Lourdes is… a sacred phenomenon. Nearly 5 million visitors a year, of which half comes from abroad. Why? Because in the middle of the 19th century, a teenage girl by the name of Bernadette Soubirous believed that she saw the Virgin Mary, on several occasions, in a small cave near the town. Is that it? Yes!

Of course, the small town itself is pleasantly situated between the plains and the mountains – but that does not explain the crazy number of visitors. Ever since Miss Soubirous had her vision, the town has become a major pilgrimage. Sick people from all over the world queue up to see the cave, while the shopkeepers rub their hands in delight. For Lourdes has transformed itself into a kind of religious supermarket with endless shops supplying miniature fluorescent Marys with varying price tags, or even enclosed in a mini snow-storm. Kitsch meets the ridiculous, and anything goes. Once they’ve bought their Virgin Mary shaped bottles, the crowd presses forward to towards the mouth of the famous cave. The imploring eyes of the pilgrims settle on the statue of the Virgin birth. Many expect a miracle. At the end of the cave, the spring from which the miraculous water flows supplies a set of taps. The little Virgin Mary bottles get filled up…