SaligoBay Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Just wondering if it's worth the 400km drive (each way) and 25euros motorway tolls (each way) for a weekend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boghound Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Shouldn't the Pope have gone there instead of hospital, if it's as good as they say it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Well it was not my idea of a place to go for a weekend. Admittedly it was raining but it was just so very touristy - rather like Blackpool but without the lights. Nice streets, nice buildings but just so many shops selling so many trinkets. If you can afford not to worry if it is worth it, then go, if it will impinge on the budget, wait till it will not or someone gives you a better write up than this as it is all personal preference after all. Not somewhere on my list to visit again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddie Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 [quote]Just wondering if it's worth the 400km drive (each way) and 25euros motorway tolls (each way) for a weekend?[/quote]I would probably say no, it's not worth a visit unless you are of a particularly devout religious persuasion, want to tell someone you've been, in need of potential healing, like being in the religious equivalent of a British seaside town. If you can imagine a seaside town full of B & Bs and souvenir shops? Well imagine the same seaside shops but chokka full of religious stuff - fluorescent virgin Marys (poor woman), bottles of water, inflatable St Bernadettes etc - all quite scary really. Not a tasteful item amongst them, a huge shame considering. Sorry if I've offended anyone, don't mean to but I found the whole experience totally horrifying when I went. A real let down. I'll qualify that by saying it was several years ago and now that I live 75km down the road I would not visit again. Bear in mind too that Lourdes is heading todwards it's "peak season" (Easter) so likely to be very crowded and possibly difficult to find somewhere to stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollo Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 [quote]Just wondering if it's worth the 400km drive (each way) and 25euros motorway tolls (each way) for a weekend?[/quote]Well it's 'interesting'.First impressions were lots of gift shops...very good for dashboard Jesuses that glow in the dark etc.Then we walked down the hill past the hospital,basilica etc and saw the river...some very large trout by the bridge incidentally...and then the amazing sight of hundreds of pilgrims walking,hobbling and being pushed or carried along to the source where you can go inside a cave-like affair and immerse yourself or just drink some water on site if you wish.Original cynical thought that it was like a gigantic mobile Monty Python sketch(some truth in this) gradually turned to guilt when i saw so many people who were really desperate,many very sick and obviously believed or wanted to in the possibility of a miracle cure.It was very,very crowded when we were there and i had a bad eye infection which wasn't helping my humour.We only made the visit because we were in the area and one of our group was a faithful Catholic and wanted to see it.We took a nice cable car ride up into the hills above the town and enjoyed the scenery.On the way out of town i filled a small plastic bottle with the brew and rather sneeringly bathed my eye in it as we drove on to Andorra.Next day my eye was totally normal and unswollen once more.Joe Henry,our fervent Catholic, may just have smirked a little in my direction.Is it worth the trip?As someone wrote 'oh do not ask what is it,let us go and make our visit'.For me anyway it was a bit of an eye-opener.Rollo ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Like most Catholic hangouts they know how to party.regardsS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meo Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I had a fleeting visit on my way down from a week's trekking in the Pyrenees and I saw far more beauty in the mountains than I did in Lourdes. As previous posters say, unless you are highly religious or are after that light up tableau of the last supper you've always wanted, it's a pretty hideous place.Nice crepes though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battypuss Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I think one should consider the people who go to Lourdes to hope. Whether it works or not, I feel strongly anti the place being a Tourist attraction. I have never been there, but my childrens Godfather has, many times. He is not religious at all, but divides his time between pushing wheelchairs and brancardes and drinking himself silly. His best friend, a devout Catholic, goes only to help.There are many people who trust and believe this might help them in their lives. I don't think the tourist shops have a bearing on this, the place has to keep going. But for a holiday?I think this is sick. Leave enough space for those who wish to believe and hope, or go and help them. They are not Museum exhibits. They're people too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 An old school friend of mine worked in Lourdes for 12 years. She still has good friends there, and visits once every year or so.Here's what she says. "The whole place is geared up to exploit the disabled and terminally ill". She is a devout catholic. Apart from it's setting, there is little she can say that is positive.tresco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creusois Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Went there once to see the MCC play South Africa - didn't think it was that touristy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 You're lucky. All I got was the "shrug" when I got there and asked for the Cricket Ground. I was there three days and never did find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaysBasque Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I would agree with Mrs MDW that it is only worth it if you are of a particularly strong religious persuasion or if you are going for a good reason. Lourdes itself is not very pretty and it hasn't been improved by the millions of pilgrims who come along nor the various Irish pub landlords. I would say that a visit to this side of the Pyrenees is well worth it and if you come over this way tie it in with a visit to Lourdes. There are many more worthwhile things to see if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted March 11, 2005 Author Share Posted March 11, 2005 Thank you for your replies, everyone.The mere mention of Lourdes (oops, said it again!) seems to inspire a lot of very negative passion (no religious pun intended). I really didn't realise it had so many negative connotations, but now I know. Weekend destination is now Marseille/Cassis, we is heading eastward, don't want none of them bad Lourdes vibes!And just in case anyone's wondering why this sudden flurry of foreign travel for us (although I'm sure you're not), we're just taking full advantage of son's broken arm. With his arret de sport, he can finish at 11.30 on a Friday rather than 5, so allez zou, off we goo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted March 11, 2005 Share Posted March 11, 2005 Never been but would go just to see what the fuss is all about for an hour or so. I think I would feel more religious (if I were that way inclined) if I went to Rome or to visit that big statue of Christ in Rio instead. My brother went to Bethlehem and Jerusalem when he lived in Israel and said it felt more like a building site and smelled like the sewage works than a revered religious place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 SB, don't forget to wave as you change motorways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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