Bagnères de Bigorre has 7500 inhabitants and lies at 20 km of Lourdes, the town of the Virgen Mary’s apparitions. Submerged in the dawn’s pink light like Brigadoon, the village wakes up in a valley amid glorious mountains every morning. The bells of the svelte 14th-century Church of Saint Vincent chime at 7:00 A.M. in the heart of the town to announce the arrival of a new day. Half an hour later, Ave Maria resounds in its bell tower to thank Our Lady for protecting the little town. At the top of a mountain, a giant statue of the Virgen of Bedat presides over small streets lined up with two-or-three-story ancient and recent buildings of various colors—red, yellow, blue, and white. Their architecture confers them a breathtaking beauty. The creek Adour crosses the townscape and sprays it with the peaceful reverberation of blue water.