Honeymoon in France - Day 5 (All about Lourdes)

     We woke up around 6am because we had to get the rental car back to the airport by 8am.  We found our way to the car return and turned it back into Hertz.  It was at that time we realized that we should have probably made arrangements for a taxi to be waiting to pick us up.  The airport was nearly empty with exception of one tour bus that was loading people.  There was not a taxi to be found.  We tried to call the taxi services in Lourdes and Tarbes but je ne parle pas Francais was problematic. As good fortune would have it, or someone's guardian angel, a single Mercedes taxi showed up at the airport.  We got in and we were back to the Hotel.

     We opted for the grand entrance and walked to the main entrance instead of the closer St. Joseph entrance.  In the morning light, the church was a magnificent sight.  Surrounded by trees, grass, high hills and the flowing river, it was something to see with our own eyes.  We made our way to the shrines in front of the church, eventually arriving inside of the church where daily mass was starting.  There was supposed to be an English mass at the Grotto, but that was nowhere to be found.  So we settled for the French mass.

     I can't tell you how many times Jennie repeated the words of the Theotokos to St. Bernadette "build a chapel and come to me in processions".  I'm not great at estimating the number of people but we saw at least 6,000 people in and around the shrine that morning.  We spent most of the morning taking in all that the shrine offered.  We sat by the flowing Gave de Pau, watched hundreds if not thousands of wheelchairs touch the grotto of Massabielle then get in line to bathe in the waters.  It was a humbling and sacred experience.

     We left the Shrine and walked into town to look for lunch.  We found a nice little bistro with a deck overlooking the river.  As we sat outside we watched the crowds making their way back to their hotels from the shrine.  It was people watching at its finest.  We finished lunch and made our way to a tour of Lourdes on a train pulled by a tractor. We decided to get off the train at the Pic du Jer and make our way to the top.

     The Pic du Jer is a summit in the Hautes-Pyrenees that is located 951m or 3,120 feet above the city.  The mountain is accessible from a funicular which has been in operation since 1900.  The funicular follows a 1,100m route with slopes ranging from 27% to 56%.  The view from the top was awesome with all of Lourdes to the right and the snow covered Pyrenees to the left.  We spent 30 or 40 minutes exploring the top and made our way back down to Lourdes to catch the wagon train back to our hotel to get ready for the evening events.

   
     There is a nightly Eucharistic procession at 5pm and a candlelight rosary procession at 9pm.  We tried to find the Eucharistic procession but were unsuccessful.  We asked and were told that due to concerns about weather they had moved it underground to the Pius X Basillica.  We found the Benediction but where underwhelmed by it.  The Basillica is a large concrete open space that is looks more like a big gymnasium than church.  It was cold and we got out pretty quickly.  We found some dinner and came back to the Shrine to fill up the holy water bottles. We returned the holy water to our room and came back for the candlelight rosary.

     As we had a little time before the procession started, Jennie lit three candles, one for her parish priest, one for my mom and one for the husband of a friend of hers.  After that we found a place near the front of the procession and blended in with a group of religious sisters.  During the procession, and depending on the day, pilgrims recite the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful or Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.  Since it was Friday, the Sorrowful mysteries were prayed during the procession.

     At the beginning of each decade, words in several languages give direction to the prayer and offer a point for meditation.  In the calm of evening, each pilgrim carried their own personal intentions along with a candle.  The procession ended in front of the church where the Ave Maria was sung for the final time.  Afterwards, pilgrims dispersed and went back to their hotels for the night.




    
Candle Light procession at Lourdes from Patrick Cullen on Vimeo.

     We ended the night back at the Grotto of Massabielle where one more time we touched the walls and water seeping from this holy spot.  We went back to the hotel, made arrangements for an early morning taxi and called it a day.

Honeymoon in France - Day 4 (Pilgrimage to Lourdes)

     Right before we went to bed we learned that the French rail strike had partially changed our high-speed train from Paris to Lourdes.  The train would take us to Bordeaux, slightly more than half way.  So instead of picking up a car in Paris and making the 8 hour drive, we only had a 2.5 hour drive in front of us.

     With that news we picked up a free morning so we got some breakfast, hit St. Gervais for mid-day prayer and made our way to the train station.  We took an Uber to the train station and wondered if we were on a pilgrimage to eternity.  They drive like crazy people in Paris.  It had me a little bit worried about the drive from Bordeaux to Lourdes.  We got to the train station with plenty of time to spare, so we got some food, some drink and some new clothes (Jennie).  We boarded the train and quickly made our way to Bordeaux.

     Once we were out of the city, the train accelerated to 300km/h, or 180mph.  The seats were comfortable, they had free wi-fi and power outlets.  If we had this option in the USA, I'd choose the train over flying for anything under 700 miles.


Afternoon Prayer at St. Gervais

High Speed Train to Bordeaux from Patrick Cullen on Vimeo.

     We arrived in Bordeaux, eventually found our way to the rental car counter and waited for that fabulous French service.  When we got to the agent he started to process the rental and told us that we couldn't rent the car unless Jennie had a different credit card.  He told us that the Visa she was using was not a valid card.  After some "discussion" he checked the number he had entered and realized that he forgot a number.  We got the keys, walked the lot and found our Ford Fiesta, complete with a 6 speed manual transmission.  We plugged the address into the GPS and hit the motorway.  Once we got outside of Bordeaux, we essentially had the motorway to ourselves.  In the 2 hours we drove we saw less than 20 other cars.  We stopped at a gas station outside of Lourdes to take in the cool mountain air and the beautiful sights.  Something told us we were not in Arizona anymore.

     We finished the drive and arrived at our Hotel just as the pilgrims were leaving the candlelight procession.  We checked in, grabbed a bite to eat and made our way to Shrine.  Like a beacon of light, we turned the corner and their was the Grotto where the Holy Theotokos appeared to Bernadette.  They were finishing up Benediction and the sweet smell of incense was wafting throughout the crowd.  After Benediction, the crowd dispersed and less than 30 of us remained.  We were able to walk right up to the rocks, feel the water seeping from them and spend time standing at the spot.  I'm so happy we decided to go that night as the next day it was like a cattle car.  You waited in line, you walked and you couldn't stop.

     We stayed their until closing time when the French security guards threw us out.  What a bunch of trouble makers we are, getting thrown out of the Grotto at Lourdes.  We made our way back to the hotel, struggled with finding our room in the dark hallway and crawled into bed around 1AM, with a 6am wake-up call.


Benediction at Lourdes from Patrick Cullen on Vimeo.
Jennie at Lourdes Grotto from Patrick Cullen on Vimeo.
Jennie at Lourdes Grotto from Patrick Cullen on Vimeo.

Honeymoon in France - Day 3 (Joyeux anniversaire Jennifer)

     The getting up early, the lack of sleep and constant activity finally caught up to us.  Today we had trouble getting moving.  Not only was it our third day in France, it was Jennie's birthday.  The birthday girl wanted to go to daily mass at Notre Dame and visit the Luxembourg Gardens.  We had reservations for a night dinner cruise on the Seine.  A rather leisurely day, right?

     We made our way to Notre Dame and found seats in the second row.  Right before the mass began, a religious sister took down the barrier from the front row and we moved up.  The nun sitting next to Jennie started going on in French and we played the "parlez vous Anglais" card.  From what we could gather she was telling us the front row was reserved for readers, of which there were none.  Oh well, when in Paris!  The daily mass was celebrated in French and after the consecration I wondered off to find a place to get pictures and videos of Jennie receiving the Eucharist...on her birthday, at Notre Dame.

     We left Notre Dame and made our way to Luxembourg Gardens.  It was less than 2 miles so we decided to walk.  We made our way through the Latin quarter, past several universities including the Sorbonne.  When we walked through the gates at Luxembourg it was incredible.  Jennie has lived in the desert most of her life and I have been in the desert for 15 years.  You forget just how beautiful a place is that has green grass, trees and flowers.  We walked all around the gardens taking in as much as we could.  We lounged on chairs near a fountain, lounged on chairs in the with Luxembourg palace in the background.  We went on a hunt for the statue of St. Genevieve, which was the last one we looked at.

     We received a beautiful icon for our wedding of St. Patrick and St. Genevieve.  We found out that Genevieve was who Jennie was named after and that she was the patron saint of all of Paris.

We w
     We left the Gardens and walked back towards Notre Dame.  Along the way we found the St. Germain des Pres.  We went inside to look around and found yet another beautiful church.  They had a side altar/shrine devoted to St. Therese, as well as an icon written in Old Church Slavonic.  This was my kind of Latin church!  We left and continued towards Notre Dame where we found a non-descript looking church that appeared to be defunct.  We went inside and the Eastern Catholic in me was pleased.  We had stumbled into a Melkite church, in the shadows of Notre Dame.  It was simple in design with beautiful icons everywhere and an impressive iconastasis.  Through my limited French I was able to find out that Sunday Divine Liturgy was at 11am and we knew that was where we would go.

     We walked back to the hotel, in a pouring rain, and my beautiful bride was found to be dancing & singing under her umbrella.  We got ready for dinner, grabbed another Uber and found our way to the boat launch on the Seine.  We selected the company Bateaux Mouches for our dinner and cruise.  We were given a table for two, right next to the windows which gave us a great view of the city going by.  It was a great dinner, except for the nasty cheese they gave us prior to dessert.  We were able to enjoy the view, enjoy the foo, enjoy the wine and enjoy the company for almost 2.5 hours.  The timing of the cruise brought the Eiffel Tower into view at dusk and all lit up.  After the cruise ended, we took another Uber back to the Hotel and called it a night.


Eiffell Tower at Dusk from Patrick Cullen on Vimeo..