A not-so-successful trip to Lourdes

I had a couple days off of work so, not wanting to waste them, I got the idea to go to Lourdes, an hour and a half train ride away. The first thing I noticed was le Chateau Fort, a castle that was used by the Romans and beseiged by Charlemagne back in 778.  Today it's a museum, so I visited.  Interesting, and since it was a rainy day in the off-season, I was practically the only person there.

Lourdes is the Catholic Mecca of the world.  Over 5 million people travel there every year to see and pray in la grotte, the cave in which Saint Bernadette is said to have seen 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary.  There's also an underground basilica, museums galore, and a spring whose water is believed to have healing power-- I saw people filling up jugs from it to take home.  Above the cave is this impressive cathedral, with beautiful mosaics inside:

What I liked about Lourdes: the cathedral, all the candles lit in prayer by the pilgrims, the landscape-- surrounded by the Pyrenees.

What I didn't like about Lourdes:  It's incredibly commercial, everything catering to the tourists.  All it really consists of is the main Catholic attractions, hundreds of hotels, and a zillion shops selling cheap souvenirs-- rosary beads and statuettes of the Virgin in every conceivable form.  Most of these businesses are only open in the summer, creating lots of boarded up, empty streets in November.

That's not why my trip was "not-so-successful," though.  I was planning on staying for the night and doing a nearby hike the next day.  I booked a hostel online before going, but when I got there, it was completely dark.  Nobody at the reception desk, nobody anywhere, no answer on the phone-- it was only 6pm.  I'm guessing they're only open in the summer and the website forgot that small detail.. either that or it's just a really sucky hostel.  I decided to leave, not sift through the hundreds of hotels for a cheap one.  I'd seen enough of Lourdes anyways.  I went straight to la gare and caught the first train back to Toulouse, having been in Lourdes only 5 hours. Oh well! No harm done (as long as I get my hostel $ back).