Well, the start of the trip has definitely been a test of my patience and endurance. After around 23 hours traveling by air, I arrived in Toulouse, France, only to discover that there was a rail strike, and I would now be taking a bus to Lourdes. After waiting 2 hours for the bus to board, a crowd of people pushed in front that would not fit on the previous bus to a different destination, that my bus had a possible connection to. The bus was full, but fortunately for me, 2 people walked off the bus and I was the second to last on the bus. After 3 hours, I finally made it to Lourdes. 28 hours of traveling with only around 3 hours combined sleep.
After a short 6 hours of sleep, I was up and getting ready for the day. I ate breakfast and then made my way to the grotto for mass. I walked around the grotto, bathed in the waters, and then made my way to the train station. I arrived around 30 minutes prior to my regularly scheduled train departure only to find that I’d have to wait another 4 hours for the bus to leave… And it’s only going half way to my final destination for tonight. Needless to say, so far I’ve definitely had a lot of “hurry up and wait” moments. I’m just thankful that this is at the start of my trip and not while I have an international flight to catch! I was finally able to find an employee working an information desk, and I can take the bus to St. Jean tonight. Instead of arriving at my destination just before 5pm, I’ll be arriving around 10:30pm. C’est la vie. I have a feeling I’ll be saying that a lot this trip.