Category: A Very Short Story

14 hour train trip from Paris to Barcelona via Lyon  Part Dieu. Beautiful country landscape especially when we crossed into Spain with the Pyrenees on one side of us and the Med Sea on the other. Barcelona is a beautiful clean and vibrant city.

Segrada Familia

Rumour has it that the architect of this religious architectural masterpiece spent his last days in an insane asylum.

 

Even I am impressed!

Good ole Chris. Spain, unlike Canada, us proud of its heritage, good or bad.

Beer and olives

A Spanish treat.

 

America Cup is  being held here this year.

Busy place. Protests going on here telling tourists to go home.

Beautiful beaches.

 

 

 

 

Iconic landmark

On the Tower

Notre Dame. Still under repair from 2019 fire. It is closed to visitors.

2.5 hour lineup to get into the Eiffel Tower.

 

With 10,000 other people. No wonder she is smirking.

Rain all day today. No pics but went to the Arc de Triomph and Mont Martre. Funny that the arc only shows Napoleons victories. Waterloo is definitely not inscribed here.

On to Barcelona tomorrow.

You never know who you meet on the Frijhof

The cathedral behind her is 1,000 years old.

On the bridge over the Maas River.

The haunted house.

Lourdes is a pretty little city.

After a long walk:

And tacky stuff too.

 

My network provider here will not allow pictures as email attachments so I will use this:

Most popular word in the French language. Imagine a train station being closed in Canada.

View from my gite in St Jean.

Rain

Lourdes

You can watch the story of Lourdes by watching the 1943 movie “The Song of Bernadette.” This movie received the most Academy Award nominations of that year losing the best picture nod to Casablanca. However Jennifer Jones won the award for best actress for her portrayal of Bernadette. The movie is available to watch on YouTube.

I am here and I take a crappy picture.

I did not know that Saint Margaret was the patron saint of Scotland.

Park like setting.

This is a beautiful, peaceful place.

The tacky part of Lourdes. Religious trinkets on steroids.

                    Lourdes’ WW1 memorial. France lost over 1 million men in that war.

Danton was a patriot and hero of the French revolution. Nevertheless he still lost his head to Madame guillotine.

The procession ceremony at Lourdes:

 

This has been going on since 1858, the year that the apparitions occurred. There were thousands of people there this evening. Very impressive.