Category: France Spain 2023

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 !!! 💰 

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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 !!! 💰🕯️💒🙏

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{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 ❤️

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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.

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 look what I found on Dave’s phone – a photo in front of the same stage !!!

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Hey we’ve hardly changed a bit in (sh!te) 16 years 😂

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Where does the time go ???

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 😞