A Very Happy Birthday

With Turin behind us, at 7am, Rebecca and I were very excited to be off to Lourdes. Granted, we had a 15 hour train trip ahead of us, but our original plan had been a 25+ hour trip, so we thought 15 sounded pretty good. The trip through the mountains in North Western Italy was beautiful, but not as breathtaking as the views of the coast of Southern France! As we would along the cliffs, in and out of tunnels, we had amazing panoramas of the mediteranean sea. At that point I got pretty sad that we had been forced to skip our day in Nice (as originally planned). Seeing it made me realize just how beautiful it really was and how much I really wanted to go there. Well, I guess God knows the desires of our hearts. I kept TELLING Rebecca that going to Nice WAS the desire of my heart, while she insisted that our inability to find affordable accommodations in Nice was all a part of God’s plan and that our trip would be exactly what was best for us blah blah blah. Well, it looks like we were BOTH right! As soon as we arrived in Nice we discovered that our 2pm train was full (and we didn’t have reservations). The only way to get to Lourdes was on the 9pm overnight train: SCORE! We were “stranded” in Nice for 9 whole hours. So not only did we get to spend a day on the beach in Southern France, but we weren’t going to have to pay for accommodations in Nice, thanks to our reservation for a bed on the train at the low price of only 21.50E! I was ECSTATIC! We grabbed our bathing suits and tiny travel towels, lathered ourselves in sunscreen (although apparently not ENOUGH sunscreen), checked our bags, got some yummy French crèpes and headed straight for the beach! To say that the beach was beautiful would be horribly inadequate. Anyone who knows anything about me knows me knows how much I adore the ocean, so this was truly one of the most perfect places for me. I spent the afternoon in absolute disbelief that I was actually there, swimming in the Mediterranean and just looking around me again and again adoring the scenery. I could go on forever, so I’ll just say it was great.

After a meal and a fancy cocktail, Rebecca and I were finally bound for Lourdes – on our first overnight train. THAT was an adventure of a whole new kind! We were a bit surprised to have two German guys arrive in our cabin (we slept in tiny cabins with 2 triple bunk beds), but they were pretty nice and it ended up not being too awkward. After a short, shaky night sleep I awoke in France at 5am as a 23 year old and was off to catch yet another train. We conked out on reclining seats and in no time had arrived. We had NO idea how to get to our hotel, but just as we were staring at the map and debating whether to walk or call a cab, up pulled a bus, which dropped us off at the door of our hotel. We were ECSTATIC when we got into our room right away (9am). That was the best birthday present I could have hoped for: for the first time in 4 days, a hot shower!

We went to Sunday mass in the Basilique de Notre Dame du Rosaire, which was ginormos but was packed to the brim at both the 10am and 11:15am masses. Side note: approximately 5 million pilgrims visit Lourdes every year, including more than 70,000 sick. It was amazing to see the volunteers pushing wheelchairs EVERYWHERE! The rest of the day included lunch, a few espressos, a phone call home, a rosary in the grotto where Mary appeared to St Bernadette in 1858, a huge Eucharistic procession ending with benediction of the sick in an underground basilica built to hold 25,000 and then a nice birthday supper. Rebecca treated me to mussels, blue cheese salad and a yummy ice cream Sunday. We had to skip the candlelight Marian procession, unfortunately, due to two nights in a row of less than 5 hours sleep.
Monday we decided to participate in a guided 1-day pilgrimage in English. As we were chatting with our guide, an American Seminarian studying in Rome, I remembered just how small the Catholic world is: it turns out that he was Blair’s roommate at Ave Maria for a semester! After mass IN ENGLISH (woot!) we prayed the Stations of the Cross, which was absolutely incredible. The stations, made huge cast-iron life-sized statues, ascended a mountain in the middle of the town. It was a hard walk but a powerful experience. That afternoon we watched a video on the life of St Bernadette and visited her home and birthplace.

At four o’clock it was time to head back to the train station for another long day and night of travels. Three trains and almost 20 hours later we were to finally arrive in Lisieux – birthplace of my favourite Saint, St Therese of the Child Jesus. We have reservations at a convent there, for three days, and are VERY excited to have a place to stay for three whole days in a row. Lourdes was a beautiful town, with a river flowing through the middle and surrounded by mountains, but I’m really looking forward to a bit of rest in Lisieux and hoping it’s a little less crowded. Whatever this stop has in store for us, it’s our last one before we head back to Canada, a thought which brings both sadness and a bit of relief.