On our visit to Lourdes in May 2012 my wife & I decided we would follow the pathway that Bernadette took on her visits to the Grotto whilst she was living in Bartres.
The distance to Bartres is approx 4 kilometers , there are hills (of course) and several steps but overall the path/roadway is very good.
The picture below is a map of the first part of the walk from the grotto towards the outskirts of Lourdes
Now we cheated a little on the opening stretch, as if you follow the pathway you have to climb lots and lots of steps up to the Rue De Pau, and if its a hot day (as it was when we did the walk) you’d be exhausted before you even start the walk!
The Route we took was as follows:
We left the Domain at St Michael’s Gate, (that’s the entrance you usually walk past on the nightly procession) Walk up the gently incline of the Boulevard de la Grotte until a road joins on your sharp left (La Tour de Brie), this leads up to Rue De Pau, but a few yards up this road there is a lift set back on your right. We took this up to Rue De Pau. When you get to the road turn left a keep walking until you see a pedestrian crossing over the railway line.
From here we join the walk proper.
Make sure none of these are coming then cross the lines
You should be able to see the unmistakeable Ukranian Church on your left after crossing the track.
Cross the busy Boulevard de Commandent proceed along Rue de Bretagne (runs parallel to Rue de l’Ukraine)
The Rue de Bretagne merges into the Chemin de Lannedarre and you walk up a very long but gentle incline
On your left you walk past playing fields of the Stade Municipal de Rugby Antoine Beguere and Palais des Sports
Click here to continue our journey along La Chemin de Bernadette
