Stay, Stray, Play and Feast: Amazing Lourdes: Beautiful Rustic Pilgrim City (Immaculate Lourdes Series 19)

Amazing Lourdes
Beautiful, Rustic Pilgrim City
Immaculate Lourdes Series 19

We have been to France several times but our visits
had been limited to Paris, and this is our first time
to venture out of the popular French capital city.

This is also the beginning of my family’s

European spring vacation which would

begin as pilgrimage in Lourdes, France,

…we would then move to Lyon, France,

…followed by Milan, Italy,

…with Venice, Italy as our final stop

Day 1

We arrived at late in the afternoon at the Hotel Majestic

…after a long haul trip from Naga City

with an overnight stay in Manila,

… a stop over in in Singapore,

…another stop over in CDG Airport in Paris,

…a frenzy limousine ride to Paris’ Orly Airport

…and we finally arrived post noon at the

Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport

We took a taxi to Hotel Majestic

…located right within the Lourdes city center.

Hotel Majestic is a small 3 star hotel

set in a centuries old building,

…designed with a contemporary old colonial flair .

The people at front desk we’re cordial and friendly,

..and we were immediately in our room at the fourth floor

that was accessible wither by a small elevated any by a

centuries old, well preserved winding wooden stairway.

Ours was a Quad Room at the 4^th floor and was spacious
enough to accommodate four persons.with two large queen
beds, very basic accommodation, clean and comfortable .

This would be our home for the next four days of our three- week
European vacation. While may wife and daughter were unpacking,

my son and I looked for a grocery to buy suppleis we may need.

At the grocery, we stumbled on two native

French pastries and took them to our hotel.

We snacked on them, rested

for a while, got dressed-

…and searched for a restaurant

where we could have dinner.

We explored the nearby Rue de Grotte, the road

that leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes,

…and stumbled upon AFC(AMMA Fried Chicken).

We initially misread the signage as KFC as

it had the same font, and it was only when

we got closer when we realized it was AFC.

The food was good and very affordable.

AFC (AMMA FriedChicken) is a cross between

McDonalds and KFC but the food they served is

way more delicious than the two fast- food giants.

We window shopped at the
Rue de Grotte for few hours,

…and returned back to Hotel Majestic to rest.

Day 2

We woke up early and had a breakfast at the hotel
which was served in a lovely café l lobby. that had
a decent spread of continental breakfast buffet.

Shortly later, we were on our way to the Sanctuary of the Lady of Lourdes,

taking pictures and admiring the old well preserved buildings along the way,
We were impressed by the ancient Cinema Majestic that shows classic
religious movies, using traditional film rolls played in analogue projectors.

We walked to the Rue de Grotte in the main road

that leadsto the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes,

It is a very busy avenue, teeming with pilgrims

as it is the way in and way our of the domain.

This lively road is lined with restaurants budget hotels set

in centuries old buildings and countless of souvenir shops.

we also spotted house where St. Bernadette lived

called La Maison de Bernadette it is one of the

most important pilgrimage sites in Lourdes, France.

The sound of a river near the entrance of the Sanctuary caught
our attention. It was clean and pristine and we later learned it
was Osse, a tributary of Gave de Pau, a river named after the
city of Pau, through which it flows from the Pyrenees Mountain.

The bridge at the Gave de Pau-

... led is to the Abri Saint Michel the main gateway to the
sanctuary. We took our photos at the Calvaire des Britons,

a marble sculpture of Christ’s crucifixion of at the calvary,

…and leisure walked at the L’ Esplanade-

… a tree lined pedestrianized road, flanked
with lovely well manicured gardens, parks.

We again paused and took photos at the Rosary Square,

near the Satatue de la Vierge Couronnee de Lourdes

…and attended a holy mass at the

Basilique de Notre Dame du Rosarie.

From the Rosary Basilica, we

turned right to the Massabielle-

… the exact site where St. Bernadette Soubirous witnessed

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

We queued to pay respect at the grotto where the image
of Virgin Mary is found. Lourdes water flows from a spring
discovered by Bernadette at the base of the grotto, now

protected by a glass screen and dramatically lit from below.

After praying at the image,

We collected Lourdes Water from individual taps

located between the Massabielle and the baths.

The water comes from the spring at the base of

the grotto and reputed to have healing power.

We crossed the bridge across the Osse river-

…to light a candle Chapel of Candles.

After lighting candles, we explored the river bank,

and admired how clean the Ousse river was.

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 water so clear that we could see the smoothness

of the rocks underneath and we have never seen a river

this pristine in any urban centers in the Philippines.

We then explored tu Sanctuary at the other side of

the river,and visited the Église de Sainte Bernadette.

It was built opposite the Grotto, this is the spot where

Bernadette stood during the 18th and final apparition.

This offers a breathtaking view of the Massabielle and the

beautiful Upper Basilica and perfect for picture taking.

We passed by the Accueil Notre Dame. reserved for

the accommodation of the sick and disabled pilgrims,

…caught the sight of the Carmelite Monastery,

…and the Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes.

the headquarter of catholic volunteers that serve the

sanctuary especially during the peak pilgrimage season.

It was already past noon when we

dined at the L’ Ermitage Restaurant.

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.

We loved everything especially the Truta Meuniere.

The fish was oven baked to golden perfection, it was

oozing with the delightful aroma of herbs and spices.

My daughter did not to eat due to a

jetlag that she just slept on the couch.

After lunch we bought a two day pass at

the Petit Train Touristique de Lourdes

It is a trackless train, similar to the one being

used in LA’s Universal Studios Backlot Tour-

…that goes around the pilgrim city of Lourdes.

We stopped at the Pic du Jer a 3,120 ft summit

in the Hautes-Pyrénées. in the city of Lourdes.

It is accessible by Funiculaire du Pic du Jer

an ancient funicular train built in 1900.

The funicular transports passengers to the peak,

…where guests can hike to the summit

that offers views of the city of Lourdes,

…the Pyrénées Mountains,

…and the surrounding suburbs .

Aside from being hiking and climbing

stead the Pic du Jer is also a favorite

destination for extreme mountain bikers.

We again took the Petit Train Touristique de Lourdes and

got down at the Musee de Pyreneen hilltop castle museum.

We were informed at the ticket booth

that it was closing in less than an hour

so we decided not to get in anymore.

We returned to Hotel Majestic on foot to rest and

snacked on the native pastries we bought a day before.

After resting for several hours, we

returned to the Lourdes Sanctuary for

the 9:00pm candle light procession.

We purchased candles at a souvenir

shop along the busy Rue de Grotte,

and we were on our way to the domain.

We positioned ourselves at the

assembly area in front of the Grotto,

…and the Marian Procession began at 9.00pm.

led by sick pilgrims, some of them in wheelchairs,

…followed by devotees carrying

the image of the Lady of Lourdes,

…and a multitude of pilgrims from all over the world.

The procession was a sight to behold as it snaked around

the Esplanade, ending in the Rosary Square wile we

walked singing Ave Maria with our lit candle held up,

It was a spiritually inspiring evening of sanctimonious

songs and prayers where Bernadette was instructed by

Virgin Mary more than 100 years ago to “Go to the priests

and tell them that people should come here in procession.”

The evening procession has been done

here everyday for over a hundred years.

We here happy we became a part of it.

It was almost midnight when we left the Lourdes’ Sanctuary

after we attended the evening procession and mass and most

of the restaurants at the Rue de Grotte were already closed.

We spotted L’ Europeen at the far end of the road

to be the only restaurant at the strip with the lights

on and luckily it was still open so we dining there.

L’ Europeen offers European- Indian fusion cuisine

and we were glad that they offered rice in their menu.

We were happy with L’ Europeen as the food was
delicious, the servings were huge, the service was good-

…and it was budget friendly restaurant.

We returned to the hotel

and had a very restful sleep.

Day 3

We all woke up late and had a late breakfast at the hotel,

spent some time souvenir shopping at the Rue de Grotte,

…and we were on our way to the Domain

where we intend to have a dip at the Baths.

Also called Piscines approximately more 350,000

pilgrims bathe in the healing water of Lourdes.

The bath was icy cold but it felt good.

After our dip at the Piscines we ascended

the stairs flanking The Rosary Basilica,

…to visit the Crypt,

…and the Upper Basilica which are built on

top of Massabielle, are far above ground level.

We had our photos taken at the wide

space right in front of the Crypt,

…and marveled at view of the Rosary Square,

and the verdant, tree- lined L’ Esplanade.

We returned to the Rosary Basilica to have the

religious souvenirs we bought blessed by a priest.

We again had lunch a the L’ Ermitage Restaurant,

…and just like the first time we again had an

awesome dining experience at the restaurant.

After lunch we took Petit Train Touristique

de Lourdes as the two day pass came with free

tickets to Le Petit Lourdes and Musee de Cire.

Our first stop was Le Petit Lourdes.

This is ancient park, where the village

of Lourdes was recreated in miniature,

…at the time of Virgin Mary’s apparitions.

The guests would be able to walk thru

the old Lourdes the way it was in 1858.

We took the train once more

and stopped at Musee de Cire.

Musee de Cire is one of Lourdes top tourist attractions
with over 100 life-sized wax figures, done by the

artists from the prestigious Grévin Museum in Paris,

…dedicated to the life and death of St. Bernadette,

…recreation of scenes from the New Testament-

…and important milestones in Christianity.

Our last stop was the Musee de Pyreneen
and just like the other day, they were closing

in less than an hour so we weren’t able to get in.

We decided to walk back to our hotel to rest and to

pack up as we would be leaving for Lyon the next day

While packing we realized that we are running out

of Euros so off I went to the the Rue de Grotte to

look for a bank where I could change my dollars.

That’s when I stumbled upon La Maison de Bernadette,
which we actually intended to visit but total forgot about it.

I bought a ticket and had the chance

to see St. Bernadette’s humble abode.

After getting some Euros from a foreign currency exchange

booth, I returned to the hotel and took my family for dinnerat

the nearby Au Rendez vous des Ch’timis et des Bretons.

Au Rendez vous des Ch’timiset des Bretons,

…was located just in front of Hotel Majestic

and we didn’t want to go far so we dined there.

It was our penultimate day in Lourdes, and it was
a perfect culinary conclusion of our four day visit.

Day 4

It was our last day in Lourdes and we

had an early breakfast at the hotel buffet.

It was raining hard, we took a taxi

to the Lourdes Central Train Station,

…for our 6- hour train ride to Lyon,

…our next stop for my family’s

yearly European spring vacation.

CamSur

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Amazing Lourdes: Beautiful Rustic Pilgrim City (Immaculate Lourdes Series 19)

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