Café Beth: Lourdes (Nov 7 & 8)

I went to Loudres November 7th and 8th to participate in the 5th annual congress of the French association of liturgical choirs. It was quite an experience. About 85% of the participants were over 50 years old. So that means there were only about 1,500 "younger" people. Yes, there were 10 thousand singers there. It was quite incredible, although the way we were set up, we couldn't really hear the entire group, so that was kinda disappointing.

The congress was held in Lourdes, which is in the Pyrenées, practically in Spain. The mountains are absolutely beautiful. (Check out the pic below.) The city itself consists of 5 things: tacky tourist shops, tacky tourist hotels, and 3 giant basillicas. :) Literally, that's like it. The basillica they put us in is the modern, underground one. It was actually really nifty--picture the skeleton of a finshing boat flipped upside-down. That's what it looks like inside. (Pic below.) From the outside it looks like a field, because that's what it is. It really is underground. It holds probably about 15-18 thousand. We were all in there, and there was still lots of room. The altar is in the middle of the "boat".... it's kinda hard to explain.

Pics!