Last weekend we watched the Werner Herzog documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams about the Chauvet cave (Decorated cave of Pont d'Arc), triggering this review since we visited the cave last summer.

Since the original cave is closed for visitors and one has to do with a replica cave, the documentary is the only way to admire the beautiful cave art. The replica cave is of course not the real deal, but we must admit that it does not feel fake and that they succeeded very well in copying the actual cave. Some time ago we also visited the Lascaux replica and we found this one the best of the two.

Nevertheless, we felt we could not tick off this site without at least visiting the real cave entrance. Starting from the Auberge du Pont d’Arc parking, we first tried the route as described by Solivagant (“Follow the edge of the vineyard for c 150m and then find a track on the left up into the forest”). The issue however was that there are several tracks to the left into the forest, so we took a different approach and followed the route as mentioned in http://baladesducrokoala.wifeo.com/vallon-pont-d-arc-et-grotte-chauvet.php. The “sentier qui commence sur des affleurements rocheux” is the signposted route which more or less starts from the road. At a certain point (quite soon), in a bend you can take a road which splits off from the main trail (“dans un virage en épingle, on trouvera un petit sentier qui file tout droit, c'est par là que nous irons, abandonnant le chemin principal »). Once you found this road, it is more or less obvious where to go. Helpful is also the Maps.me app which shows the (route to the) location of the cave.

As mentioned, the cave entrance is sealed off by a steel door so there is not a lot going on, but the rock shelter that you pass along the way and the views from here alone make it worth.