The Home of St. Therese

The austerity of Alain Cavalier’s critically acclaimed movie “Therese” symbolizes the simplicity of a young woman, Therese Martin, devoted to a life of religious purity.

Lisieux is where St. Therese of Lisieux was canonized. With its rolling hills dotted with apple orchards and pastures, Lisieux lies in the rich Torques Valley, known for its cider, Calvados and cheese. This is the center of Normandy where St. Therese’s simple ideals are intact.

Lisieux’s fame comes from the legend of St. Therese, the Norman girl who at age 9 said she had a calling and pestered church authorities, including the Pope, to be allowed into the Carmelite convent. Permission was finally granted when she was 15, and Therese lived a cloistered life, devoted to Jesus, until she died of tuberculosis at 24.

Because of Therese, known as the Little Flower of Jesus, Lisieux has become a pilgrimage center on the last Sunday of September.

Her impact on the city of 26,000 can be felt upon first contact, whether driving into town or taking the train from Paris. Atop a hill overlooking southwest Lisieux is the grand St. Therese Basilica, consecrated in 1954.

The monument is the most telling sign of Lisieux’s lure. The Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals of the major Norman cities hold nothing over this basilica, which offers a laser light show of Therese’s life daily at 9:30 p.m. from June through September. Tickets are $1.50-$4.

Cavalier’s film is richer and more objective in the telling of Therese’s story than the laser show, but a twilight walk to the basilica is a must for visitors.

Starting from the town center, it is a 20-minute walk along Avenue St. Therese to the basilica. Along the way visitors can browse in curio shops, where one can buy miniature St. Therese relics, the kind of souvenir trinkets you come to expect from tourist shops.

The real treat doesn’t cost anything: One can see a golden panoramic sunset lighting the farmland below from the steps of the basilica. The building’s enormity cannot be appreciated without a close and personal look. And it is no lovelier than on a clear Norman night silhouetted against a black-and-blue sky.

Explore the basilica’s surroundings, including the crypt that is decorated with mosaics and the tombs of St. Therese’s family. She is buried in the cemetery of a nearby Carmelite convent.

The basilica is only one of the mementos of St. Therese. The Carmelite Chapel and the Diorama de St. Therese are below the basilica on Rue Fournet. Next to the Diorama is the pilgrims’ hotel, the Hermitage of St. Therese.

Those on a tight budget may consider staying there. Single rooms with partial board are about $5 a day, but don’t expect extras.

The food, by French standards, is average. But the chance to mingle with worldly missionaries (table conversation is usually in French) is part of the St. Therese experience. She is the patron saint of missionaries, and many stop at the basilica to pray before traveling abroad.

St. Therese’s family lived in Les Buissonnets near the northwest outskirts of town. The saint’s family house at 56 Blvd. Herbert Fournet is open most of the year.

Pope Pius XI said Therese’s way of life “did not go beyond the common order of things.” This is also true of Lisieux. Though only a 90-minute train ride from Paris’ Gare St. Lazare, the town remains an untouched way of life of the Carmelite nuns.

It is surrounded by rolling, rain-soaked hills that provide a wonderful pastureland and a picturesque retreat for someone searching for the charm and warmth of the French countryside.

Tourists flock to Normandy to see such sites as Mont St. Michel, the 1944 invasion beaches of Omaha and Utah, the Bayeux Tapestry and the Abbayes of Caen. Unless someone has a particular interest in Therese, Lisieux would not be added to a Normandy itinerary.

But Lisieux is Normandy--heart and soul. The Saturday market, the marche at the Place Theirs, is a French ritual that can be experienced without the commercialism of grander open markets catering to tourists. This is authentic, like the rich and creamy Norman meals served with wine and cider and Calvados liquors with coffee afterward.

To find one of these Norman meals try the Auberege du Pecheur, 2 Rue Verdun, or Acacias, 13 Rue Resistance. Meals at both restaurants cost $13 to $33 per person.

Those looking for more comfortable confines than the Hermitage can try St. Therese Hotel, 2 Blvd. Duchesne-Fournet, between $25 and $35 double, or Mapotel del la Plage, 67 Rue Henry Cheron, $40 to $50 double.

From Lisieux, the Fleurie Coast with its ritzy beaches and beautiful people at Deauville and Cabourg is about 20 miles away, no more than half an hour by train leaving from Gare de Jardin near Les Buissonnets.

But explore Lisieux. Its charm is its simplicity, like Therese.