I just don't agree.
Sure, there are a couple of streets of shops for tourists. Sure, there are some flashing holy pictures and statues of the Virgin that glow in the dark.
Sure, there are pubs, I am in one right now. I just watched a rugby match where Clermont-Ferraud best London Harlequins and I am drinking a Belgian beer (Leffe).
But these are a long way from the grotto and the basilica, which are very tranquil places.
Anyway, what is wrong with souvenirs and a pub? I bought some statues myself from what seemed a good shop, called "Jerusalem in Lourdes". It is owned by a Jewish man which I suppose explains why he also sells Torah pointers and wooden camels.
Speaking of rugby, I was told that the man who leads the singing in the nightly candle procession is a former rugby player who had a bad leg injury in a scrum, so changed from rugby to hymn singing.
I've always thought they do a good job of keeping the shops outside the grotto area. I love the torchlight procession.
ReplyDeleteI've only been to Lourdes twice but the first time I went I walked past Cardinal Keith O'Brien in full red cassock sat outside a bar having a beer.
Hopefully drinking a Belgian beer: Duvel. It is like an angel pissing on your tongue. Leffe is for the OZ-perigrinos. Bollekens for the A-perigrinos.
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