A Lourdes

Today is our visite à Lourdes, and we pick up our pique-nique lunches and board the bus. A very agréable ride through la vallée takes us there. We first visit le château médiéval, a little over a thousand years old, and built on the remnants of a Roman fort. It is a vast enclave containing many buildings, all very well preserved, a parade grounds (we imagined it filled with chevaux et chevaliers, keeping Tony in mind!), a botanical garden full of herbs, plants and flowers known in those days (we remember the Cloisters...)
Le château also contains le musée des Pyrénées, with une magnifique collection of everyday life artifacts and implements, costumes, etc... Le château domine la vallée, and stayed impregnable throughout its history because of its situation. The view from the top of the keep is unbelievable!
It is then time to walk down to les Sanctuaires et la Grotte miraculeuse, a nice walk where kitsch religious objects capture our interest! We arm ourselves with little bottles to be able to bring miraculous water back to NYC.
I want to add, for all the catholic families, that le Pape Bénédict announced that all pilgrims who would come to Lourdes in this 2008 Jubilée year (which marks the 150th anniversary), would earn indulgence plénière (Lachlan asked if this would extend to the whole family, and was told it would...)
This was a time of reflection for all of us, of asking questions, of enjoying moments de paix intérieure, and we all came back refreshed from the experience.
Students earned an hour of free time (their behavior around the sanctuaries and the pilgrims in prayer having been exemplaire), which they promptly spent exploring Lourdes ' chocolate offerings.