Lourdes #1

Do as He tells you.

Arrived in Lourdes at 915am.

The night train was very comfortable. We slept well.

The cabin and bathroom were extremely clean. 

We took a taxi to Laura's hotel. The fare was Euro12. 

Nothing says WELCOME better than a nice cuppa coffee, baguette and croissants.

I forgot how creamy the butter is over here.

The coffee was so awesome.

Bryan had a cuppacino.

Sinking my teeth into the croissant spread heavily in butter was ... 

Omg. Pure joy!

Here are Peter and Laura. Both are looking so wonderful and well since we last saw them in Sept 2009.

Oh. Is that why our room number is such? 16 years ago.

Drink the water and wash yourself in it.

Tomorrow,  we will bring a bottle to drink from. 

My cells are renewed and re-energized.

There are 18 taps here ...

to signify Mother Mary's 18 apparitions ...

to Bernadette Soubirous ...

in 1858.

At the grotto,  we joined the line.

I pointed out and asked, where are the big candles?

No candles were seen before Our Lady.

There must be an answer ...

Let It Be.

Would you believe it but the candle guy started to put up the first large candle. 

Nice. We witnessed him putting each and every single one of the candles before Mother Mary.

Felt like a privilege.

see the spring water that flows from the ground Bernadette dug in obedience to our Holy Mother.

The basilica in the background.

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. 

Justine and Kayden had their wedding service in Immaculate Conception too.

Basking in the glory of Our Lady.

The candle guy is still ...

hard at work.

We are gonna join the rosary at ...

the grotto at 3pm.

We took our seats. It was only 12pm then. It is now 2.30pm. At the time of writing this line. 

We are enjoying the peace ...

... and tranquility of the grotto.

Observing the silence ...

... and the people walking in line to touch the rocks. Each one has their own personal connection with Our Lady.

Laura is fascinated with my shoes. Lol. 

She said she likes the bling-bling and that they look like from Louis Vuitton. Haha.

The line of pilgrims walking to touch the rocks have been continuous and on-going since we arrived at the grotto.

A priest appeared just before 3pm. Rosary started sharp on time. 

Sitting patiently at the grotto and just waiting for 3 hours for the 3pm rosary? Trust me, we can hardly believe it ourselves.

Prayer to St Bernadette.

The view of the basilica ...

... across the river.

Bryan's glasses have detected sun rays. Yikes, I forgot my sunscreen. The weather is cold and cloudy. Who knew?

The baths.

Despite the increasing crowd ...

the atmosphere is ...

serene and peaceful.

We had a snack during tea time.

Burger and fries.

Steak and fries.

The fries are so good. Will have 2 or 3 sticks. Or maybe 4 or 5. Heck, make it 6 or 7. Fine,  8 it is.

Dinner at the hotel. Yummy!