France: History, People, and Significant Places and Events

This is a combo of three different topics, which are the following:

Topic 1, Lourdes: You may have heard of Lourdes, a town in France where millions of people go every year, either as a tourist to take pictures or see what the hype is all about, or real believers who think that the town has a sanctity to it and can somehow cure them, help them, or inspire them through divine means. Whatever the reason for the many visitors is, it is undeniably an interesting historical heritage, something wo...