Funiculi,Finicula(Andrea Bocelli) - The Lourdes Finicular Up and Down

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The warming days of spring we have experienced of the last two weeks have deserted us today.

The day has dawned with a high overcast and a forecast of some showers along with a high of 14C.

Poking my head out the door it felt like about 5C.

Deciding that we should get to the funicular earlier in the day rather than later we set off on the 3km walk through the town to where the attraction was located.

We have certainly had the feel that we are closer to Spain here in Lourdes as the pace of life in the streets and shops seem more laid back.

Walking through the narrow streets that lead down to the entry to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes which we had visited yesterday the shops were slow in opening in even it was after 10am.

Things were moving a bit more in the main street of the town and the covered market in the centre was active with people coming and going. Wanting to get to the funicular before any bad weather settled in we opted to walk on by the market but take a look inside on our return if it was still functioning.

We found the entrance to the ticket building and purchased our return tickets enquiring when the next departure was to be. We were in luck as it was in five minutes, just enough time to look around some exhibitions of this 116 year old funicular.

We were lucky that the funicular only opened for the season today having been closed since December presumably because snow would have covered the town for a good part of that time. And we were taking only the third journey of the morning at 10.30am.We hope that the pulley system has had a good overhaul during its preparation for opening day.

The funicular rises to 1000 metres above the town and takes about 6 minutes to take you from the lower to the upper station. The grades that the carriage travels over is rather mind boggling being up to 56% or 1:2 for a short section.

There is a crossover at the half way point which is actually on a sizeable stone viaduct that had to be built to accommodate the track.

Along with two other couples we climbed aboard the carriage which is able to carry 75 people.

Unlike many other cable type hill transports the route has a gentle curve to start with and for the first 100 metres or so you can’t see the upper station from inside the carriage.

As the advertising suggested the views from the summit were expansive from the snow covered midi Pyrenees and down through the valley in which the town is located in and out to other valleys and towns you could not see from any other viewing point at a lower altitude.

We had at least 20 minutes to wait before the funicular did the return journey to the bottom terminal so we headed off further up the hillside to a large cross that is illuminated at night to check out the views further.

The surrounding vegetation looked like it had only recently started to recover after being covered by snow for a reasonable period of time.

The path was in great condition and not too steep taking a more zigzag path to reduce the direct climb.

The views from the top were even more expansive and in fact you could see 360 deg including more of the mountains that were hidden by the hillside we had walked up.

It had taken us a bit longer than we expected and so we didn’t hurry back down to catch the returning carriage we had intended to but instead strolled down even more leisurely taking in the description boards about the various vegetation on the route, to catch the next downhill trip.

In the upper terminal building there were more photos and exhibitions of the building of the funicular in 1900 and one can only marvel at the efforts that must have gone in to such an achievement back in days when much of the construction was done by hand including the building of the sizeable stone viaduct at the halfway point.

We rode up front with the ‘driver’ on the downhill journey. When we say ‘driver’ it isn’t because he actually did anything other than pull a couple of straps that could have been something to do with the braking system and stare out the front window.

He seemed to understand our gesture that he could drive the carriage with no hands as he gestured back indicating that and also put his hands together and lay his head to one side on them indicating he could his job in his sleep! We would prefer he kept his eyes front at least considering the fall in the line that lay ahead of us. The downhill journey emphasising the 56% grade even steeper than it looked going up.

The funicular proved to be a very well worth sightseeing exercise and well worth the €21.60 for the both of us.

We headed home for lunch back through the town picking up dinner, which included 2 blood sausages for me and chicken steaks for Gretchen and sweet treats for lunch at Carrefour which is a shop we have come to know well during our short stay.

The covered market was still open and we made a diversion through there and wished we hadn’t gone into Carrefour as from the variety of food stalls we could have got what we needed for lunch and dinner here.

Climbing the short rise to the railway crossing we came across what has to be the narrowest house in Lourdes and perhaps the world!Gretchen stood with her back to the wall and opened her arms out and her fingertips went past the edges on both sides of the house.As we passed the front door we laughed that if you had unwanted visitors at the front door who invited themselves in it wouldn't be at all difficult for them to take one step and be out the back door!

As we neared home we had to cross the railway tracks and we had noted before when crossing there that we hadn’t or even heard a train in the two days and nights we have been here so far despite the track only being a stone’s throw away from our apartment.

But, just as we were about to cross the double track the alarm bells started and barriers came down with a passenger train appearing around the corner and passed us at slow speed. Funny how things happen sometimes when you think about them!

With the overcast becoming a bit heavier, even though there was no rain and the temperature hovering in the low teens we stayed indoors after we had had lunch on our covered terrace of the apartment and caught up on some reading and administration tasks.

We had thought about visiting the fort on the knob of a hill in the centre of town but it didn’t appear to offer anything more we needed to know or see in Lourdes so gave it a miss.

Tomorrow we head for Spain and a fine warm spring day is forecast and with the website we have been using to check the weather being accurate to date we won’t even bother to cross our fingers when we head to bed tonight.

A dose of ‘Queen in Montreal’ on DVD, played with volume of course, and we were ready for bed.

PS

You can watch Andrea sing the title to this blog on YouTube.Load it up and play it as you read this blog for some real authenticity!

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