An Engineer and A Globetrotter: January 2016

Our Lady of Lourdes Sanctuary (FRANCE)

Main Cathedral

Our eight city tour was not all about fun and enjoyment. Part of it were visit to some of Catholic’s popular pilgrimage sites. I’d been wanting to visit Lourdes for a long time so I told E of my plan to include it in our itinerary. The journey was to the southern part of France, the Midi-Pyrénées region where the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is located. He’s a Roman Catholic like me so he was totally sold to the idea. Whenever I do my planning, I always maximize my time and synchronize all my travels from the transport to the check-in and check-out to my accommodation. Travel time from Paris to Lourdes was approximately 6 hours so when I purchased the ticket, I bought the sleeper train hoping that we can sleep comfortably during the entire trip and arrive early morning and be ready for the day's activity. At 9:54pm, the train departed Paris. I was expecting a very relaxing sleep during but I wasn’t. I kept waking up from my sleep. Not so bad as my first experience on a sleeper train though but not something I would try again. Our car was at Couch 17 with four people occupying it; E, me and two other guys. It was early morning the next day when we arrived at Lourdes. Because of the chilling temperature outside, we were hesitant to go out of the station but we needed to figure out the location of our hotel. It took us an hour walking around like lost souls trying to find our way. It was only after asking a delivery man and him pointing the right way that we were able to figure it out. Walking at long distances wasn’t an issue for me but with two heavy bags and in an early winter cold morning temperature, it wasn’t fun. We were on a pilgrimage (sort of) so I can’t complain. Finally, we reached our hotel, the Excelsior.

Train Terminal At Lourdes

Outside view from our hotel window

It was still early, so we decided to have a nap before we began our day. The hotel was strategically located and just a walking distance to the sanctuary. We had the whole day to spend and explore the site so we took our time. Very different from the hustle and bustle of Paris, Lourdes is pretty much a typical of the rural area with simple ways of living. But since Lourdes is a

The Grotto

famous pilgrimage site for Catholics, many hotels and restaurants are available along the main streets leading to the sanctuary. After having our short rest, we prepared and headed to the main Cathedral. The sanctuary is very famous mainly because it is one of the many and well known places where Mama Mary had an apparition and revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception. The sanctuary was actually built on the request of Our Lady. At Lourdes, it was with Saint Bernadette Soubirous to whom Mama Mary appeared and who’s body was uncorrupted (but not without blemish) even after her third exhumation in 1925. Though faced with early skepticism from the church, the apparition was later declared “worthy of belief” after the canonical investigation. And now, the Marian Shrine at Lourdes is one of the major pilgrimage sites for Catholics.The place was very solemn and it was all about prayers and meditation. Majority of the visitors were people of age with different nationality. As we explore the main church, we met other Filipinos who were on pilgrimage tour as well. The Grotto of Massabielle where Our Lady appeared before Bernadette was just a very simple grotto and undecorated different from the grand churches above it. People process towards the grotto and covered in glass underneath it was the stream of water discovered by Bernadette which believed to have the healing powers. This is the same water pilgrims collect from the water stations located nearby the grotto. Another place in the sanctuary where pilgrims lined up for hours is the bath. Me and E decided to line and bath on the waters of Lourdes. A small pool filled with water coming from the grotto was the bathing area and with the assistance of three church people, it was a ceremony similar to baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. The water was cold water but very refreshing. It was a very quick ritual with me reciting a prayer and then soaking my body to the water. Definitely an experience I would never forget.

The common souvenir items brought out by pilgrims from Lourdes are the waters from the grotto and the rosary. What we did was, we bought a plastic gallon and collected water from the station. We also bought small vials and filled each vial with the Lourdes water upon our return to the hotel.

The Rosary Basilica

Inside the Rosary Basilica

View of the Grotto

Relic of St. Bernadette

Our visit to Lourdes was an obvious departure to our usual activities during a trip but it is always good to be reminded of our faith and be thankful of being able to visit this sacred site. Many people would love to visit this sanctuary but we were lucky to have that opportunity. Evening time, the rain started to pour so we decided not to go out. We also need to pack our things for our early train ride back to Paris the next day.

The next day, we left our hotel and head to the Lourdes train station. At exactly 6:33am, the train departed for Paris Montparnasse Station or Gare Montparnasse and arrived 12:35pm. Paris Montparnasse Station is one of the six large Paris railway terminals. We still had few hours to spare before our flight to Venice, Italy so upon arrival, we headed to the terminal’s “Left Luggage Service”. It was quite difficult pulling our luggages around while strolling the building. Good thing, the terminal has this service wherein transit travelers can deposit their luggages up to 72hours and have that convenience and hassle free stroll. It was not free though but for a couple of euros, it was well worth it. After depositing our luggages, we had our lunch and walk around for almost 3hours. At 3pm, we decided we took the train to Orly Airport for our flight to Venice, Italy leaving at 7:30pm.

Overall, it was a fun four days in France. If not for the weather, it could have been a perfect adventure.

The Crypt

Inside the Rosary Basilica

Basilica of St. Pius

Lourdes Central Train Station

Credits : Photos are mostly taken from E's camera

CONTINUATION : A Revisit to the City in the Waters, Venice

Just recently, I posted a blog about my first ever trip to Paris. During that tour, I had the luxury of time to explore and discover the city since I traveled alone. In this second visit to the city, I was with my friend E in our eight-city European tour. It was his first visit to Paris so I just followed my previous itinerary which included the visit to the Musee D’Orsay, Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower. We had less days compared to my last trip so I just recommended the must see places. I won’t be writing anymore of those places instead focus on the places we visited but not part of my previous itinerary.

The Eiffel Tower

From Amsterdam Central, we took the afternoon Thalys train bound for Paris Nord Central Station. The travel time was approximately 3hours and 15minutes. From Paris Nord Station, we took the Metro going to our hotel at Atelier Montparnasse Hotel (near Pernety Metro Station, Line 13). A very chic and trendy hotel with good access to many restaurants around. I already sensed a not so good weather for the entirety of our Paris trip but this shouldn’t spoil our planned activities. Upon checking in and dozing off for short time, we went out and started our city exploration. The first stop was at Champs de Mars, the location of the sparkling jewel of Paris, the Eiffel Tower. We only had this chance to enjoy the night scene at the Eiffel Tower. But before anything else, we needed to take care of our stomach. It was getting late for our dinner so we look for restaurants nearby the Iron Lady. We found Le Bailli de Suffren. For our starter, we ordered escargot which is very popular in France and in Spain. Escargot is a cooked land snails. For the main course we had Poulet Roti which was actually a roasted chicken served with fries. While we were having dinner, it was pouring heavily outside. Luckily, it stopped when we were about to go out and stroll around the Eiffel. I wasn't that too excited anymore since it was my second time to be near the Iron Lady. Though it was already my second time, it still amazed me when it sparkled like a diamond. We stayed nearby the Eiffel till we decided to head back to our hotel.

Gare Nord, Paris (Main Terminal)

Gare Nord (Metro)

Entree : Escargot

Main : Poulet Rotti

View of The Louvre

It was a cold and rainy day during our first full day tour in Paris. Indeed not an ideal time to stroll around but we had no choice. Not to be ruined by the bad weather, we started off with our visit to the tourist info center for our Paris Pass. After getting our pass and having our lunch at a nearby restaurant, we took the Metro and headed to L'église de la Madeleine. We decided not to enter the church and continue walking towards the direction of the Place de la Concorde. On our way, we saw a Ladurée store so we decided for a short dessert stop. E never tried the Ladurée macaron so I introduced it to him. At the Place de la Concorde, we just had a couple of minutes for taking pictures and we took the long walk leading to the Louvre Museum. On our way, we passed by the vast Jardin du Tuileries and at the end of it was Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. The rain kept pouring and we’re getting soaked already so staying outside for long wasn't a clever idea. We increased our paced towards Louvre Museum and made our way inside the museum. After the museum tour, we head next to the Museé d’ Orsay and finally to the Notre Dame Cathedral. To end our day, we decided to take the night cruise at the Seine River. It could have been perfect if not for the non-stop rain and heavy winds. Nonetheless, it was still a fun first day in Paris.

Ladurée Store

Bird's Eye View of Musée d' Orsay

Restaurant at the top level of M'O

The famous lovelocks of Paris

The Thinker by Rodin

Optimistic of the second day activity, we were lucky to finally have a clear sunny day. This was our last day in Paris and we still had lots of things to cover before our night train ride down south of France in the Midi-Pyrénées region to visit the famous sanctuary and pilgrimage site of Our Lady of Lourdes. The first itinerary for the day was the visit to the Musée Rodin. The museum is dedicated to the French sculpture Auguste Rodin which is famous for his works like The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. The Musée Rodin is composed of three sections, Hotel Biron, the Chapel and the Sculpture Garden. Exploring the inside of this former 2-storey hotel allowed us to appreciate some of the artists priced pieces, pieces which were created using different materials. Rodin’s sculptures can be viewed with very obvious difference to the themes of mythology and allegory since they were centered on realism. Many of us may be familiar of the sculpture of a thinking man known as “The Thinker” but may not be aware that it is one of Rodin’s masterpieces. Having visited this museum allowed us to see the real sculpture by the artist. We even tried to act out the same pose of the sculpture and had our photo taken right next to it. Outside of the building is the access to the sculptured garden where some of Rodin’s pieces were artistically arranged in a French designed style garden. After exploring the garden, we decided to head out and moved to our next stop.

The Trocadero

If there is one place and perfect spot to view the Eiffel Tower, it is at the place called “The Trocadero”, site of Palais de Chaillot. During my first trip to Paris, I had no chance to visit the Iron Lady during the day as I had things already set and I was more interested doing the evening tour to see her glitter like a diamond. And besides, I only learned about the Trocadero after I came back from my trip so I told myself that given another chance to be in Paris, I’ll definitely go to this place. And so I did. After our visit to Rodin Museum, we go straight to the Trocadero. Standing at the center, the open esplanade provided an obstructed and excellent view of the Eiffel Tower and beyond. Indeed, the best spot to take that memorable shot with the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop. We all knew that Paris is one of the oldest and one of the major cities in the world yet it manages and continues to transform itself into a modern city but not loosing its character. And this is what really amazed me. In this part of the city where the buildings are the silent witnesses to the history of Paris, the planners could have been easily swayed by the promise of development and more profit for the city but instead kept these historical edifices unaltered for decades. No modern buildings nor skyscrapers were ever built near the Iron Lady thus making her the center of attention. We left the Trocadero after taking photos and enjoying the panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower.

Queue of tourist going in Versailles

Versailles and Arc Du Triomphe were the places planned in the afternoon so after completing our trip at Trocadero, we headed next to the train station going to Versailles. As expected, there was already a long line of tourists going inside the grand palace when we arrived. We cannot waste time so we lined up immediately. It didn’t take us very long to get in and explore the inside of this massive palace. Right after competing our very fast paced tour inside the palace, we proceeded to the beautiful gardens at the back. As much as we want to stay longer, we had a very limited time. It was our last day in Paris and E still wanted to see Champ Elysées and Arc Du Triomphe. Luckily, we still had several hours to spare before our train departs for Lourdes at 10:00pm from Paris Austerlitz Train Station. On our way back to central Paris, we didn’t expect a jam-packed train. Nonetheless, we were lucky to catch the last train heading back to Paris.