I just wanted to post a quick note about a tour of Grotte de Rouffignac in the Dordogne region of France that my husband and I took last week. Angelika Simeon is mentioned in the Rick Steves' France guidebook as a knowledgeable guide for hire for a full or half day. We hired Angelika for a half day and it was so well worth it. She brought us for a very quick tour of the Prehistory Museum in Les Eyzies (after we arrived late to our meeting point, don't trust the Google Maps estimate of driving times in that part of France!), and then to the cave to see some cave art that was made around 12,000 years ago. The cave was amazing, this was something I've wanted to do for a very long time and I was not disappointed. And Angelika made it so much better than it would have been, since the museum does not have English signs and the cave tour was entirely in French. She was so knowledgeable, I could tell that we only scratched the surface of what she knows and wants to tell us about. She was able to point things out to us that we never would have noticed on our own given the short amount of time available to view the art, like the fact that you could tell that some of the paintings were done by different artists with different skill levels -- obvious when it's pointed out, but not something I would have noticed on my own.
So, thanks Rick for the recommendation! If we're able to get back there some day I'd consider hiring Angelika for a full day.