So after all that holy stuff, we were ravenous and opted for an “atmospherical” little cafe across the road.
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Dave went “safe” with chicken & chips (and was let down 😞) BUT I went for a “Croque Madame” which is essentially a “Croque Monsieur” with a fried egg 🍳 on the top !!! (… and was fab 😋)
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(The French like to bob an egg on the top of lots of things – including salads – I kid you not !!!)
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Anyways then we shared a waffle with Nutella & cream – fuel to sustain us to look around the holy tat shops !!!
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So – for any Roman Catholic visiting Lourdes – the piece de resistance has to be Massabielle Grotto – where the Virgin Mary appeared to St Bernadette 18 times from 11th February to 16th July 1858 and who was canonised in 1933 and whose body is still (pretty much) as it was when she died on 16th April 1879 ✝️
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What WAS disappointing was that you couldn’t access any Lourdes spring water (I don’t mean to go on about religious stuff but – for those of you reading this that perhaps don’t know – the Virgin Mary told St Bernadette to “drink at the spring & wash in it” but there WAS no spring until St Bernadette dug the soil with her hands and the spring appeared).
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And many have been cured from various ills (both physical & mental – I was hoping for the latter !!!) after bathing in the water…
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I had read online (before we left) that the “Lourdes Baths” were open 9am-2pm (only 12 degrees 🥶) but we packed our swims and WOULD have had a dunk !!!
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And there are lots of taps built into the wall (where peeps normally fill their holy water bottles) but they were “Hors Service” (out of bleedin’ order). Unsure if this was a COVID thing or wot…
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So l’m thinking that the sale of holy water bottles – from the plethora of holy tat shops across the road – is WELL down !!! 💰
The main event of the day (15 minutes away on the bikes) was “Sanctuaires Notre-Dame de Lourdes” (The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes) and was – in winter at least – a lovely, peaceful retreat set on the River Ousse.
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After initially being shooed out by the bouncer 😂 (because you are not allowed to cycle around the grounds) we secured the bikes outside and re-entered à pied (on foot 🦶 )…
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Within the grounds are the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception & – built directly underneath – the Basilica of the Our Lady of The Rosary.
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We arrived about 11:30am and Mass was being said in both churches so we explored the smaller surrounding chapels and I went to light a candle & say a prayer 🙏
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AND I have to report that I’ve been in a LOT of churches & nearly always light a candle but it’s the first time I’ve EVER been able to pay (€3 for the tiniest candle) with my phone at a terminal right next to the candle holder inside church – sign of the times, indeed !!! 💰🕯️💒🙏
{OK so I’ve just written the blog for today but there’s too many piccies for it to cope with in one go so I’m doing a few smaller posts with a few piccies at a time xxx}
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Saturday dawned beautifully sunny 😎 (if a bit chilly 🥶) and Dave set up the electric bikes 🚲 – nice piccie below of them outside The Van with The Pyrenees 🏔️ in the background 😊
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So we bibbed off (me very gingerly as I’m out of practice) but Dave was (as ever) brilliant, led the way & kept waiting for me to catch up & didn’t berate me for being slow ❤️
Well nothing really of interest to report for Friday 6th January – we left the previous “camping car parking” place and headed for Lourdes – which was a LONG drive.
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We stopped at a “Camping Car” (I like that’s what the French call a motor home 😊) Accessory place on the way and I used my (rusty) A’Level French to purchase 2 bottles of blue chemical toilet liquid (liquide de toilette chimique bleu 🇫🇷) – are we living the high life or wot ? 😂
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Over the road I spotted a nice Boulanger & we got a couple of filled baguettes & ate them en-route… 😋
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Dave looked tired so I offered to have a go at driving The Van but I just didn’t feel remotely comfortable – even on the empty toll roads – but once we were back on the “public” roads & I being overtaken by juggernauts 🚛 – that was it 😳
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So I ended up reneging after doing about 20km (at 50mph)…
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Dave took over again but didn’t seem best pleased & ended up driving like Stirling Moss, speeding, changing lanes & going up people’s backsides 😳
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We are now BOTH full of cold so the fatigue kicked in again and we stopped for a Power Nap, a cup of tea & a bun 🧁
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Speaking again (!) we began the last leg and as we approached Lourdes, the snow-capped Pyrenees were bathed in late afternoon sun…
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It was 6:30pm and dark when we got to the SECOND campsite in Lourdes (the first one was closed 😐) but it was another auto-thing (like the day before) – you just create an account on a terminal by the barrier, pay with a card & the barrier goes up…
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Dave was totally pooped and went to bed straight after tea but to prepare myself for visiting Lourdes the next day, I re-watched the 1943 classic 🎥 “The Song of Bernadette” 🙏💒…
So – unlike 2006 when we were so wrecked we ignored the alarm that kept going off over the speaker in our 4 berth cabin (see Maria modelling in piccie !!!) – today we were up at 6:30am, showered & eating pain au chocolate & a hot drink in the cafe by 7:15am !!!
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Took AGES to disembark and didn’t drive onto terra firma in St Malo until 9:45am (French time as we gained an hour) even though docking time was 8:15am – lazy French B…
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Anyway Dave was an absolute ⭐️ today and although we were originally heading for La Rochelle, ended up driving even further & we are now in a motorhome aire (like a cheap campsite in town but not that cheap at £15 for one night in bloody January !!!) in a place called Châtelaillon-Plage which is even further south…
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So we (well probably Dave TBH) are (hopefully) going to get all the way to Lourdes by tomorrow night so we can do all the fabulous, religious recommendations (that are open in January anyway) on a dry, sunny 😎 Saturday – as Sunday looks rainy ☔️ & cr@p everywhere…
So (even though we arrived at Portsmouth Brittany Ferries terminal 90 minutes before sailing) we were the last to board so dumped our stuff in the 2 berth cabin (I went on top 😐) & headed for the bar 🍷🍺…
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Unbelievably, it was the same ship as December 2006 when my sister, brother-in-law, Dave & myself did a Wave 105 Booze Cruise – couldn’t resist taking a photo of the stage & dance floor but sadly no entertainment this year 😞
So we got ready and started the 15 minute walk down to East Cowes Marina (where Paul’s boat is moored) when suddenly there was a BEEP as Maria & Sophie drove past on their way back from shopping in Ryde !!!
They stopped and gave us a lift and we bibbed into Waitrose to pick up some alcohol then boarded “Blinkbonnie II”…
We hadn’t seen them in person since Mum’s funeral on 16th March so it was lovely to finally catch up. Sadly there was no Mike as he was recently knocked off his bike and has a wrist injury making it impossible for him to sail or fish ☹️
But after yummy olives, meats, hummus & crisps to accompany bubbles 🥂 it was then a stone’s throw to The Lifeboat pub for dinner…
I really enjoyed my ham, egg & chips (washed down with a few Sauvignon Blancs) and we also benefitted from the “Eat Out Mon-Weds” deal !!!
Back onto “Blinkbonnie” with each of us having a turn on Spotify to pick a tune – accompanied by yet more bubbles for the girls and Fuggle beer for the boys – Dave & I finally disembarked gone 1:30am…
For once (as I’d also been drinking water) Dave was more “the-worse-for-wear” than me – and the (supposedly) 15 minute return journey – trudging uphill in the drizzle – seemed to take much longer – with Dave asking “Are we there yet ?” every few seconds !!!
But a good time was had by all 😊🛥 🍾 🥂 🍺 🥘 🎵🕺💃 🥴 xxx 💗💋
We got up, showered, breakfasted, packed, loaded up the motorbike and then locked up The Van ready for our few days in my beloved Isle of Wight 💗
I’ve been visiting since I was a child and love the place so have been really looking forward to this part of the trip… We WOULD have come across in The Van BUT – as Dave informs me – “it’s the most expensive strip of water in the world” – and a 40 minute crossing from Lymington to Yarmouth would have set us back around £250.
So THIS trip we opted to come over on the motorbike 🏍 for 1/5 of the price…
My sister Maria, Paul, Sophie & Mikey are also here this week – using their yacht as a “floating caravan” moored up in East Cowes so I booked (the only available) B&B in East Cowes and we arrived a little while ago and it’s directly across the road from Osborne House (former residence of Queen Victoria) – aptly named “The Prince of Wales” !!! 👑 AND – take a look at our room – HRH Princess 👸🏼 Helena – yes !!! And private bathroom opposite…
I think I might get Dave to put named brass plaques on our rooms at home !!! 😂😂😂
My Dave’s had a little nap (whilst I’ve been updating the blog) but is awake now so we’ll get ready and wander off to meet Maria for pre-dinner drinkies on the boat 🛥🍾 🥂 …
