Many years ago, Lourdes was an unknown village in the south of France.
But one day, a young shepherdess named Bernadette Soubirous Our Lady appeared.
It was back in 1858 and since then the apparitions were repeated several times before the young man ceased to be considered a crazy pathological liar and the Catholic church and the faithful began to believe in the apparitions.
In time, the city of Lourdes became more and more famous and visited, from the beginning faithful and tourists later, until, in 2013, came to Lourdes a young traveler whose blog one day would make him rich and famous. ..: p
Arriving in Lourdes by train from Bayonne (read my post on Bayonne) and down in his station, I immediately realized that it is not in a place like the others.
In Lourdes the trains arrive and depart every day full of faithful, the sick and volunteers.
It 'something very special to be in a city of pilgrimage, a city that still has a lot to offer for tourism.
With its spectacular churches built in defiance of the laws of nature, its streets full of shops selling religious objects, his evening processions and its Way of the Cross, Lourdes is a town that even a non-believer can take pleasure to visit.
Seeing how the shopkeepers, many of whom Italian, do business by selling empty plastic bottles, it makes me think about how much money today tadpole in a town that for many represents a hope of cure for some disease.
For anyone going to Lourdes, credende or not, can not help but to queue to take a little 'of holy water, which in the past seems to have been a source of miracles.
I obviously could not go to Lourdes and just stay there, so I studied a trip to do in a day, choosing to visit the famous Pic du Midi.
The Pic du Midi de Bigorre is a mountain of 2,877 meters on whose peak is the eponymous observatory.
Since the observatory opened its doors to tourists, many people go up the chairlift to enjoy a breathtaking view above the clouds.
The observatory is definitely worth the trip by bus, even if the price to go up is way overpriced.
Below is some video I shot at Lourdes and in other parts of France:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCBrso9WwkFbzhj8lfkS2WYEL0ORnWOmF
The fifth and final leg of my trip will be the beautiful Toulouse.
Below are photos taken in Lourdes: