Not a lot of ppl in December, plan to book rooms before, few restaurants open that time the real cave not in LOURDES but 20/30 min from Basilica .

The « Grotte de Massabielle » is a religious cave inside the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes sanctuary. There are no cafes or restaurants inside the entire sanctuary of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes. All cafes and restaurants are outside. Most of the time, they sell the espresso between € 1.80 and € 2.50

your best route is LAX to CDG { Charles deGaulle then on to Lourdes/ Tarbes. You will change planes at least in Paris. If you don't watch your connections you may also [ id you fly Delta] have to change planes in Atlanta [Atl]. No direct flights toLourdes! Ask what ever airline you choose to provide you with mobility assistance at all airports- CDG is a huge airport and the distances are great! Contact the Information center in Lourdes for this oarlock on trip advisor as they have some listed private tours. Lourdes will supply wheelchairs if asked. There is a train station in Lourdes . It is a 6 hour train ride with at least one train change enroute. Or you can fly direct to Marseilles. I would recommend Air France as they have the best selection of routes. If they have a Airbus 780-800 get upper seats[ plane has two levels] and ask for duo- seats it will cost you more but that will be a long flight

Yes to first question; not sure re second...I didn't see children in the bath area when we were there, but there were certainly a great many children in and around that area, including the grotto....

It is definitely cheaper because of the fact that it is still cold during that time and more rain. For some reasons this place has a lot of rainfall during the year. If the rain and cold are fine with you, you can just buy some raincoats and umbrella available in several places around Lourdes as they know the place suffers a lot of rainfall.

At the saint Michael gate there is a small kiosk that has guides. Also inside the sanctuary go to the information building that ids at the bottom of the Michael’s gate entrance and inquire there

I would say early June to go and visit not so many people as for money best have euro as for taxi depends on where you stay

No reservations required. there is a line that opens up in the mornings - We checked in at the information center and got full information on the process. The hours for the line differ by day and time of year. Just check when you get there with the information center at the site. Also, they informed us that the sick are taken first and moved up in line. If you have an illness which in not apparent let them know when you get into the line. We were told that you may not get to bath even after standing in line because of this policy. We chose a mass and the water from the fountains instead. I will tell you that I am as blessed as I would have been with the bath and that the healing waters are healing. God Bless and have a wonderful experience. There are masses in many different languages so ask for that schedule at the information point as well. We had a lovely mass with an Irish priest.