![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So, last week I went to Taize...
Things didn't get off to a good start - the coach didn't reach Victoria Coach Station until after we were meant to be on the ferry at Dover (due to the Tour de France)! The journey wasn't remarkable otherwise, just uncomfortable. The food on the ferry was actually tasty, though - I had some pretty good beef ribs. We arrived at Taize at 10.40 the next day, when the morning communion service was well under way. After that we had to sit around and wait for "welcome" to open at 3pm. By the time that was sorted and we could go and put out tents up, it had started to rain.
Rain was to be a feature of the next couple of days - quite a lot of rain! I also picked up a pretty bad cold/sore throat thing, which made speaking tricky (and singing impossible); the infirmery wouldn't give me anything useful for it (and I'd forgotten to bring any paracetamol). This didn't lead to great jollity on my part, particularly given I wasn't sleeping very well even before I became unable to breathe properly when lying down!
A typical day looked something like this:
07:30 Mass in the crypt chapel (during the week this was conducted in German, French, Polish, Dutch, and Italian)
08:20 Morning prayer, then breakfast
10:00 Notices and Bible introduction with the 25-35 year olds
12:20 Midday prayer, then lunch
15:15 Small group
17:15 Snack
19:00 Supper
20:20 Evening prayer, followed by meeting the people I came with in the bar for a chat
My small group had no two people from the same country, and one person with no language in common with the others (he moved after this became apparant). They were nice enough, but made me feel a bit traditionalist!
On Thursday, we went to Cluny. There was faff with the buses being over-full (we ended up getting a taxi back), but it was a good day - rather more peaceful than Taize! Also, I found a pharmacist who sold me paracetamol and pseudoephedrine. Also, we had Real Food for lunch - a lovely steak frites with some very drinkable red wine (and then good coffee) for about 11 EUR each. It was also the first day with good weather throughout.
If you don't spend the entire week in silence, there is an option to spend Thursday evening -> Sunday in silence. I decided to do that. This meant I got a room! with a bed! and a desk! and a sink! such untold luxury! It also meant I actually got a bit of peace and quiet, which was a big win. We ate together away from the main site, and had the afternoon free to go walking (there was a sketch-map we could consult of the surrounding villages, covering roughly this area. I visited Ameugny, Chazelle, and Flagy, and watched some TGVs go past under the bridge. They are quite quick!
Taize is a bit of a contradictory place at times. The services are very contemplative, and have considerable silences in them; the young people who go say they really value this silence, and yet there is a great deal of noise all the time, particularly in the meal queues, and in the evening (there is meant to be silence outside the bar area after the evening service); that's partly why I opted for a few days of silence! It's quite an ecumenical place too, generally, although I think they could improve on this in some ways.
It was worth going, although I didn't appreciate the first few days due to weather and illness. I think if I went again, I'd opt for a full week in silence, though!
Other incidents I haven't the inclination to write about more include the ants nest that raise the groundsheet off the floor...
Things didn't get off to a good start - the coach didn't reach Victoria Coach Station until after we were meant to be on the ferry at Dover (due to the Tour de France)! The journey wasn't remarkable otherwise, just uncomfortable. The food on the ferry was actually tasty, though - I had some pretty good beef ribs. We arrived at Taize at 10.40 the next day, when the morning communion service was well under way. After that we had to sit around and wait for "welcome" to open at 3pm. By the time that was sorted and we could go and put out tents up, it had started to rain.
Rain was to be a feature of the next couple of days - quite a lot of rain! I also picked up a pretty bad cold/sore throat thing, which made speaking tricky (and singing impossible); the infirmery wouldn't give me anything useful for it (and I'd forgotten to bring any paracetamol). This didn't lead to great jollity on my part, particularly given I wasn't sleeping very well even before I became unable to breathe properly when lying down!
A typical day looked something like this:
07:30 Mass in the crypt chapel (during the week this was conducted in German, French, Polish, Dutch, and Italian)
08:20 Morning prayer, then breakfast
10:00 Notices and Bible introduction with the 25-35 year olds
12:20 Midday prayer, then lunch
15:15 Small group
17:15 Snack
19:00 Supper
20:20 Evening prayer, followed by meeting the people I came with in the bar for a chat
My small group had no two people from the same country, and one person with no language in common with the others (he moved after this became apparant). They were nice enough, but made me feel a bit traditionalist!
On Thursday, we went to Cluny. There was faff with the buses being over-full (we ended up getting a taxi back), but it was a good day - rather more peaceful than Taize! Also, I found a pharmacist who sold me paracetamol and pseudoephedrine. Also, we had Real Food for lunch - a lovely steak frites with some very drinkable red wine (and then good coffee) for about 11 EUR each. It was also the first day with good weather throughout.
If you don't spend the entire week in silence, there is an option to spend Thursday evening -> Sunday in silence. I decided to do that. This meant I got a room! with a bed! and a desk! and a sink! such untold luxury! It also meant I actually got a bit of peace and quiet, which was a big win. We ate together away from the main site, and had the afternoon free to go walking (there was a sketch-map we could consult of the surrounding villages, covering roughly this area. I visited Ameugny, Chazelle, and Flagy, and watched some TGVs go past under the bridge. They are quite quick!
Taize is a bit of a contradictory place at times. The services are very contemplative, and have considerable silences in them; the young people who go say they really value this silence, and yet there is a great deal of noise all the time, particularly in the meal queues, and in the evening (there is meant to be silence outside the bar area after the evening service); that's partly why I opted for a few days of silence! It's quite an ecumenical place too, generally, although I think they could improve on this in some ways.
It was worth going, although I didn't appreciate the first few days due to weather and illness. I think if I went again, I'd opt for a full week in silence, though!
Other incidents I haven't the inclination to write about more include the ants nest that raise the groundsheet off the floor...
(no subject)
(Were you the person wearing a Debian shirt while waiting for welcome?)
My female friend did the silence at the end, but having taken down her tent on Thursday night was told to put it up again as she would be staying in it and not given a room - was that a male/female thing?
Was the morning mass Catholic? I had thought you were Anglican...
(no subject)
Yes, I was wearing a Debian t-shirt, then later a Methsoc one (and a couple of others, but those were the two that attracted comments). I don't think I bumped into
AIUI, there were spaces in the male silence house, but not the female one. I was offered a bit of garden space if I wanted to move my tent, though.
The morning masses were Roman Catholic; at Taize they have a policy of giving communion to anyone who goes up for it, and the CofE doesn't say you shouldn't receive the RC eucharist.
(no subject)
Ah, but then I did the same, but without the excuse of being in silence...