Lourdes & Biarritz
Last weekend, we went to Lourdes (Pyrenees) and to Biarritz (Cote Basque). These areas are near the Spanish border. The Spanish influence was evident on the structure of the houses in that area. The houses were simple but what's so Spanish about them are their window shutters. I have not seen these in the other places we went to in France. These places are so near Spain that the prices of items were in French Francs and in Spanish Peseta. Lourdes is a pilgrimage area. When we entered the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the first thing we noticed was the chapels. There were a lot of chapels there. In fact in one building, there was the chapel for St. Jean D'Arc and another one for St. Anne. We were at the upper part of the basilica. We looked below and was amazed by the number of people in there. There was a mass going on and at one part of the place, we saw a lot of people taking water. As we were walking down towards the inner part of the Sanctuary, we heard Engli...