Our first experience of pilgrims. My emotions were all over the place during our visit.
From the car park you go past hundreds of shops with awful names such as Vatican Affiliated, Christian Aligned, Catholic something or other. They were all selling souvenir 'tat'. Bottled water, crucifixes, tacky clocks, candles, candles and huge candles etc. We were feeling pretty disgusted by the time we got to the site. Then everything changes.
The church area is devoid of anything touristy, other than the tourists (hard to explain).
Your heart goes out to all the sick children. My thoughts were confused in regards to the very old who were there for 'the cure'. There were a surprising number of Down Syndrome people with their carers. At the end of the day my thoughts settled on that they all had hope and can that be a bad thing?
Passing through the cave was orderly and reverently silent. I put the sacred water on my thumbs, which are showing signs of rheumatism (you never know :)
The Cathedral has been built on top of the cave.
There was no charge to enter any part of the site other than the baths. The water was free, as were entry to the cave and Cathedral.
The area is manned by volunteers and there are areas set aside for prayer. Of course there were the ignorant tourists who showed no respect but in the crowd of thousands they were relatively few and the volunteers were quick to 'assist' them out of the area.
A very impressive building with a superb arched walkway up to it.
There are groups of pilgrims who have group photos. There are so many that the area for the traditional photo is organised.
The setting is magnificent. We were feeling pretty good as we left the site but then we had to walk back past the horrible tacky shops.
Thank you for writing such a interesting post on France. You are brilliant writer. Tuscany is also great destination for honeymoon. You must go there.
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