The Final Arrivals!

206 finally arrived in Lourdes on the very last flight in... Nick took the prize for being the very last HCPT pilgrim to leave the airport! 

We had a very sunny first day as we learnt about the story of Lourdes and visited the Domain and Grotto for the first time. Gill and some of the VIPs even acted out part of the story! The prairie was filled with the colours of HCPT... although naturally we were one of the brightest. The games of pegging were already in full swing too; we have over 300 this year:

We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Pirates of the Caribbean concert, with us all leaving dressed as pirates. There was lots of dancing and singing along:

At the end, we were treated to a performance by former Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus who performed her hit "All This Time":

It was then early to bed after a VERY long day!

A Helper's Blog (2014)

We have been fortunate enough to have Isaac travel with Group 206 for a number of years as a VIP. When he turned 18, we didn't want to leave him behind, so we made him a helper! He spends some of his time with TBG (The Brentwood Group) who are part of central services, some time with us, and some time chasing French girls (see picture!).

This year, he took extensive notes and is gradually writing up his experiences. We'll add to this list in due course....

• A holy nutshell! + Great Friends (5)
• Lourdes 2014: Day 1 (1)
• Lourdes 2014: Day 1 (2)
• I blame Lourdes...
• Lourdes 2014: Day 1 (3)
• Lourdes 2014: Day 2 (2)
• Lourdes 2014: Day 2 (1)

Bedtime Bedtime...

We had breakfast and left... A fairly painless and relatively short journey home to Brentwood Cathedral.



We sung and danced (again) all the way back from Gatwick before saying emotional goodbyes.

Over the next week or so, we'll try to add a few reflections from helpers and VIPs.

Thank you for reading, supporting us, being with us in spirit and donating money to help fund us.




Someone said it was 331 days until Lourdes 2015. Better get fundraising again...

www.justgiving.com/206HCPT

Shops, Train, Rain & Prayers

Today began with a well earned lie in followed by shopping! Rosaries, water bottles, mints, whoopee cushions and glow in the dark Marys were all purchased in 206's favourite shop 'Palais du Rosaire' aka 'Lourdes Woolworths'. Despite a facelift, it is still great value and gives free gifts!

After lunch we had a thanks giving service for the week we've had together and made cards to leave in the grotto.

We then headed out for the road train ride around Lourdes. The French pilgrims weren't quite ready for the loud singing from 206! After a few failed attempts to shush us, they gave up. The Italians on the train loved it though!

Some people then went up to the fort and others did a bit more shopping. It rained hard (again), but this never dampens our spirits.

After dinner we headed out with our 206 candle:




After praying around the statue of the Crowned Virgin, we headed to the grotto for a final visit. We left prayer intentions before lighting our group candle. It's always a very special moment praying together.








We then headed to La Carrefore for our final fun evening of Uno, hot chocolate, croque mosiuers and pizza!

Rave Cave

"Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat"... Today began with a visit to the Grottes de Betharram, a series of caves deep in to the Pyrenees mountains.

Our guide, Camille, kept us entertained as we travelled by foot, boat and train admiring the amazing features of the caves. We managed to out sing the other group on the train!

After lunch we spent a bit more time taking photos for the scavenger hunt, before another cafe stop (we'll miss these!):




The evening saw the 206 talent show, awards and party. We had impressions, 'the story of Cathy', singing, dancing, hypnotism, stand up... Plus a Lord of the Rings through interpretive dance from TBG!

After the talent show and awards for VIPs, it was time for raving...

Trust Mass Day

Thursday of HCPT week is many peoples' favourite day... Trust Mass!

The day started off with us giving Cathy, our group leader, a surprise. We all put on masks for breakfast which we then took to Mass:





The Mass was lead by Met Deep South and fun was had by all. 206 made good friends with the NYPD police in attendance - even getting them to join in with our dancing by the altar at the end. They liked our trademark orange tutus and even gave us a proper NYPD sew-on badge.

You can watch the whole thing here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmmLVx7hRk

We then headed back for lunch, followed by our official group photo. Naturally there was a Cathy-mask second photo!

We then got back into our teams and started the photo scavenger hunt... The teams of France, Mexico and Australia went out and about in Lourdes taking a variety of photos. The winner will be announced later in the week, but it's safe to say good fun was had by all (and the Cathy masks were out again!):




The day ended with the TBG party.
Fancy dress is order of the day and we had Mario and Luigi, 206 (118) Runners, cowboys, fairies...




As always Brentwood put on a great evening and 206 left exhausted... "sleep, eat, rave, repeat..."... we certainly need our sleep before doing it all again tomorrow!

Sunshine in Gavarnie

Today we headed up to Gavarnie, high up in the Pyrenees for Mass, a picnic and a hunt for 'werebears' (a werewolf/bear cross-breed!).

We packed for all eventualities but as we left the hotel we kept our fingers crossed that the sun in Lourdes would stay with us... and it did! We had to use umbrellas for shade rather than shelter.

Mass focused on building our lives on Jesus and included a dramatic gospel drama where 206 got a little wet from the rain (which washed away the house built on sand).




We then had a picnic before adventuring further up the mountains on the werebear hunt. We stopped for a quick game of "bogies" (seeing who could shout the word bogies the loudest!) and '206 Hymn Idol' which went to deadlock before being declared a draw! Thankfully we didn't come face to face with any werebears but heard them scream.

We had a final ice cream break in the sun before heading back down to Lourdes ready for our games evening. Who would be victorious tonight... Mexico, France or Australia?

After a good rest with some diary and postcard writing, the teams met in the hotel lounge to compete in 'Bob' and 'Peg':




It was a fun and competitive evening with Australia just edging ahead of France and Mexico:




The group joined together for night prayer before heading to bed ready for tomorrow's Trust Mass.