Thursday 16 May 2019
We left Ambre going west toward the Béarn. Shortly before Carcasonne we stopped at Puichéric, an old workaday village with washing drying in front of houses. Like most villages it had its castle as well as a massive fortified church growing out of the rock.
Church. Puichéric.
Church. Puichéric.
We found a delightfully peaceful campsite at Montgaillard just south of Foix beneath the Pain de Sucre rocky outcrop. A wooden bridge over a leat invited into what appeared to be a private garden, open for the public to use, with dovecotes in a fenced-off area by the house. There was an attractive church in the village but no hoped for bar so we had to make do with wine outside Modestine. The campsite dog had learned that visitors recoiled at throwing saliva covered stones for him to catch, so he had learned to place them carefully on our feet so that we could kick them.
Dovecotes. Montgaillard.
Church. Montgaillard.
Friday 17 May 2019
Our first stop was the town of Foix where the castle of the Counts of Foix dominates the town.
Castle. Foix.
It was market day in Foix with two separate markets, one by the tourist office, one by the abbey.
Market. Foix. The castle was inaccessible as restoration work was taking place but we were able to see the strange troglodyte dwellings built into the cliffs below the ramparts.
Troglodyte dwellings. Foix.
Troglodyte dwellings. Foix. The abbey was dedicated to yet another saint we had never heard of - in a secular state like France the place is peppered with these obscure holy folk. Volusien, the seventh bishop of Tours, was taken to Spain by the Visigoths where he was martyred in 495. The market was held in front of the abbey with municipal police in attendance, although they only kept themselves busy by chatting with the locals. 
Abbey. Foix.
Abbey. Foix.
Castle. Foix. Saturday 18 May 2019Today we reached Lourdes. Largest number of pilgrims anywhere in the world made their way to Lourdes according to our 1970s guide. Presumably this included Mecca - it it still true today? St Bernadette was everywhere. Her photograph was useful for filling windows of empty shops, she featured in a new film, even a musical. There were also many shops selling religious trinkets.
Lourdes. Note the poster for Saint Bernadette, the musical.
Lourdes.
Shops selling religious bits and bobs, Lourdes.We noticed three men in orange kilts and out of curiosity followed them. Their voices betrayed them as being Irishmen. Soon we saw more and more people dressed in a wide variety of military attire and realised that we had arrived on the day of the Grand International Military Pilgrimage. 
Men in kilts, Lourdes. 
Military procession, Lourdes. 
Military procession, Lourdes. Everywhere there were parades, military bands, group photographs. The grotto was the scene of a mass for assembled Italian units. We managed to fill a bottle with holy water and purchase a medal for Jill's sister Julie. Last time we did this we found we had inadvertently drunk it before we could hand it on to its intended recipient, so this time we packed it carefully away. 
Basilica, Lourdes.
International military pilgrimage, Lourdes. 
Holy water for Julie, Lourdes.
Jill with bottle of holy water, Lourdes.
International military pilgrimage, Lourdes.
Group photograph, Lourdes.
International military pilgrimage, Lourdes.
Service at the grotto, Lourdes.
Basilica, Lourdes.
International military pilgrimage, Lourdes.The Pius X subterranean basilica, can accommodate 20,000 and it was almost full. 
Pius X subterranean basilica, Lourdes.
Pius X subterranean basilica, Lourdes.
Castle, Lourdes. The campsite we found in in Salies-de-Béarn that evening was basic but at least it offered hard standing after a day of heavy rain. It was an area prone to flooding and there had been bad floods in Salies last June.
