Lourdes and Gavarnie in the South of France

The 13th of May is very memorable in the Netto Family as we lost David's mum on this day in 1992. And it had always been her prayer that David and I visit Lourdes someday. And that is why I had planned the visit to Lourdes on this day the 13th of May 2011 , the 19th death anniversary of  mummy and my dear godmother too. She has been so profound in my Catholic Faith as she prayed daily for my conversion.

And we arrived in Lourdes a small town in the south of France that became a Catholic Pilgrimage Centre after St Bernadette witnessed several apparations of the Blessed Virgin Mary here in the 19th century. And it is said that Bernadette's body which is now in the French town of Nevers has never decomposed after her being dead for 122 years and her nails are still growing. Now thats a saint! We arrived at the train station Gare De Lourdes after a two hour delay at the French town of Bordeaux because the train driver got assaulted...and I thought Malaysia was bad. Anyway we arrived safe and sound and David decided to rent a car from Avis for two days and we drove to our hotel...as we said on the wrong side of the road and it was such an adventure for David. La Fontaine Hotel welcomed us with a nice room for the 3 of us and we settled in and I made a lunch of Brahim's Chicken Rendang, Fried Rice and Ikan Bilis Sambal. What a feast after all the French food we have been eating. We tucked in and David had to rest so we ladies stepped out for a coffee and we saw the town...small and the roads we lined with shops selling Lourdes souveniers...exactly my kind of place...very Catholic. We had a coffee and browsed round the shops and bought some prayer articles and went back to the room to find David all well rested and ready to begin our mini pilgrimage of the Church.

The Church was only 6 minutes from the hotel and we passed by the River Gave...what a beautiful serene river that flowed by through this beautiful town of Lourdes. We walked towards the Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral...what a sight...just standing there where many miracles have taken place and lives transformed. And the statue of The Virgin Mary overlooking the church...simply magnificent. We walked by the side and reached the Grotto where the Virgin Mother actually appeared centuries ago and we just stood in awe........then we sat in front of the Grotto to say our individual prayers. And almost instantly tears started rolling down my cheeks and I just could feel the presence of Mother Mary with me and mummy sitting with me...it was unexplainable. I finished saying my prayers and rosary and moved over to where David was and he had the same experience and I assured him that mummy was happy that we were there on this special day. Then we waited our turn to walk through the Grotto as many came on wheelchairs and crutches...what immense faith...and at that point I really thanked God that I am Catholic being amongst all these people who thronged the Grotto just to receive some kind of healing from Jesus through his Mother Mary. We walked through and placed petitions into the box and lit candles for our loved ones. And we made our way to the fountains where we could get some Holy Water that came from the springs of the Pyrennees Mountains blessed by the presence of Our Lady of Lourdes. Then we just sat near the river...the most peaceful river I have ever seen and we said to each other that Mary found the perfect place to appear.

Then we went into the Cathedral...what an awesome feeling and there was a mass going on...and we saw people carrying banners that read " AMICI DI LOURDES" and what a miracle because our children called their grandmother Amechi..yes mummy was indeed with us. After about an hour in the church we walked out and we saw a Cardinal giving blessings and yes we went to him...and were blessed. It was about 7.30pm and the sun was still out and it was so cool and David suggested we go for a drive...and we diid...further south of France.



Our Lady Of Lourdes Cathedral





David and me in front of Our Lady

David and me in front of the Grotto

Mel and me by the River Gave

The peaceful River Gave that flows through Lourdes

Inside the Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral



The actual body of St Bernadette in Nevers , France

Yes mummy was with us that day in Lourdes

We headed for Gavarnie a town in the mountains that is in the southern tip of France...the drive was beautiful...we saw snowy mountains. And Mel and I were so excited because we had never seen snow at all  in our life. And David shared in our excitement and stopped for photos and we saw some small towns on the way and then....we reached Gavarnie....a ski resort in the winter...and now in spring the Pyrennees Mountains were still covered with snow. The town was very quiet..so we drove till the top and we stopped. It was a postcard picture moment......We took photos and it was freezing...I think about 8 degrees....but it was awesome. It was just so beautiful and we were just glad we were there and knew now why many people say the south of France is breathtakingly beautiful.. after many photos...and teeth chattering..we drove away from this beautiful town and headed back to Lourdes.



Gavarnie in the south of France

David and Mel in the postcard picture town of Gavarnie

We had dinner at a beautiful French restaurant in Lourdes and it was about 11pm when we saw pilgrims coming back from the candlelight procession...and we said we will come back to Lourdes someday to do that part of our pilgrimage. It was such an awesome day and as we were about to eat we said our prayers to thank God for this precious moment in our lives. Thank you Mummy for 'being' with us this day in Lourdes and we dedicate this day all to you.