#AHaLoInEurope: Paris by Moonlight

Traveling broadens your horizon. It enriches your mind and your spirit. But traveling uses up a lot of your time and treasure. It would be a waste if you missed something on your trip you should’ve seen or experienced. It happened to me several times and I regretted that so much. If you’re planning a trip, I’d like to help you avoid missing out. So, let my blog show you what to look out for. Prepare for your trip by traveling with me through this post. Or you might still be in the praying and dreaming stage. Manifesting your dream into reality starts here!

A Happy Solo in Paris, France

 

La Ville de l’Amour. The City of Love. La Ville Lumière. The City of Light.

 

Paris by any other name is just as romantic.

 

It was just a one night stand with this major European center for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture. Just passing through on our way to Switzerland. From Lourdes we took the Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV), a high-speed rail service, which took us to the Gare Montparnasse in Paris in 4 hours and 47 minutes.

 

After an afternoon city tour which included the ritzy Avenue des Champs-Élysées and photo op stops in Arc de Triomphe

 

and the Eiffel Tower,

 

we were brought to the Bateaux Mouches Pier.

 

Our Paris interlude was brief, much like a fling, so we had to make the most of it in the most romantic way by taking a moonlit cruise on the Seine.

 

The autumn evening was chilly outside the glass-covered interior of the boat, but I braved the cold to take photos of the jewels of the city’s historic heritage.

 

Musée de Orsay

 

Palais du Louvre

 

Musée du Louvre

 

Notre-Dame de Paris

 

Palais de Justice

And I’m so glad I stayed on deck because the spirit of “Gay Pah-ree” was more evident there. The gaiety of the people waving to us from the  bridges we passed was so infectious that the tourists on board responded with cheers and claps as our boat navigated beneath them.

 

A moonlit cruise is a more vibrant way of experiencing a city. Paris illumined at night was both magical and enchanting especially the glittering La Tour Eiffel.

True to its reputation as the City of Love, Paris gave me a glimpse of L’Amour via a proposal on the banks of the Seine. I was too far away to take a clear photo

 

so, I decided to immortalize the scene by trying (emphasis on TRYING) my hand at landscape painting. I’m better at rendering flowers, but Paris had no moon-kissed blooms to offer, just lovers, by a “Marry Me” sign gleaming under klieg lights, on the verge of a kiss.

 

Ending our Parisienne interlude was a different kind of kiss – chef’s kiss – for the city’s gastronomic delights. After the cruise, we were brought to Place Édouard VII

Equestrian statue of King Edward VII

 

for dinner at Chez Edouard where I got to savor the famed escargot (French kuhol😊) and Duck à l’Orange.

 

Our stay in Paris was short and sweet like a love out of time that longs to be rekindled. So, I’m not taking the City by the Seine off my bucket list until I can have a full-blown affair with it.

#AHaLoInEurope: Revisiting Lourdes – A Spiritual & Photographic Journey

 

Traveling broadens your horizon. It enriches your mind and your spirit. But traveling uses up a lot of your time and treasure. It would be a waste if you missed something on your trip you should’ve seen or experienced. It happened to me several times and I regretted that so much. If you’re planning a trip, I’d like to help you avoid missing out. So, let my blog show you what to look out for. Prepare for your trip by traveling with me through this post. Or you might still be in the praying and dreaming stage. Manifesting your dream into reality starts here!

A Happy Solo in Lourdes, France

 “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces… never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again. That’s the beauty of being alive… We can always start all over again. Enjoy God’s amazing opportunities bestowed on us. Have faith in Him always.” – St. Bernadette

 

Lourdes, France greeted me “Bienvenue” for the second time. It was, to borrow the words of St. Bernadette, “God’s amazing opportunity bestowed on me” to be back, to revisit the place where a young unassuming girl was graced with a vision of the Immaculate Conception.

Caya, our youngest and cutest co-pilgrim

As I did in Fatima, I took the opportunity to go on a deeper spiritual journey in Lourdes and to take better photos. For a run-through of the important spots in the Sanctuaire de Notre Dame de Lourdes (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes) click this link to my previous blog

(https://happyfeettravelbag.blogspot.com/2024/10/seekingmary-feeling-bernadette.html).

 

Reacquaintance

Our morning was spent visiting places that were already familiar to me. It was like saying, “Nice to see you again,” to old acquaintances but noticing new things about them.

Road marker to Maison Natale de Bernadette 

 

The waters of Gave de Pau. Cascading under the bridge spanning the road to Maison Natale de Bernadette, Bernadette’s birthplace.

 

Rippling as it flowed by the Grotto of Massabielle where the apparition took place.

 

Meandering to a gentler flow under the bridge where people seal their promises to each other by attaching a padlock a.k.a. “love locks” to the wire mesh fence.

 

I captured details of Boly Water Mill or Moulin de Boly, home of the Soubirous family when Bernadette was born, with fresh eyes.

The Mill

Millstone

Basilique Souterraine Saint-Pie X (Underground Basilica of St. Pius X)

The different angles and moods of the Basilicas

The Crown on the Basilica

 

and the pilgrims.

 

Reconciliation

One of my biggest blessings in Lourdes which I was unable to do in my first visit was going to confession. To be able to unburden myself in such a holy place was a balm to my soul. If you also want to find the peace that the sacrament of confession brings, check the timetable given by the sanctuary for the schedules. Confessions are held in the Chapel of Reconciliation.

Schoolchildren passing by the Chapel of Reconciliation

 

Water Gesture

When the pandemic hit, complete immersion in the Baths was suspended. It was still the case when we visited but they instituted another rite that though quicker was nevertheless just as touching – the Water Gesture. Instead of soaking in the pool, spring water was poured from a jug over our hands as we recited a prayer. We then wet our faces as we continued with our personal prayer. I was unable to take photos because of the solemnity of the ritual. I read that as of this date, the Baths are already open for full immersion.

 

Chapel of Lights

Something new to me was the Chapel of Lights. It was across the bridge from the Baths. Lighting candles as I prayed for family and friends who requested that I bring their petitions to Our lady Of Lourdes was another meaningful step in my spiritual journey. It was like bringing them with me to this holy place.

 

Torchlight Rosary

Another first for me was witnessing the Torchlight Rosary. Since it is only held from March or April till the end of October, I missed it by a couple of days the first time I was in Lourdes. But this time we made it on the last day.

 

It was a gift to witness that much devotion to Our Lady. The throng of people saying the rosary in unison asking for her intercession to her Divine Son was a sight to behold.

 

In the other places we visited, I was lucky if I can find a flower to photograph as a painting subject. But Lourdes was kind and showed me three of them.

Statue of St. Bernadette

 

As my memento for our time in the Domain (another name for the Sanctuary), I went with the flowers that adorned the chapel where we heard mass.

"Anthuriums de Lourdes"