Walking to Lourdes is possible with the GR®101!

“There are places where the spirit blows”: this phrase by Maurice Barrès could apply to Lourdes, a place dear to the hearts of the French… and of Christians all over the world! This is the reason why many pilgrims going to Saint-Jacques wish to stop there.

“We set to work to meet this desire,” explains Valérie Tarride, the roaming and leisure advisor for the Cœur Sud-Ouest Marciac-Madiran-Saint-Mont tourist office. “We started with two existing paths: the Adour trail, created in 2018, which connects Aire-sur-l’Adour (Landes) to Bazet (Hautes-Pyrénées); and the GR ® 101, which connects Maubourguet (Hautes-Pyrénées) to Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées). “The Lourdes trail is now a magnificent link between Armagnac and the heart of the Pyrenees.” It also allows a connection to be established between three Saint-Jacques paths: the Puy route (or GR ® 65), the Arles route (or GR ® 653), and the Piedmont route (or GR ® 78).

From idea to field

“The implementation of this project, initiated by the Cœur Sud-Ouest Marciac-Madiran-Saint-Mont tourist office and Hautes-Pyrénées Tourisme Environnement (HPTE), was exciting,” continues Julie Colosio, project manager for the Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées urban community. From June to October 2023, supported by the Pyrenees agency, we brought together a working group made up of stakeholders from tourist structures, the municipalities crossed, the Hautes-Pyrénées Departmental Hiking Committee and the French Agency for the Ways of Compostela on five occasions, in order to work with the municipalities of Saint-Lézer and Azereix to create accommodation on the pilgrim route. We also developed a press kit and a communication plan. » Then in December 2023, this nature-loving woman herself surveyed part of the path by mountain bike, happy to move from concept to terrain!

Towards Lourdes in six stages

On the GR ® 101, called the “Lourdes path”, walkers can now connect Nogaro (Gers) to Lourdes in six stages (from 10 to 24 kilometres, or a total of 110 kilometres), stopping in the evening at Termes d’Armagnac, Préchac-sur-Adour, Maubourguet, Saint-Lézer, Azereix, before reaching the sanctuary city. As on all long-distance hiking trails, they follow the red and white markings. “They can also download the GPX tracks and the Walker’s Guide “, adds Valérie Tarride, who has just one reservation: “In Saint-Lézer and Azereix, the specific accommodation will not open until spring 2025. The official inauguration of this GR will take place at that time. But for the moment, alternative solutions are being proposed.”

The Pyrenees in sight

This path fulfills a double promise: you will discover superb landscapes and a rich heritage. “The path first follows the Gers valleys along the emblematic Adour river,” comments Julie Colosio. Then, in the last part, from Saint-Lézer to Lourdes, the hillsides and forests follow one another, with the Pyrenees in sight. It therefore seems obvious that you have to do this path from north to south!”

The heritage, both religious and historical and cultural, is not left out. “In Termes d’Armagnac,” says Valérie Tarride, “you can visit the tower that remains of the castle of Thibault de Termes, companion of Joan of Arc. In the village of Tasque, I recommend stopping at the fortified church from the 11th century. In Maubourguet, you can visit the archaeological museum, where the mosaic of the god Ocean is preserved. Finally, Saint-Lézer has a magnificent priory, a former Benedictine monastery where the walker will soon be able to stay, and Ibos has a Gothic collegiate church from the 14th century.”

In the footsteps of Bernadette

The last 5 kilometres will also remain etched in the memory of the walker. After the Col d’Azereix, he arrives in Bartrès, where Saint Bernadette spent two periods of her childhood (a year and a half from the age of 10 months, then five months at the age of 13). The farm where she lived can still be seen, and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church preserves one of her relics.

For these last steps, the walker, who has become a pilgrim, takes the path of Bernadette, a path that the young girl followed several times between Lourdes and Bartrès. After a stop at the sheepfold where the little shepherdess looked after her sheep, he is then ready to arrive at the sanctuary.

“If you then want to go to Santiago de Compostela,” concludes Valérie Tarride, “you can pick up the Pyrenean Piedmont route (GR ® 78) in Lourdes, which leads to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, or the Henri IV path (GR ® 782), which leads to Pau, close to the Arles route (GR ® 653). Also note: after Lourdes, the GR ® 101 continues for 30 kilometres towards the Saucède pass.”

So, don’t hesitate: make your way to the map!