can tag halfway through. in my pocket. Your pocket passing. Um, so the only one ticket apparently is always fully booked, but their website is shocking. Is shocking cuz you can’t get on it. So, unless you’re French because apparently if you if you want to do a French tour, you can get tickets. Uh, you can, but you can only get one. But you can only get one. But they don’t do English tours. Even though it says it’s on English, they’ve got English tours, but you can’t actually book any of them. No. So, it’s a bit loopy. So, we’re going to try and find something else to do. Yeah. Um, do we ever fail you? Yeah. Crazy, I suppose. Yeah. Not much. Well, we found Jay. We found a mammoth. A mammoth. If we can find a mammoth, it means we must be able to find some caves. Caves. Yeah, we found some caves. So, we’re going to go in. Yeah. We’re going to see if we can get a ticket. Yeah, I think we should be all right because I think this was literally just play the game. So, and then we’re going to have a really good mooch about and then we will let you see what we mooched at. Yeah. Hopefully we’ll do some good mooching. You’ll enjoy our mooching. Yeah. Right. Yeah. See you on the other side. Lorato. So, Neil, would you fancy living like this? Right in the summer. It is really good, isn’t it? That’s all good for the wild boar that’s been gutted. No. Thank god it’s plastic. Got to eat though. Guys got to eat. I couldn’t imagine being sat there doing whatever she’s doing. No. No. But could you be over there like gutting a boa? Yeah. You would if you had to survive. You’d do, wouldn’t you? I suppose you wouldn’t know any different, would you? No. It’s not like you’d think, oh, I wish we had a microwave. I think this would be my favorite cave so far. Yeah, it’s quite well sheltered, but I’m probably too tall for it. Yeah. Hidden in the heart of the Doroin is a cliff that tells the story of human life from the stone age to the 1960s. Welcome to the Grotz D Rock to Gazelle, one of France’s most fascinating time capsules. Today we’re stepping inside 25,000 years of history carved into the rock. What’s amazing here is how the experience moves chronologically. As you walk, you go from the world of prehistoric humans to medieval fortifications carved into the same stone, and finally to rock homes that were still used in the 1960s. So this is like part of the fortification apparently. What? So they chopped all this out. So they dug it all. Yeah. They chipped it all away. Hasn’t. Yeah. And then the stones over in the corner. Those are those farm. That’s what they used to use as weapons. So people were trying to get into this the fortress. This was their last area of refuge. And then they get stones to lob them down here. Ho or here. I’m guessing they don’t have a railing. Yeah, I don’t have the weapon that behind you. So, they’re pretty cool, too. Yeah. Lovely little um cave. On to the next one. Yeah. There’s something humbling about walking through thousands of years of human life in one afternoon. The Gratz Da Gazelle aren’t just a tourist site. They’re a reminder that our story started here in places like this. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? I must say, I’m going to bump my head here, aren’t I? I’m definitely bumping my head. Do you excuse the weird noises I’m making? Uh, so this is a medieval tunnel. Oh, I think I can stand up now. Yeah. So, this is medieval. 25 m long. This cave. What’s that? Is that a fossil? So, it is a fossil. We were right. Uh, and it was found in 1998. And they reckon it’s 180 million years old. Look at that. 180 million years old. Right. See the man down there? He’s setting a trap. He’s using a pigeon as bay. But that’s what I look like going through the tunnel just now. Roughly 25,000 years ago, this entire Dodo Valley was home to woolly mammoth, reindeer, bison, and cave bears. The cliffs of rock to gazelle offer shelter from predators and harsh ice age weather in in Plymouth. Oh yeah. in the box. It’s called used to be the museum. Uh there’s a massive woolly mammoth. Um it was found near and it was found in Plymouth. So if you ever want to see a woolly mammoth, go to Plymouth. Go to the box. Boom. Woolly mama. Oh, look. Oh, look. It’s that water wheel. And just when you think you’ve stepped out of prehistory, you stumble upon this. a working water wheel. It’s clever, practical, and surprisingly satisfying to see. From grinding grain into flour to operating forges and sawmills, water wheels played a vital role in early industry. Your best bit of the holiday ming and buying that sheep and whatever it was you did to the goat the other day. The site now has a little farm. Goats, sheep, chickens, nothing fancy. Just the kind of animals that would been part of life here for centuries. It’s a simple touch, but it really connects the dots between the ancient and the everyday. This isn’t 1960s. No. It’s certainly more modern though, isn’t it? So, this part of the caves and was last lived in in 1966. When they left, they moved into a house and it was left the current owners and watching this traditional. This is a little bit more bit more modern. Oh, look at the size of that. Hello. It’s better for everyone if you stay down there and we stay up here. You’d think people stopped living in these cliffs thousands of years ago, but here’s the surprise. Some families were still calling these caves home right up until the 1960s. This little house was carved straight out of limestone. It had a fireplace, a chimney, shelves, even a few modern touches, a sewing machine, cooking pots, furniture, all tucked into this one little cave. It’s easy to walk past a few old tools and not think twice, but here at Rock to Cazelle, they’re proof that ingenuity doesn’t belong in one era. Whether it’s flint or forged iron, the tools change, but human hands don’t. From the hunters who chip flint under torch light to the farmers who forge steel beneath the same rock, it’s all part of one human story. Survival through skill. Wow. Wow. What’ you think of that? I really enjoyed it. It was so good. It was brilliant. It was really good. That cost us £8 each. Yeah. theme uh to get in and it’s so good. I think the best bit for me was the part where the people lived up until 1966. Yeah. Um so we’ve got some camera of the actual house. I’m not sure if everything that in I think it’s all it’s all looked it was really cool. But it is really cool and it would make a great Airbnb. So um kind of takes you through the ages and it’s like stone age going through to like modern day prehistoric. Yeah. medieval and then through to 1966 when the last people left the case. But it’s really interesting and for eight quid you can kids would love it as well. We’ll stick a little what’s it on the top when we put the video up. Stick your little what’s on the top. Yeah. So you can uh find it if you want to go and have a look. Yeah. Definitely well worth a visit though. Brilliant. Onwards. Onwards. That’s all for today’s video. Catch up with us next time as we head down to the Door Dawn region and we also go to an abandoned World War II village. Don’t forget to like and subscribe and leave any comments down below. Thanks for watching.

We’re exploring Les Grottes du Roc de Cazelle in Les Eyzies, one of the most fascinating archaeological and historical sites in the Dordogne. These incredible cliff dwellings and cave homes were once lived in, defended, and adapted over centuries — and walking through them feels like stepping straight back in time.

In today’s road trip adventure, we take you inside the caves, through the cliffside houses, and around the reconstructed prehistoric scenes that show how people once lived here. This place is packed with history, surprises, and some unbelievable views carved directly into the rock!

📍 Location: Les Grottes du Roc de Cazelle, Les Eyzies, France
🚐 Part of our ongoing France road trip

If you enjoy hidden places, historical sites, and discovering the unexpected on the road, you’re going to love this one.

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