Stay, Stray, Play and Feast: September 2019

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Petit Train Touristique de Lourdes: The Best of Lourdes by Mini- Train (Immaculate Lourdes Series 8)

Petit Train Touristique de Lourdes
The Best of Lourdes by Mini- Train
Immaculate Lourdes Series 8

Petit Train Touristique de Lourdes is a trackless

train, that goes around the pilgrim city of Lourdes,

The train is similar to the one being used

in LA’s Universal Studios Backlot Tour,

…and comes with free tickets to Le Petit Lourdes,

a park with miniature diorama of ancient Lourdes,

...and Musee de Cire a religious themed wax museum.

The mini train leisurely cruises

the main streets of Lourdes,

…and offers tourist the best views of the bucolic city

…with stops to most of the major tourist destinations.

A Petit Train Touristique de Lourdes ride

is the best way to see what the pilgrim city of

Lourdes has to offer aside from the Domain.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

L’ Ermitage Restaurant: Delicious Food, Friendly Service (Immaculate Lourdes Series 7)

L’ Ermitage Restaurant
Delicious Food, Friendly Service
Immaculate Lourdes Series 7

Located right at the side exit of the Lourdes Sanctuary

right in front of the Petit Train Touristique de Lourdes

station, L’ Ermitage Restaurant became our favorite

restaurant in Lourdes as it was a case of love at first bite.

The restaurant offered a massive spread on the salad buffet,

…and it was just for starters.

What followed was some of the most

delicious dishes served on our table.

My wife truly enjoyed her

File de Salmao el Jurancon

While my son got addicted to

his Hamberguer Patatas Fritas.

While I had the juciest, freshest Truta Meuniere.

The trout was oven baked to golden perfection, it

was sweetish and oozed with the delightful taste

and aroma of fragrant herbs and various spices.

My daughter was not feeling well that that

she decided not to eat and slept on the couch.

We concluded our lunch with a slab

of strawberry and vanilla ice cream,

… a sinfully delicious caramel- topped creamy custard,

…and the most delicious Apple Pie in the world.

We returned the next day for lunch and I recommended

Truta Meuniere to my daughter. Just as what I have

been raving, she agreed that it was indeed very delicious.

My son had a huge slab of tender, juicy, tasty

Roast Chicken which he devoured with gusto.

My wife’s Grilled Rib Steak

was also very juicy and delicious,

Just like saving the best for last, my Duck Confit

like the trout, was oven baked to golden perfection.

It was very tender, oozing with the herb infused juices.

Despite the numerous dining options near our hotel,

at one located at one end of Rue de Grotte-.we chose
to dine several times at the L’ Ermitage Restaurant

located at the other end of the road. With the yummy

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Gave de Pau: A River Runs Thru It (Immaculate Lourdes Series 6}

Gave de Pau
A River Runs Thru It
Immaculate Lourdes Series 6

On our way to the Lourdes Sanctuary, the sight of the beautiful
river that runs thru the Domain caught my family’s attention.

We later learned that it was the Ousse-

…a tributary of the Gave de Pau.

Gave de Pau is a river of south-western France

named after from the city Pau, through which it

flows from its source in the Pyrenees mountains.

The Ousse river was so clear,

... we could see the smoothness of the rocks underneath
and it amazed us, as we have never seen a river this

pristine in any urban centers in the Philippines.

My daughter got tempted to descend on its grassy

slope, gently inclining into the clean sandy bank-

…and took a draft of the cool water in a cup of her hands

and commented; “it’s so cold and so clean you can drink it.”

The city of Lourdes reminds me so much of Naga City, the
city where we came from. Just like Lourdes, it is also a
pilgrim city where the Lady of Penafrancia is found.

It is considered as the largest Marian devotion in Asia.

Just like Lourdes, a river also runs thru it.

The Naga River, a tributary of the Bicol River

plays an important role in the Marian pilgrimage

being the site of the Penafrancia fluvial procession.

Unlike the pristine Ousse, Naga River is murky and polluted.

The plant life is dead, there are no more fish, and even if there
were it wouldn't be wise to eat them. For decades, people
treated the river like it was a sewer and a dumping ground.

It is a dead river and the only time it becomes alive

is during the annual Penafrancia fluvial procession.

The miracle of the venerated Lady of Penafrancia

is probably due to the fact that nobody gets sick among

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes: The Sacred Domain (Immaculate Lourdes Series 5)

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
The Sacred Domain
Immaculate Lourdes Series 5

Being a pilgrim city the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is
the main destination of most of the tourists in Lourdes, France.

Most commonly known Domain, the refers to the area

surrounding the sacred shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes.

The Rue de Grotte, is the main

thoroughfare to the sanctuary-

…that crosses a bridge at the Gave de Pau, which leads to

the Abri Saint Michel the main gateway to the sanctuary.

Right at the entrance is the Calvaire des Britons,

a sculpture of Christ’s crucifixion of at the calvary.

The L’ Esplanade is a tree lined pedestrianized road

flanked with lovely well manicured gardens, parks,

… important places of worship like the Chaplee de St Joseph,

Basilique Saint Pie and the Musee de Miracle de Lourdes

The L’ Esplanade leads to a rotunda with the

Satatue de la Vierge Couronnee de Lourdes

perched on a tall pedestal serves as a centerpiece.

Right in front is spacious plaza

called the Rosary Square

…which leads to the Basilique de Notre Dame du Rosarie.

The Rosary Basilica, flanked by the two ramps and stairs,

…that leads to the Crypt,

…and the Upper Basilica,

... which are built on top of
Massabielle, above ground level.

Right is front of the Crypt is a wide space

...that offers an awesome view of the Rosary Square,

the Satatue de la Vierge Couronnee de Lourdes

and the scenic, verdant, tree- lined L’ Esplanade.

At the right side of the Basilique de Notre Dame du Rosarie-

...is the grotto, the most scared place in this pilgrimage site.

The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

within the rock cave at Massabielle-

…is the exact site where St. Bernadette Soubirous witnessed

the apparitions on what is now called the miracle of Lourdes.

Lourdes water flows from a spring discovered

by Bernadette at the base of the grotto, now

protected by a glass screen and lit from below.

Pilgrims drink Lourdes Water due to its reputed

healing power and collected from individual taps

located between the Massabielle and the baths.

The Baths or Piscines is located right ahead

and each year, approximately more 350,000

pilgrims bathe in the healing water of Lourdes.

Across the river is the Chapel of Candles -

...where pilgrims can light devotional candles and
about 800 tonnes of wax is burnt annually in here.

Also at the other side of the river is the Church of St .Bernadette.

.
It was built opposite the Grotto, this is the spot where Bernadette
stood during the eighteenth and final apparition of Virgin Mary..