AcrossTheWater3008
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- C Frances x 2 - 2016, 2017
C Portuguese x 2 2016, 2017
C Muxia/Finisterra x 2 2016, 17
CdM
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Quite the adventure, AcrossTheWater! Thanks for sharing and please continue to do so if you are able...
I am stepping out from Lourdes in early August and have booked ahead (reservation only) with the Polish sisters in Bellevue (I hope it is easy to find as I have long travel from the southern hemisphere and arrive at 6 pm).
Are there other places to stay in Asson other than the Gite with the broken lock? Just wondering. I have made this pilgrimage before and at the time there was construction in Lourdes and I got lost on the way to Betharram--glad it is clearly marked now. This time I wish to stay in alternate accommodation, but I enjoyed the monastery in Betharram. There was breakfast and I could lock the door! It is a lovely way; Buen Camino...
I walked over the Somport pass to ponte la reina 2 years ago. Very quiet but peaceful.I arrived in Lourdes on 6 July 2018 following my flight from Stansted airport and the 2€ bus ride to the Lourdes train station. I stayed 2 nights at the mediocre Hotel Chalet St Louis for €61.40 (breakfast €5 extra per day). This hotel is close to the Sanctuary- 5 mins walk. I spent 2 days & nights exploring and marvelling the huge complex of the Sanctuary and it’s associated support services. The Sanctuary has a very well organised daily activities such as mass, processions, etc and the underground church also exudes that wowwww factor!
There is a shop in Lourdes called Centre d Information Jacquaire (33 562 92 93 52) on the beginning ofBoulevard de la Grotte selling the French credential for €3. The gentleman running the show is very kind and will also provide a printout of the routes and maps in French and is knowledgeable about the routes as he has walked Chemin de Saint-Jacques de Compostela before. The tourist information in the Sanctuary also keeps a register of the pilgrims and has the same maps.
The start of the route out of Lourdes is almost opposite the Tourist Information itself - the Boulevard Pere Remi Sempe. At the very top of this road, turn Right into Avenue Monsigneur Théas which takes you into Route de la Foret.... soon after, one sees the white/red waymarks of the route to SJPDP.
eh, a great pity indeed you missed the opportunity to stay at the pilgrims' albergue in Lourdes
But I am glad indeed you're walking that path, it's just lovely !!
eh, you also avoided the Church gîte at Arudy ; that's like not stopping at SJPP
hmmmm, think there's something in your tactics needing revision, sorry
But what can I say, I'm not the one in your boots, just a bit frustrated by your account of missed opportunities and odd concerns
That section of the pilgrim Way is extraordinary and beautiful, lacking in neither hardships nor the trite nor in kindly beauty and occasional deceptive mountain-leap't challenge, in the very nature of the foothills of our own complex and difficult natures.
But to walk it simply hiking is to miss those exceptions.
My advice : stop deciding, but surrender and accept ; strange, with your experience, I thought that you would have learned that one by now ... taxis will not help you towards the destination that you seek
A friend was to walk the route with me - he is strongly non religious and hence, would not stay in religious accommodations
our relationship to the God Source
eh, a great pity indeed you missed the opportunity to stay at the pilgrims' albergue in Lourdes
But I am glad indeed you're walking that path, it's just lovely !!
eh, you also avoided the Church gîte at Arudy ; that's like not stopping at SJPP
hmmmm, think there's something in your tactics needing revision, sorry
But what can I say, I'm not the one in your boots, just a bit frustrated by your account of missed opportunities and odd concerns
That section of the pilgrim Way is extraordinary and beautiful, lacking in neither
hardships nor the trite nor in kindly beauty and occasional deceptive mountain-leap't challenge, in the very nature of the foothills of our own complex and difficult natures.
But to walk it simply hiking is to miss those exceptions.
My advice : stop deciding, but surrender and accept ; strange, with your
experience, I thought that you would have learned that one by now ... taxis will not help you towards the destination that you seek
LIKE x1000VERY unwilling to discuss this, including of course because of forum rules, but I can't let that one by without at least some manner of return : there's no "God Source", the Divine isn't some New Age sci-fi hand-wavey thing co-invented by Paulo Coelho and Dan Brown.
Won't post anything more on this if you respond, but I do find that the attempts by some to redefine the Camino according to such ideology are starting to constitute an unhelpful influence upon some people's pilgrimages to Compostela.
Every missed opportunity provides a new One! Izzy sounds like a real gift for your camino experience. Go with your instincts. Negative comments are not helpful! Live your own Camino ...Keep your posts coming-Love the details! Safe and blessed Camino!
Hi
The American priest and his brother highly rated the monastery in Betharram, which means you could give Asson a miss.... If I had to stay in Asson, I would go for hotel reservations. I don’t think there is anywhere else cheap to stay in Asson other than where we were...
Happy preparation for your Camino!
Hi SusanMB and Alsacia, if you guys have the time, plan to stay in Lourdes couple days to take in the activities and see the sanctuary, grotto, and walk of the cross etc., and even take a healing bath! We just came back walking from Le Puy to Moissac then bus to Lourdes. We stayed at the pilgrim accueil Gite La Ruche, 21a, Rue de Pau for couple nights. The host Jean-Louis Doux is super friendly but speaks mostly French! Please do make reservation as I saw some pilgrims got turn away with the gite full. Able to speak or understand some French really enhance your experience! It is so beautiful there now I am planning to go back to Toulouse or Lourdes then walk to Somport, and do the Aragones route in September!Yes thank for your information the 20th August my arrival day looms closer.
Thank you Simon Shum.Hi SusanMB and Alsacia, if you guys have the time, plan to stay in Lourdes couple days to take in the activities and see the sanctuary, grotto, and walk of the cross etc., and even take a healing bath! We just came back walking from Le Puy to Moissac then bus to Lourdes. We stayed at the pilgrim accueil Gite La Ruche, 21a, Rue de Pau for couple nights. The host Jean-Louis Doux is super friendly but speaks mostly French! Please do make reservation as I saw some pilgrims got turn away with the gite full. Able to speak or understand some French really enhance your experience! It is so beautiful there now I am planning to go back to Toulouse or Lourdes then walk to Somport, and do the Aragones route in September!
Bon Chemin!
Felipe do you recommend a Hostal at Lourdes? Is there a pilgrim’s albergue? I will arrive in 2 weeks.Lourdes is quite an experience. I would not elaborate here; just say that I left the city very moved, but with mixed feelings. Anyway, it will not leave you indifferent.
I recommend that you visit the Lourdes parish, near the main square and the tourism bureau. It is a quiet place, with some statues related to the miracle, with a style sober and at the same time emotional. A good place to spend some moments of reflection, and (if it suits you) of prayer, far from the crowds.
Felipe do you recommend a Hostal at Lourdes? Is there a pilgrim’s albergue? I will arrive in 2 weeks.
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