Lourdes and flooding (18 October 2024)

 

Sanctuaire de Notre Dame de Lourdes

It was still raining when we awoke on Friday.  Only lightly but Graham and Bev had been looking to see what had happened given the volume of water that had come down the previous day. It appeared that there had been some flooding but it had been worse in the Ardeche region to the east of us. 

 

I decided on a route that would take us to Bagnères de Bigorre (a Tour de France destination), Lourdes (pilgrimage site) and perhaps Pau (a regular host of the Tour). 

 

It was raining as we set off.  Bagnères-de-Bigorre sat at the base of the Pyrenees and as we drove in the cloud lifted briefly to reveal snow covered peaks before closing in again.  It looked like a nice little village but we only stopped briefly to take a photo of a muddy raging stream.  The town looked closed and there were hardly any car parks close to where we wanted to go. Plus it was still raining.

Adour in flood Bagnère-de-Bigorre

 

We travelled along a very pretty valley to get to Lourdes.  Fortunately, we found a car park close to Centreville and went to see what the fuss was all about.  As many will know, Lourdes is a pilgrimage site where people (mostly Catholics) go for cures for illness and disability.  In the 19th century apparently apparitions appeared to a peasant girl.  Nowadays, apparently, five million tourists come to Lourdes to where the miracle occurred and to drink the holy water. 

Pilgrims at Sanctuaire de Notre Dame de Lourdes

 

We walked along the main street which took us to the church and the cave where the apparition was said to have appeared.  The church is magnificent.  There were quite a number of tourists there and buses were appearing all the time.  We weren’t allowed into the cave where the apparition of the Virgin Mary was said to have occurred.   Around the church there were taps with signs saying holy water which I assumed came from the spring in the cave.  People had large plastic containers and were filling them up.  In town you could buy it already bottled at a ridiculous price.


Getting Holy water

 

Above the town was a large medieval fortress towering over it.  The rain had eased when we were there which made it nicer but the town had a very tacky feel to it with uninviting restaurants and cafés lining the main street.




 

With no tempting place to have a coffee,  we decided to go to Pau for lunch, which was on our way to Bayonne. Unfortunately once we found a place to park finding a place to eat was not easy but we eventually settled for a sushi place which was passable.

 

Pau looked like an interesting place to walk around but we needed to get to Bayonne to meet our host.  In addition, the weather was still not great. The route out of the town took us down a road that had featured in the most recent Tour de France with each year it has occurred,  written on the pavement. 

 

As we approached Bayonne the sun appeared. However, about fifty kilometres before Bayonne the road we were to take was blocked due to flooding  so I elected to take the autoroute.   It was a good choice as I missed a turn going into Bayonne and had to retrace my steps. 

 

Our hosts’ representative, Evelyne,  was there to meet us when we arrived but only spoke French. She gave us a lovely tour of the apartment using her translation app  to explain everything and with that, we managed to understand all the ins and outs! 

 

So ended our travelling day. 

 


 

Fortress overlooking Lourdes

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