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I'm so excited for you!
I love love LOVE that route!
I have a blog with photos - We began by bussing to Toulouse, then saw Moissac, then took the train to Lourdes to begin walking. It is such a beautiful walk! Here is the link:
Camino from Lourdes to Aragones - Toulouse
We arrived in Toulouse after an 8 hour bus ride. It was actually quite a nice ride. For those leaving from Barcelona Sants, the Eurol...caminosantiago2.blogspot.com
Oh!
Do enjoy.
I plan on walking that way next Spring.
Buen camino.
Oh!
Do enjoy.
I plan on walking that way next Spring.
Buen camino.
Good for you! Some stream-of-consciousness suggestions.
1. I reached Lourdes myself in 2018 via air to Toulouse, then spent a day exploring Toulouse before bussing to Lourdes. Toulouse is a spectacular city, replete with Camino associations! Lovely boulevards and parks, museums, historic churches - one of which houses the tomb of St. Thomas Aquinas.... Absolutely worth the time... Toulouse turned out to be France as I had always wanted France to be...! I very much hope to go back again, some day.
2. Then you simply must give Lourdes some time too, at least a full day! It's a strange and wonderful place.
If you don't already know it, give the Saint's story some attention before you arrive.... As an Anglican Catholic (not Roman),, I have the option of accepting or declining to acccept the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception -- but I accept it w/o hesitation (heart overruling head, perhaps?), have a deep personal devotion to OL for reasons I will not go into, and embrace the Grotto as a genuinely holy place.... Been there three times since 1977... I always pray there for the reunification of the Apostolic Church.
3. Do visit Lourdes castle, for the views.... And please don't let all the commercial bustle distract you from the shrine proper -- in fact, I've always found the shops to be wonderfully fun, fun, fun in their own right. (You can buy OL of Lourdes everything-under-the-sun! Not hyperbole! The only problem is -- how are you gonna carry all that neat stuff in your pack?)
4. In 2018 I then walked (with friends, not alone) from Lourdes to Betharrem, to Arudy, to Oloron -- and loved every minute of it. Some of the most endearing pastoral scenery ever - rolling green fields, cows aplenty, homemade cheese for sale on the roadside.... Weather fair, trail well-marked for the most part, meals good (although more expensive than in Spain!), people surprizing friendly.... Would do it again in a heartbeat.
5. I eventually went south from Oloron to the Somport Pass, and on into Aragon, and had a great time.... and if you also do that you can't lose! (Cathedral Museum in Jaca very highly recommended!)... But I'm tempted, next time, if there is a next time, just to carry on from Oloron to SJPdeP. 'Cause I enjoyed France much more than I'd expected that I would, and just 'cause, well, I haven't done that bit yet.
Godspeed! ... And please file an Afteraction Report!
give the Saint's story some attention before you arrive.... As an Anglican Catholic (not Roman),, I have the option of accepting or declining to acccept the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception -- but I accept it w/o hesitation (heart overruling head, perhaps?), have a deep personal devotion to OL for reasons I will not go into, and embrace the Grotto as a genuinely holy place.... Been there three times since 1977... I always pray there for the reunification of the Apostolic Church.
Pacem, and this alarum et excursion is NOT an invitation to any "discussion" against those most sensible Forum rules.