W left _Pau first thing Thurday morning and headed for Lourdes. I know I should have stopped many times when we saw a service garage, buy "I" didn't, and now I'm in deep trouble with Louise... We are still fighting the stalling problem and now we can't find a cechanic that will take the time to even look at our problem. One thing I did do before we left Pau, was to take a look at the carburetor myself. I unloaded al the "stuff" we have in the back end and got my screwdrivers out. I was expecting to find a ton of "junk" in the bowl of the carburetor, but that wasn't the case. I did a little cleaning and blowing out of the jets, and then put it back together. It started up ok, but after it warmed up it just wouldn;t idle. Pissed, I put everything back into the back and said "let's go". I was hoping to find a mechanic here in Lourdes. When we pulled in here, we were overwhelmed with what we saw. On the road we saw a fw cars, caravans, and camper, but when we pulled into town...Geesss...You could hardly move towards town, and when we looked down into this huge field, we saw approximately 5-600 caravans and campers parked in this one open field. our first guess (and it proved to be right), was they must be "Gypsies". Actually, I think there was a mix of "campers" like us, and the "travelers" that filled this field. As we had the opportunity to see the rest of the town later, we saw that every little area where there could be a caravan or 12, there were "Travelers" living there, at least for a while... Electrical cords were strung to the telephone poles to just about every corner you could imagine. Cars and the "Gypsie" vans were goingin and out like it was a major highway. The young people were dressed to the hilt and were wondering the groiunds, the streets and the town throughout the day and late night. We found a campground right next door to this field and decided to stay at least one night. After setting up, we walked into the area of the La Grotte de Massabielle (The Grotto of the Virgin Mary, where the Virgin appeared to Bernadette in 1856. We were camped only about 300 yards away, so it was a short walk. This was the first of 2 walks to this area today/night. It's an amazing site... There were many church groups and individuals by themselves, that were on a pilgrimage to the Grotto. They had set up lines to go into the Grotto of the Virgin Mary and let me tell you, they weren't short... It was also humbling to see all those in wheelchairs and hospital beds making their visit. We tood this opportunity to go into the Basilica of the Rosary and the Highter Basilica. Mass was being said throughout the entire complex including the basilicas most of the day and night. For some reason I wasn't expecting too much out of the town of Lourdes, but what a surprise ...The commercial areas right around the grotto was as you night expect. These stores were offering all the metals, books, p[ictures, and all else religious. As you walked further into the town, it changed to a more modern commercial outlet. After our usual visit to the TI and a few of the "shops", we wondered on back to "Bumble Bee". Our plans were to take in the candle lit procession of those on the pilgrimage at 9:30 tonight. In getting back to the campground, we met a fellow from Seattle that was backpacking for 3 months. He has had quite a story to tell... interesting... At 9:30 we excused ourselves and went to the procession. As we walked around the corner of the basilica, we were taken back by the sight of all the pilgrims coming down the "Boulevard de la Grotte" with candles in hands. We wandered around and I took pictures for a while and then we just had to find a curb to sit on for things to see and things to hear.
18 August '05, Thursday.
W left _Pau first thing Thurday morning and headed for Lourdes. I know I should have stopped many times when we saw a service garage, buy "I" didn't, and now I'm in deep trouble with Louise... We are still fighting the stalling problem and now we can't find a cechanic that will take the time to even look at our problem. One thing I did do before we left Pau, was to take a look at the carburetor myself. I unloaded al the "stuff" we have in the back end and got my screwdrivers out. I was expecting to find a ton of "junk" in the bowl of the carburetor, but that wasn't the case. I did a little cleaning and blowing out of the jets, and then put it back together. It started up ok, but after it warmed up it just wouldn;t idle. Pissed, I put everything back into the back and said "let's go". I was hoping to find a mechanic here in Lourdes. When we pulled in here, we were overwhelmed with what we saw. On the road we saw a fw cars, caravans, and camper, but when we pulled into town...Geesss...You could hardly move towards town, and when we looked down into this huge field, we saw approximately 5-600 caravans and campers parked in this one open field. our first guess (and it proved to be right), was they must be "Gypsies". Actually, I think there was a mix of "campers" like us, and the "travelers" that filled this field. As we had the opportunity to see the rest of the town later, we saw that every little area where there could be a caravan or 12, there were "Travelers" living there, at least for a while... Electrical cords were strung to the telephone poles to just about every corner you could imagine. Cars and the "Gypsie" vans were goingin and out like it was a major highway. The young people were dressed to the hilt and were wondering the groiunds, the streets and the town throughout the day and late night. We found a campground right next door to this field and decided to stay at least one night. After setting up, we walked into the area of the La Grotte de Massabielle (The Grotto of the Virgin Mary, where the Virgin appeared to Bernadette in 1856. We were camped only about 300 yards away, so it was a short walk. This was the first of 2 walks to this area today/night. It's an amazing site... There were many church groups and individuals by themselves, that were on a pilgrimage to the Grotto. They had set up lines to go into the Grotto of the Virgin Mary and let me tell you, they weren't short... It was also humbling to see all those in wheelchairs and hospital beds making their visit. We tood this opportunity to go into the Basilica of the Rosary and the Highter Basilica. Mass was being said throughout the entire complex including the basilicas most of the day and night. For some reason I wasn't expecting too much out of the town of Lourdes, but what a surprise ...The commercial areas right around the grotto was as you night expect. These stores were offering all the metals, books, p[ictures, and all else religious. As you walked further into the town, it changed to a more modern commercial outlet. After our usual visit to the TI and a few of the "shops", we wondered on back to "Bumble Bee". Our plans were to take in the candle lit procession of those on the pilgrimage at 9:30 tonight. In getting back to the campground, we met a fellow from Seattle that was backpacking for 3 months. He has had quite a story to tell... interesting... At 9:30 we excused ourselves and went to the procession. As we walked around the corner of the basilica, we were taken back by the sight of all the pilgrims coming down the "Boulevard de la Grotte" with candles in hands. We wandered around and I took pictures for a while and then we just had to find a curb to sit on for things to see and things to hear.
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