The octagonal 14th Century Bell Tower on this Romanesque Parish Church is one of on Vielha's…read moretrademarks. It's also in the center of this handsome town and sits on a pretty plaza. Gayle and I wandered inside Sant Miguel and enjoyed the quiet simplicity within. Actually there's more as the 15th Century Gothic Altar and the 12th Century wood carving (Cristo de Mig Aran) were impressive. The later is displayed under glass, and brings out an interesting sense of mortality and humanity.

A sacred place, but hard to access from other parts of the country (we flew in from Barcelona and…read moretook a bus from there). The grounds are huge and it took several days to explore everything (from the grotto, upper/lower basilicas, stations, etc.). Unfortunately, this place is also referred to as the "Catholic Disneyland", with shops and carts selling food and souvenirs all up and down the street. The town itself is pretty walkable. Make sure to see the candlelight procession if you can 2025 #74

Beautiful Basilica in honor of the Virgin Mary. Had the privileged to attend a mass with most…read morecardinals present.

We came for the 8a Get Your Guide tour of Monserrat. We met at the meet-up point (Julia Travel…read moreCenter at the Barcelona Nord bus station, in Barcelona) to checkin for our trip. We met our tour guide Jose Carlos and our driver, Gemma and were on our way. We made a stop at a local train station, exited the motorcoach, and took the scenic train up to Montserrat. Once at Monserrat, we went on a guided tour (equipped with one-ear headphones to hear our tour guide) of the Basilica, viewing the Black Madonna (included with the tour ticket) and having a couple of hours of free time to explore Montserrat with the great instructions provided by Jose Carlos. We hiked up to see the cross, took part in the four liquor tasting (provided with the tour ticket), and saw the "stairway to heaven" a block sculpture with ascending stairs to the sky (thanks to our tour guide Jose Carlos, who gave us directions to where it was...behind the buffet building!) There was an interactive museum on Montserrat ($) as well as a museum ($) with art from Dali, Picasso, just to name a few, and white tents lined the sidewalk with local vendors featuring their local cheese, nuts, and other food items. Montserrat is where you can also see and hear the boy's choir in the Basilica, but that show began at 1p and our tour left at 12.10p (maybe on another visit!) All in all, we enjoyed this scenic, history-filled tour. Jose Carlos was an excellent tour guide, and we appreciated his expertise in all of the details of this tour; Gemma, our bus driver, was pleasant and professional in providing a safe, comfortable drive to and from Montserrat. We highly suggest this tour if you are in Barcelona for a couple of days.

Spent the day wandering the area…read more An easy hour's train ride from Barcelona. And seriously a must see. Once the train ends you have a choice of a different railway up the mountain or a gondola type tram to the area. I chose the train. Beautiful as you rose up through the morning clouds. Once at the top head straight to the information center and check out the different options for tickets. I highly recommend getting tickets to hear the boys choir. It's a short performance and well worth it. After getting tickets, I wandered around the various museums and other buildings. Then into the main church. Wow. Incredible. Performance time came and snagged a seat on the middle aisle to watch the processional in. The 20 minute performance was fantastic. The boys have great voices and discipline. Afterwards I got in line to walk through a long narrow hallway and upstairs to view and touch the area's prized Madonna that sits high about the alter. There are some restaurants and cafeterias on the property depending on the size of meal you want. After lunch I got my map out and roamed a couple of hiking trails in the area. The views from high above the clouds were spectacular. By late afternoon I was ready to return to the city, and did the train back the way I came.

Faith and religious belief, or the lack of it is private. There are billions of believers in multi…read morefaiths and today here there were folks from all over the world. To see so many people on trolleys and hospital type beds here lying in line to go into the baths here and many clearly at the end of their lives is truly humbling whether or not you believe in life hereafter.

A unique church in the complex of churches in Lourdes surrounding the grotto. It is buried…read moreunderground so I did not notice it for several days. It is large and very roomy but also feels like bunker compare to a traditional church. it is very roomy with no pillars in the way of the altar.

I am an Aerospace Engineer and my work took me to Toulouse for 4 months. All of my work colleagues…read moreexcept one were French so it was total immersion. My ancestors were from France (near Lille) and even with my poor French, France felt like home. Toulouse is the aerospace capital of Europe so there are lots of foreigners who live and work there and the locals are very tolerant of poor French. The local accent is somewhat different from Paris. What a fantastic experience. I was accompanied by my wife and our teenage daughter and we had a small apartment a few blocks from St-Aubin. I must admit I never set foot in the church but the weekend farmers market nearby was our go to. Fantastic selection of cheeses, meat, vegetables, wine, and the absolute best rotisserie chickens I have ever eaten. Our Sunday ritual was to go to the market buy a chicken, bread, cheese and a bottle of wine and return to our apartment for a long lunch. The roti chickens are sold with wonderful potatoes They also sold roti rabbits and game birds but we always had chicken. I really miss the whole experience.

This was one of my favourite churches to see in Toulouse. It looks absolutely stunning inside and…read moreoutside. I just sat down nearby and looked at it to be honest. I don't know what it is about it, but I loved it. The architecture, the windows, the area, loved it all.

Saint-Etienne is along with Saint-Sernin one of the two largest churches in Toulouse. Whereas…read moreSt-Sernin is the largest example of a Romanesque church existent, the current St-Etienne is actually two buildings in one. The first is an early example of Gothic style and post dates St-Sernin by at least a couple of centuries. The other, a later addition, is a somewhat later example of the Gothic style. The two are cobbled together in a rather bizarre combination. It is as if one added a ranch style addition to ones Victorian home and botched the job. St-Etienne is the home base for the local Archbishop. To me it is far from a beautiful building but certainly worth seeing as a lesson in architectural history. See both St-Sernin and St-Etienne on the same day to emphasize the contrast. I miss them both and apologize to St-Etienne for my caustic comments.