Andorra

After our hotel breakfast and perusing some souvenir shops, we returned to the sanctuary and visited our 2nd basilica, the Basilica of St. Pius X. It has a super modern design and considered one of the biggest in the world - over 20,000 can sit for mass in this underground church. It was originally built to celebrate the centennial of Bernadette’s apparitions in 1958. Here are some pictures:





They had posters of saints including this of the shepherd children of Fátima:



Also, there’s a relic of the beloved Pope John Paul II with some of his blood on a vestment - here’s the chapel that holds the reliquary and the altar that sits over it:





We left the underground basilica and made our way to the 3rd and last basilica in the sanctuary - The Immaculate Conception. It’s actually on top of the Our Lady of the Rosary basilica - the 1st one we visited. Here are some photos from the outside:





And some photos from the inside including a reliquary of St. Bernadette where we lit some candles for loved ones:



The basilica itself:





We found a commemoration of missionaries to Korea as well in one of the chapels:



We then walked up to the Way of the Cross which was situated on a hillside next to the basilica. We couldn’t walk the whole way as it was uphill and extensive, but we had done the last few stations in Fátima, and here we did the first few:







We then crossed the Ousse river where there was a great view of the basilicas and a statue of Bernadette praying facing the Grotto:



Also across the river was St. Bernadette church which apparently is multi-purpose and also used for conferences:



We then headed back to the hotel and picked up the car which had been packed with our luggage. We headed to the center village in search of lunch and we found Café Barcelonne after checking out Les Halles market. We enjoyed omelettes, goat cheese salad with the cheese drizzled in honey, and hamburger steaks while we watched French President Macron on the news:



Here I butchered my French, but we got by with the lovely waiters who didn’t speak English at this family-run establishment. Then we piled into the car with the radio turned on and planned to drive 2 hours before stopping. Here are some views from the road and ski village chalets thanks to co-navigator Mary Ann and as we officially entered Spain, our 3rd country:







We planned to stop in Vielha in Spain which had several restaurants in the Michelin guidebook, so I figured it was built up as a city. It was clearly a destination for skiers and gave me Deer Valley, Utah vibes. We found a bakery where we drank coffees in a booth and chatted with the owners who loved hearing about our itinerary. They also asked how we knew each other as I think they were surprised to see Koreans and Indians together:



Here’s the roundabout where Google Maps pinned the center of the city:



We then drove on for another 2.5 hours, anticipating the hairpin turns on the GPS and admiring the ski resorts and snow-capped mountains of the Pyrenees:









As the sun set, we entered Andorra, the 4th country of our trip and the 6th smallest state in Europe, with an area of 468 square kms or 181 square miles. Located in the eastern Pyrenees, it’s a micro state and is technically not a member of the European Union. The official language is Catalan, but Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken. Approximately 10 millions visitors come annually and I figured on our unique trip with a car rental, this would be an opportunity and we could be one of the 10 million!







We arrived at the Hotel Mercure Andorra, located in Andorra la Vella - the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 meters or 3,356 feet above sea level. After checking in and parking the car, we walked to Bar Saldana, a tapas restaurant. I suggested we have rosé wine as Andorra was not quite French or Spanish, and rosé is not quite red or white. We enjoyed grilled meat, bread with tomato, sausage and peppers, calamari, Spanish omelette, eggplant with honey, potatoes, and a cheese plate. A collage below:



A taxi was called after the meal, but since everyone couldn’t fit, Tresa and I walked home and she humored me by posing in front of the La Valira River:



Then the daughters enjoyed our welcome drinks at the Mercure sister hotel which is the Novotel and coincidentally where our car is parked. We enjoyed the conversation while chatting about the day and about our final 4 nights together!

Lourdes

Today we’re on our way to Lourdes where Bernadette saw the apparitions of Mary in 1858 in southern France. As such we’re making our way there and these medallions in the streets of the village guide you to the sanctuary. This had been a dream of mine to take my mother as she was baptized as Bernadette and uses that as our American name. She has also loved the stories of Bernadette - our dear Father Chang would call my mom on her Saint’s day and had given her Lourdes water as a gift. Here’s a photo of the street medallion saying, “the way of Bernadette Lourdes”.



From the start of our day and on our way to Lourdes, we started with our usual buffet breakfast and then boarded the airport shuttle for the short ride. However we didn’t realize that Ryanair was at terminal 2 and the shuttle had dropped us off at shuttle 1. So we had to find and take the terminal bus as the quick hotel shuttle van would not have taken us all the way there.

Mama Kim has never been on a budget airline, but as it’s the only direct flight from Lisbon to Toulouse, it was ideal. It was also a pretty big plane and we had assigned seats, so the experience was pleasant.



We successfully sat in our seats to only learn that we were delayed due to the air traffic controller strike in France, but only by 30 minutes. Generally there were strikes and protests in France due to the retirement age going up 2 years.

As I sat on the plane and contemplated our few days in Portugal, I look forward to coming back - definitely Porto and the southern beaches are on my bucket list. Overall, Portugal had a low key vibe compared to other European countries and was very hilly. I kept hearing Kate Bush’s revitalized song from “Stranger Things” called “Running Up That Hill” in my head as we climbed various inclines on trams, buses, and by foot. Although we joked about a suggestion box for the city as the buses didn’t keep to the schedules, we loved our days of exploring.

Despite the delay, we were only about 15 minutes late due to the cushion they put in the air travel time. Here are some photos of the snow-capped Pyrenees and the French countryside after crossing the mountain range:





After landing in Toulouse, we picked up the Avis rental car which took awhile as they had accidentally doubled my one way surcharge and included insurance I had not elected. They were able to rectify while the Thomas sisters got their steps in and paced in the garage. Our car ended up being a bigger SUV than the one in Portugal and was a Ford hybrid - so the luggage fit much better and legroom was improved. We were off southward for about a 2 hour drive:





I had researched a village and some restaurants on the way, but we ended up not stopping as it appeared that many restaurants are not open Monday’s and Tuesday’s. We also had to address a tire pressure alert that came up in my dashboard at a rest stop gas station - my high school French kicked in as I remembered the word for tire, pneus.

We arrived at the Mercure Lourdes Impérial Hotel, part of the Accor group where I have silver status and they too told us all the restaurants were closed as it was after the lunch hours. So I went to a local cheese shop and picked up cheese, toasted crackers, pâté, half bottle of country white wine, and salami. We weighed opening one of our canned fishes, and I joked, it’s like we’re feeding ourselves with bread and fishes, out of nothing.

Here’s a picture of Mary Ann not agreeing there are so many restaurants in Lourdes:



We crossed the old bridge and there was an advertisement for Bernadette the musical - here’s Bernadette in front of Bernadette:



After a stroll down the street, we arrived at the Sanctuary. Some photos below:













We then decided to join the French mass in the Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica. I gave this mass 5 stars as it was under 50 minutes. Afterwards, we looked around this basilica which is actually 1 of 3 in the Sanctuary and prayed for loved ones:







Then we headed out to the Grotto of which the basilicas were built on and around and where Bernadette saw Mary. The water from the Grotto is said to be curative and therefore people fill jugs and bottles of it. Also, before the pandemic, there were baths or dips in the water that could be taken with the help of volunteers. Apparently there have been many reported miracles of the sick who have been cured after visiting Lourdes:













Here we’re enjoying the Ousse River view:





After our visit, we explored some shops and rested at a café while some of us dropped off the jugs back at the hotel. I had checked the “Tuesday” schedule a few weeks ago and had seen an 8:30 pm torchlight rosary at the Grotto and presumed the schedule would hold. So we grabbed warmer clothes and returned to the café. I then realized the updated schedule didn’t show a rosary and other services were showing am instead of pm, so I’m not sure how reliable the schedules are on the website. So I popped over to the announcement board at the sanctuary and confirmed there was no rosary with the security guard.

So we enjoyed a leisurely dinner at the Saint Saveur hotel and ordered pasta, pizza, and chicken with a bottle of Bordeaux:



It was difficult to find open restaurants - we thought perhaps today was a big strike day as we saw the protests on TV. Some told us the crowds descend after Palm Sunday and I knew it wasn’t the peak season, but didn’t know it would be this quiet. However, we did see a busload of people arrive at our hotel and it was swarmed when we dropped off the water. Generally, we feel like it’s more intimate since we don’t have to battle the crowds, so it’s made the day feel very special.

After returning to the hotel, the Thomas sisters and I overstayed our welcome drinks and had some leftover cheese and port in the lobby:



At my office, people love taking elevator selfies, and we evened up our heights and took one while returning to our rooms!