Here in Grenoble we are in a flat basin surrounded by mountains, and on the other side of those mountains is a lovely little town called Pont en Royanes, which was recommended to us by a Professor from Otago on sabbatical leave here, who we met up with the other day. It's definitely worth seeing!
It is a town that is well known for its houses that are stuck into the cliff right on the edge of the river, with balconies that look like they're going to fall off at any time!
Although it was a charming town, it was very small, so once you had seen the main attractions and walked along the river, there wasn't much else to see, so we decided to go to some nearby caves that we had heard about. I had really wanted to go and see these before they closed at the end of October, and I'm so glad that I did!
There were many passages, all lit up beautifully, and they were very accommodating for those of us who couldn't quite understand the guided tour, with sheets of paper in English describing what we were walking through.
There were the most amazing formations hanging from the roof, apparently they were like hollow straws, and were formed from a crack in the ceiling. When a drop of water falls through, it leaves a minute ring of calcite behind, and as each drop of water falls through it leaves another ring, until stacks and stacks of these rings create an amazing formation hanging down from the roof! They grow by 5cm every century, and the longest of these are 3m long!
These were everywhere, it's amazing to think how much time these caves have been here.
Another showcase was perhaps the ugliest cave dwelling creature I've ever seen. Maybe not, but it is very weird, and the largest cave dwelling animal in the world! They have no eyes, are translucent, and incredibly rare.
It was just a day trip, but we saw so much and were still home in time for dinner! Its great to make the most of any time I have free, there's just so much to see!
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