LOURDES.—­A town in the Hautes-Pyrenees, and railway station on the direct line from Pau to Toulouse, and junction with the line to Pierrefitte.  The great Roman Catholic Pilgrimage, having now quite eclipsed Betharram, much visited formerly as a shrine.  The grotto where the Virgin is supposed to have appeared is by the riverside.  An admirable panorama represents the scene at one of these imaginary apparitions of the Virgin—­known as Notre Dame de Lourdes, and always represented in that connection with a blue sash.  Five and twenty years and superstition have transformed Lourdes from a little village into a fair-sized town, overloaded with hotels, of which the traveller is advised to be wary, especially during the pilgrim season, when the beds are apt to have other occupants than the “weary traveller’s form.”  The Hotel des Pyrenees may be trusted.

Hotels.—­Des Pyrenees || (Mons. R. Lacrampe); Latapie; De la Grotte, De la Poste, De Paris, De l’Europe, De la Paix, D’Angleterre, &c.

Excellent Carriages on hire in the town and at the hotels.

Excursions to the Lac de Lourdes, &c.

LOURES (1445 ft.).—­A village in the Hautes-Pyrenees, 17 1/2 miles from Luchon and 3 from St. Bertrand de Comminges (see Chapter XI.), for which it is the station on the railway between Luchon and Montrejeau, and carriages await trains.

Hotels.—­Pyrenees, Lassus.

LOUVIE-JUZON.—­A village in the Val d’Ossau, Basses-Pyrenees, 16 miles from Pau, n. from Eaux Bonnes, and less than a mile from the ruins of the ancient castle of Geloz.  There is a curious old church in the village, and the inn where the diligence daily halts is known as the Hotel des Pyrenees.

LOUVIE SOUBIBON.—­A small village at the foot of a mountain worked for its slates, 4 miles from the above.

LUZ (2410 ft.).—­A well-situated village in a fertile valley in the Hautes-Pyrenees, 6 1/4 miles from Pierrefitte, the terminus of the line to Lourdes, 1 1/4 from St. Sauveur, and 3 3/4 from Bareges.  From the last-named it receives water for its new Bathing Establishment (see Bareges in Appendix).

Hotels.—­De l’Univers, || Des Pyrenees, De l’Europe, &c.

Apartments may also be obtained.  Living is not on the whole expensive, but from July to September from 10 to 16 frs. may be charged—­much less at other times (say from 7 to 10).

Carriages and Horses, Asses and Guides can be obtained for the various excursions (for which see St. Sauveur in Appendix).

Post and Telegraph Office.

For description of the old Church of the Templars and the Chateau St. Marie, &c., refer to Chapter VI.  MAULEON-BAROUSSE.—­In the valley of Barousse, Hautes-Pyrenees, 3 1/4 miles from Salechan, on the line between Montrejeau and Luchon; 4 1/2 miles from Ste. Marie (not to be confounded with the Ste. Marie near Bigorre).

Inn.—­M.  Grillon’s.

MOLITG-les-Bains (1480 ft.).—­Built on a terrace above the Castellane Gorge in the Pyrenees Orientales, 5-1/2 miles from Prades and 31 from Perpignan.