7 - 8 October 2009
The first day of driving through the Pyrenees and the first of three mountain passes. The photos can’t begin to match the scenery – great roads, but rarely anywhere to pull over so I took most of the photos through the car windows as we swept around bends in the road. Just magic.
Had an extraordinary night in Lourdes. We knew of course of its status as a pilgrimage site and had heard stories of how commercial it is, but were nothing like prepared for the reality. It was Las Vegas-style neon lights, flashing rosary beads and snow domes right up to the gates of the Sanctuary. But at 9pm every night there is a procession of the sick, their carers and others who want a blessing. The procession must have stretched over a kilometre, thousands of people walking or in wheelchairs, some being wheeled along in beds or little buggies, all near silent and bearing candles. Choir singing Ave Marias to welcome the procession into the Sanctuary area. It was an amazing experience of devotion, and almost an actual physical shock to leave the Sanctuary and be hit with the noise and glare of the flashing Madonnas.
The lights of the procession
The outdoor Sanctuary where the blessing ceremony is held
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