13. Bagneres… to Lourdes

 It rained heavily overnight but thankfully the sky had cleared this morning. It was a beautiful fresh day, and rested from our day in Bagneres de Bigorre we set out for Lourdes with renewed energy. 

We had a nice breakfast in the pilgrim hostel - Neil having gone out to gather early morning croissants from a nearby boulangerie that opened at 7am. He was the first customer although others were already queuing for their early pastries! 

It was a delightfully manageable stage of about 24km. It began along a fairly busy feeder road but after a few kilometres we turned off into quiet country lanes or tracks, and it remained like that for the rest of the stage. 

These two guys seemed really keen to greet us as we went past. They had a lovely spirit.

More scenes of the high Pyrenees - just stunning! The largest mountain, half hidden by cloud in the background, is the Col de Tourmalet.

This was the view from our stop for elevenses.

Soon after, the path took us off the road and onto a high ridge with staggering vistas on both sides.

You can’t see us if we can’t see you!!

 

This was our lunch spot - we were taken by the play of light on the rafters flickering up from the stream below.

The local parish church in Lourdes is enormous.

And nearby, an equally astonishing plane tree

- planted in 1818!

After settling ourselves in tonight’s accommodation, Andy also arrived and we went out to explore the sights of Lourdes. We’d been braced for some rather over-heated religious tourism, but in fact the central area of grotto and basilica seemed calm and pretty balanced. We had known little of the foundation story, but it is based on a series of visions or encounters which Bernadette Soubirous, a local girl, had of a ‘young girl’ by a stream near a small grotto or cave. These visions were interpreted as being of the young Mary, who commanded there to be a chapel built and the waters taken for healing. 

In the street leading up to the church there were a fair number of religious souvenir shops, with shelves full of statues of Mary! But it actually didn’t feel commercialised in the main devotional spaces, and you could enter freely to walk and pray.

Striking mosaics adorned the main basilica - note Judas slinking away from the Last Supper, with the purse clutched in his hand.

The grotto, site of the original visions, above which the basilica towers.

Looking down from above.

It’s been a special day and this stage to Lourdes concludes the first major leg of our journey. Tomorrow we start the second phase - from Lourdes to St Jean Pied de Port. And stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog … we have a special guest about to join us for this next week of walking! 

With our love, S & N

👣💜👣