Nevers Day 4 - Saturday 10/8

Our day was spent mainly on the bus. 
The drive from Paris to Lyon, if driven straight through is nearly 300 miles and would take a little over 4 hours.
But if you go through Nevers, it becomes an 8-9 hour trip (with 3-4 hours to explore the holy sites in Nevers.
If you drop off a person (Fr Mitch) in Paray le Monial and take some interesting back roads, the trip seems to get endless!
But we survived!

We stopped at one of the many fine rest stops along the French highway and loaded up with something for lunch, since we would not have access to a restaurant in Nevers.

As we arrived at the Nevers Carmel, our friend Luis was busy as usual taking photos. He has a very nice SLR with several lenses all in a large back-pack style "gadget bag." We have promised to share photos after the trip.

The first sight as you enter the grounds is the chapel! The peace of the place is soothing and wonderful!

As we "rounded the bend" we discovered this marvelous reminder of the Grotto in Lourdes where the Blessed Mother appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. A few years after the visions ceased, Bernadette entered Carmel at Nevers and spent the remainder of her life caring for the sick.

 The chapel is small and rustic but marvelous in its simplicity.

We had mass a short time after arriving.

St. Bernadette's incorrupt body is enclosed in a glass coffin in the chapel.

After lunch, we re-boarded the bus and headed for Paray le Monial. Although we were not scheduled to visit this small town until tomorrow, Fr Mitch was speaking to a group gathered to celebrate the Sacred Heart (more on the Sacred Heart, St Margaret Mary Alacoque, St Claude de la Colombiere, and Paray le Monial tomorrow. For now, just a quick stop for a bio-break!

The basilica is next to a very pleasant park and stream.  This bronze statue s dedicated to the "children" of Paray le Monial who died in World War I

This pleasant stream/canal runs just past the basilica. 

We arrived in Lyon at about 7 PM (recall, we departed Paris at 8 AM!) exhausted. We drove about looking for the restaurant and finally found it! The bus could not navigate the narrow streets, so we walked through a light rain to a quaint little restaurant about 5 blocks off the main streets. The dining room was upstairs and we were a little chagrined to find the room had a ceiling that was about 6 feet! Bob could nt stand up in the room! The WC was interesting also in that the ceiling sloped over the toilet making it very interesting to use! It helped if you were part contortionist!

This phot doesn't really tell the story! Bob just about had to get down on his hands and knees to get under a low beam and onto the stairs!

As we drove to the hotel, we drove along one of the two rivers in Lyon and caught this nice photo!

 

 

 

More on Lyon and Paray le Monial tomorrow!
Until then, adieu!