I should subtitle this entry “a Pèlerin seeking…” a bus from the airport to the train station to then search the way to Hostel Saint Christophe. Or seeking a safe route through the traffic circles (aren’t cars supposed to stop?) to reach Hostel Saint Christophe. And où sont the Office de Tourisme and the Centre d’information Jacquaire? And where the hell do I buy hiking poles? Oh, that’s just two kilometres up the road leaving the city. OR TEN kilometres once you adjust for getting lost while “seeking.”

Lourdes is a colourful, busy, but oddly quiet place. Tourists on pilgrimage to the shrine walk, push strollers and wheelchairs amongst visiting priests and nuns from around the world, similarly called to this holy place. The air is reverent, prayerful, expectant. Are they here to give thanks? Are they just curious? Are we all here for a miracle?

I will begin my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela from this sacred place. After having spent hours walking today in search of many “somethings,” my pilgrimage to the Grotte where Bernadette Soubirous encountered Our Lady will begin tomorrow. And, again, I will be seeking. I’m just not sure what. My seeking is presently undefined, yet expectant. You cannot be otherwise in this miraculous place, surrounded by the devout and prayerful.