Thinking of Paris

I was thinking about Paris the other day and how our first day there (in 2008) we had the best baguette sandwiches of our entire trip, and we had at least one a day, or so it seemed. I've been in love with French Bread ever since.

After purchasing our baguettes we walked over to Eiffel Tower to sit & enjoy our lunch. It was awesome!

One of my favorite pictures from the trip was taken that afternoon from the very spot we ate our lunch. I'll show you the original and altered versions.

For My Sister

Well, I finally loaded the pictures from the France trip that were taking with my regular camera, and they look great. The color is a lot better, so I think I will definitely start using this one more often.

These pictures are from a cemetery that we just happened to stumble on the first night we were in Carcasson.

The first picture was taking that night with the digital, and since the cemetery was closed we went back the next day.

The rest of the pictures are with my Pentax (not digital), and they are beautiful, and I thought that my sister would love to see them and maybe even take a copy.

Day 4

We had breakfast at the Hotel, checked out, and then it was off to Mass. After Mass we went to Confession. Confession took a while since there was no real line or organization, it was also my first experience with a face to face set up, I don't think I cared for that too much.

Since today was our last day in Lourdes we went to fill our bottles with Holy Water, and I also had a few candles to light. On our way back to the Hotel to collect our bags we hit every shop around. Once we had our bags we headed towards the train station. After buying our tickets the 3 of us sat down to eat the sandwiches we picked up along the way.

The train ride to Carcasson only took about 2 1/2 hours. Once we arrived and figured out where our Hotel was, we headed to it, on foot, dragging our luggage across town. It seemed painful at the time, but it was part of the fun.

We were all very pleased with the Hotel, it was very cute, and the lady at the desk was helpful and friendly. Once we got cleaned up, our trek to the Fortress began, it wasn't easy, but it was worth it. It's the largest medieval fortress in Europe, a walled city full of hotels, restaurants, and shops. We walked around the outer part of the city for most of the evening, well, until we had to look for food. The restaurant we picked looked very nice, but it took almost 15 minutes (maybe longer actually) to take our order. The food was very good. To start Sharon and I had an almond pate (it was really good!!), and Paul had onion soup. For the main course I had braised pork with white beans, Paul had a steak, and I think Sharon had turkey, it's all a little blurry.

After dinner it was time to walk back to the hotel, but first we had to go the a bridge for an awesome night time view of the castle. Paul took a great picture!!

Then off to bed.

Day 3

At 7:30 in the AM we were hunting down a place to have breakfast, we stopped at one place that advertised breakfast but didn't serve any (?), and the lady working there was sooooo RUDE!!! So we kept on walking and stumbled across an Irish Pub, so we ate there. The 3 of us had scrambled eggs and bacon.

Next we were on our way to 9:00 Mass, and since we had lots of time we shopped. Well, we looked, no buying took place until the morning we left. The shops were really nice quality so it wasn't easy decide what we wanted. Mass was interesting, and the Hymn at the end was awful. I'm not really used to a Novus Ordo Mass, so it's always a little strange for me. At the end of Mass they let us know about a movie that would be playing that morning on St. Bernadette and where we could find the information center.

Our next stop was the information center which really wasn't a whole lot of help, then we made our way to the movie. The movie turned out to be about miracles, it was interesting but the movie could have been cut in half. We were then told where to find the St. Bernadette movie. The movie wasn't very long but it gave just enough information about her life.

Next was the getting in line to see the Grotto and of course we were in the wrong line. Once we were in the correct line it wasn't too long before we were able to walk through it. The rock is smooth from all the hands that have touched it for so many years, and the spring (which didn't exist until Mary appeared to Bernadette and told her to dig for it) was rushing, crystal-clear, from which everyone collects their Holy Water. It was a wonderful experience. As you walk out of the Grotto you come across a large section of candles, and we each lit one for our special intentions. It was the first time I've ever lit a candle, but it wasn't my last.

Lunch was next on our minds, so we were on the look out. Sharon and I had Lasagna and Paul had steak and fries. I know, I know, we should be trying as many french dishes as possible, well Lourdes is not the place for that. They have many tourist all year and they cater to all of them. You'll find an Italian Restaurant or an Irish Pub before you find a traditional French Restaurant.

Then we took a nap.

After nap time, we hurried to the train station, just to clear up some things about our tickets. It's a good thing we did though, on our way back we noticed a blue line on the sidewalk and realized if we followed the line it was like following the footsteps of St. Bernadette. The footsteps led us to her Parish Church, which is actually a new church (the other one burned down) which has the original Baptismal font. We would have gone inside if it weren't for the funeral taking place. It's bad enough we crashed a funeral in Rome, I had no desire to do it again. Next we saw the front of the house where her father was born, followed by the Mill where St. Bernadette was born and I believe she lived there until she was about 10. We continued to follow the footsteps which led us to the Miraculous Medal Museum, it was tiny, mainly a shop, with few historical items. The footsteps then took us to the Cachot (dungeon) where St. Bernadette and her family had to live when they lost the Mill. It's extremely small.

The next item on our list was the St. Bernadette Museum, it took forever to find the place. The museum had personal items, stories, and much more.

We started back towards the Grotto and toured the Crypt, the Immaculate Conception Basilica, and the Rosary Basilica. I love all of the time, detail, and love that went into these old Churches, I can't imagine anyone being able to day dream or lose sight of what they're there for.

Now we were on the hunt for the entrance to the trail of the Stations of the Cross, it wasn't easy to find, and once we did find it, and we came to the first station we realized we were going the WRONG WAY!!! The first station was actually the last. Well, this was not ideal, but our feet/legs/bodies were in so much pain already (mine was anyhow) we decided to keep on going, and we got some strange/dirty looks along the way.

After that we had dinner, and participated in another Rosary Procession.

Then it was time for bed.

Day 2

We woke up bright and early for Mass at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, it was gorgeous. I wish I had pictures. After Mass walked back to the Hotel to have breakfast, the we made our way to the Louvre Museum. It was amazing getting to see the Mona Lisa as well as the other paintings (I don't know what the others are called), I took lots of photos as we walked through.

After our tour of the Louvre, we headed back to the hotel, checked out, and ran frantically to the train station, and we barely caught our train to Lourdes. I think the train ride took about 5 hours, it was very comfortable.

By the time we arrived in Lourdes, found our Hotel, and checked in it was a little after 8:00 PM, so we started making our way towards the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception for the Rosary Procession. It was beautiful, the prayer's were said in almost every language imaginable, all of the people held candles and walked together. They have it everyday rain or shine. Once it was over we started back for the Hotel and stopped at almost every souvenir shop along the way. Oh, and of course we stopped for some glace.


The Louvre


The Louvre Museum

The Rosary Procession