A long drive to a lot of mammoth mountains

---

An early start, always helps if you read your watch correctly! Ian had pretty much packed everything by the time I had showered and sorted the mammoth out. With 258KM of road between us and our nights stop, we set off through kilometre after kilometre of Vin Yards, they seemed to go on forever. Through forests and finally through windy roads we could see the Pyrenees in the distance.



Woolly says – My first really big mountains, I’ve seen Snowden and a few others but these provide the border between France and Spain, they looked incredible, no snow in sight but I’m sure we’ll get to that. Pitching up at Camping Arrouche in the foothills of the Pyrenees and within a kilometre of Lourdes, we had a stunning setting for the night. The lady in the office was very nice and spent ages showing us on the map where to find everything, good basic facilities for 13.40 Euros (approximately £11.00 GBP) we could choose where we wanted to go and said our Bonjour’s to the Motorhomes around us, I sat listening to the cow bells as Ian and Jo set up camp.



Half an hour and we were ready for the off again, a very short drive took us to the Les Sanctuaires, the reason why most people flock to this area. Parking on the road behind a Motorhome that looked uncannily like Georgie and putting our Euros’ into the parking machine, one Euro an hour, we set off across the parkland.



Woolly says – it was easy to see where were heading, just look for the thousands of people! The church of St Bernadette dominated the skyline with its Gothic towers, it looked most impressive and different to any other church we have seen in France with its grey stonework instead of the sandstone we have become accustomed to. Walking past the lit candles of all sizes, some were bigger than Ian! We grew ever closer to the visitors, wheelchairs, sticks, crutches, hospital beds, so many people looking for a miracle. We watched quietly as people went past the Sacred Grotto where a statue of the Virgin Mary stands, before moving on to the front of the Church itself in all its splendour. With mosaic tiles adorning the front of the building and an immense golden crown and cross sitting on top, we walked up the steps and into the lower part of the church. They had some beautifully ornate artwork depicting saints, Jesus, God and many others; my favourite was the angels on the ceiling over the altar.



With people everywhere we found ourselves by the water area with many filling bottles with holy water, washing their hands, faces, having a drink so we washed our hands and had a sip. Following the crowds we made our way towards the higher part of the church with its crypt underneath, it was quite plain but had small stained glass windows which were pretty, up the last lot of steps and into St Anne’s Chapel. There seemed to be a constant communion being taken, we left quietly, it didn’t feel right of appropriate to take photos at these two points as many were deep in prayer.



Woolly says – as we walked back across the park it made me think quite a lot, the many people there who wanted to be blessed in this sacred place and I can only hope that their prayers are answered. Climbing back into Oliver we headed back to camp for our last night in France (for the time being), Spain awaits us on the other side of those mammoth mountains, let the adventures continue.

---