Lthrnck55 Camino Frances via Lourdes

[lthrnck55]

I will be starting my pilgrimage from Lourdes and joining up with the CF in September 2020. Can't Wait!

 

[Anniesantiago]

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

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Good for you! Some stream-of-consciousness observations.

1. I reached Lourdes myself in May 2018 via air USA to Toulouse, then spent a recovery-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 Lourdes-associated 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 the town's 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 May 2018 I walked (with friends, not alone, thank you Amawalkers!) from Lourdes to Betharrem, to Arudy, to Oloron -- and loved (almost) every minute of it. Some of the most endearing pastoral scenery ever - rolling green fields, cows aplenty, homemade cheese for sale on the roadside, Pyrenees mountains in the distance.... Weather fair, trail very well marked for the most part, meals good (although more expensive than in Spain!), locals surprizingly 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 go wrong! (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 SJPP.... 'Cause I enjoyed France much more than I thought that I would, and 'cause, well -- I haven't done that bit yet.

Godspeed! ... And please file an After Action Report!

 

[nycwalking]

Oh!

Do enjoy.

I plan on walking that way next Spring.

Buen camino.

 

[lthrnck55]

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

Thank you Annie! I greatly appreciate all the information I can get. Very kind of you to provide the link and encouragement.

 

[lthrnck55]

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.

Thank you! Would love to hear about your experience after your return. Best of Luck and Buen Camino!

 

[lthrnck55]

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!

Thank you Reverend. I look forward to a thoughtful and prayerful visit. Your advice and suggestions are well received. I converted to Roman Catholicism forty years ago. While my physical body is as healthy as a sixty-five year old man could expect, my soul and spirit would welcome any and all healing Our Lady would graciously intercede for me.

Blessings and Buen Camino!

 

[JabbaPapa]

I *love* the Lourdes Way !!!

I prefer the SJPP variant, but both variants are excellent.

I'm fairly sure that if I ever do any more Caminos after the current 2019-2020 Home to Home, they'll be Lourdes Way ones via SJPP and the Francès.

It's anyway a FAR better starting point than SJPP, including because going to Lourdes by however means is a Pilgrimage in its own right !!

 

[JabbaPapa]

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.

hmmmmmm, I'll make a rare excursion outside the normal forum rules, as these are matters pertinent to Pilgrimage as such and to this particular Camino project both in particular and in general, but I'll start with heartfelt association in Prayer for Schism's End and gratitude for your desire for good, proper Catholic Doctrine and for the very Catholicity itself.

Anglicans are not Catholic, though it would be foolish and supercilious indeed not to be heartened by the desire of and for God of the more religiously Faithful Anglo-Catholics, whether they may be in personal Communion with the Holy See or not.

Any Active Participation in the veneration of our Lady, the Virgin Saint Mother of our Lord, and the very Model of all Saintliness in the Quick as much as the Dead, provides its own reward, as she is keen and personally active in her desire of our Love for her Son. And she, and all Saints and Angels, deserves our good love too.

But it is still within Worship for the Real Presence of God in the Holy Eucharist that we are most properly defined as Christians, and all of these Pilgrim Ways and the Sanctuaries that they lead to are also defined and characterised by that Divine Presence made Manifest in and around us, in the World, in the Way, and Within. That is the Religiosity of our Faith, within Holy Church.

There is a Catholicity that extends beyond the worldly Church ; and indeed, the old and true Catholic Dogma, infallible, Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, refers to the indisputable Fact that no Salvations can occur except into the Church of our Christ in Heaven. And in that particular sense, all of the Saved and Saintèd are Catholics.

In any case, all of us on these Catholic Sanctuary Ways are Pilgrims towards God.

Pacem, and this alarum et excursion is NOT an invitation to any "discussion" against those most sensible Forum rules.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Pacem, and this alarum et excursion is NOT an invitation to any "discussion" against those most sensible Forum rules.

Peace be with you.

 

[dfox]

I plan to go to SdC for the third time in 2021 via Lourdes from SJPdP. Kindly share your experience and insight, which will be much appreciated.