for goodness sake, all the OP wanted was advice on the best time of day to visit Rocamdour and how long it's going to take, not a full blown philosophical argument about the role of the church in the suppression of pre-revolution french peasantry.

We did the usual touristy stuff - we turned up mid-afternoon, parked in the over-priced carpark at the bottom of the town and walked up. We aren't much into religion so we didn't pay much attention to what I'm sure for some is great religious significance, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. I suppose that we were there for a couple of hours, and then took ourselves off to find a cool place to have a drink.

Had we had greater foresight, we'd have done what di2314 did and stayed in the Logis at the top.

I went to Lourdes myself just a few months ago to soak up the atmosphere of the place. Obviously things that repulse some of you attract others. Yes, anthropologically.

Been twice and enjoyed.

Just the view of constructing is worth the day trip. It's an incredible feat of engineering centuries ago.

As for a pilgrimage, perhaps, bur never saw anyone on their knees climbing the stairs to the top.

Thanks for your post, annhig . . . exactly what I was thinking!
It's a shame that someone's innocent question gets hijacked by people who over-think things and go off on a tangent of their own making.

We just loved the township for what it was, Di

di - sometimes these diversions are helpful and even entertaining, and goodness knows i've been off on enough of my own. but this time, some of us went a little OTT, IMO.

still, without this, fodors wouldn't be what it is, would it?

For those who wish to explain the unexplainable, look carefully at the gauzy image in front of the Madonna taken ten minutes apart:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/14814820012

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/14812086731

For my wife and I it was just visiting this wonderful exquisite village without any preconceived thoughts.

Tidy, just go and decide for yourself, it's wonderful.

Unexplainable? It's just the reflection of a nearby statue on the glass case. The two photos are not at all taken from the same angle.

Possibly the most logical explanation. But there is no nearby statue, and the angle of the madonna and child is not that different in the pictures while the gauzy images face two different directions.

This is the a less clear picture of the entire area:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...n/photostream/