Tuesday continued . . .
We went to vespers at Ligugé and met Abbot Christophe who showed us the private monastic garden, huge and very quiet, and pointed out the library ('it's private' he said, very firmly) - 350,000 books, the oldest an Iraqi cuneiform. Umberto Eco visited and was inspired by it to write In the Name of the Rose. He told us about 'hell' to which only he has the key, which contains all the books the monks aren't allowed to read. A very nice smiley and surprisingly young man. I was surprised too by how differently I felt in vespers, that they were doing what we do, that we were brothers. I admired the care and attention that they gave to singing the office. Lots of antiphons for Benedict. Rita Weyens from Belgium and her mate came with us. She complained about how fast Andrew drives (in a panic not to be late for Vespers. We were 10 minutes early, so I finished my fag in the car park).
Felt absolutely shattered in the afternoon, again. I managed to put up signs at the entrance and around the grounds - Private Property, but with a welcome notice and our phone number at the gate, in French and English, no swimming, no entry and WC signs all around. I wonder if anyone will actually come. I told Laurence about Laurence Clark from the Chateau de Picol and he got very excited and rushed off to ring him.
I ventured a critical remark about Laurence's reaction to Brigitte's offer of a fridge - basically it doesn't matter if she's mad, or simple, don't worry about exploiting her good nature, just take it, and said quite brutally - I think he may have been corrupted by his desperate search for money, very much like many parish priests. But still, without him, this place and us simply would not be, so it's easy to be judgemental, and unfair. Funnily only Andrew really agreed (that it was wrong to exploit Brigitte). The saintly aura (he doesn't have one) that people view Laurence with is very powerful - Alison's nervousness at meeting him. I've never felt that about anyone - may be the Dalai Lama, but I've never met him. And I just like him, he's such a jolly man. And Laurence is a perfectly nice, in fact rather impressive, human being. It is strange how people want idols and gods.
We watched / listened to France vs Belgium in the world cup semi final (England vs Croatia tonight) - France won 1-0. Rita and her mate had left to go back to their BnB in Coulombiers so we didn't have to cope with their tears and upsets. No fireworks or cries of joy from Poitiers or Marcay. Be funny if we play them in the final.
Rebecca being a pain (well, being Rebecca) about her tent and mattress and yoga floor. We've got her a bed out of the stables. Jean Christophe thought it was huge (i.e. much too big for a) Rebecca and b) the tent) but it is actually a perfectly normal king size and fits rather well in the tent. I'll try and finish the base today and move the tent over it. Was tempted to sleep in it myself last night, but was dog tired after clearing up the kitchen and went more or less straight to sleep at 11.
Laurence had a meeting with us in the morning for an hour talking about saying the office (slowly) and what to include and leave out. Delyth had her moan about psalms in general and 119 in particular. She's very resistant to the Christianness of it all (if she had to repeat an incomprehensible Sanskrit mantra for hours she'd be perfectly happy) but I'm such a little conservative and love it all.
Kailas is nice - seems only really to have got involved because he worked in Singapore and met Peter Ng and Lee Kwan Yew (who became a meditator at the end of his life, thanks to Peter Ng). His practice, DP, lets him work for WCCM pro bono. Very into the disciplines of project management, said Elba is really an engineer, not a PM, and Rouel is very difficult because he won't report back and up to the trustees in any formal fashion, or possibly any fashion at all, so we're all flying in the dark. Ha ha.
Found the workers' toilet going strong behind the spoil heap while putting up signs. Thought about clearing it up, but ended up just putting up a no entry sign. Andrew is appalled and can't understand why they prefer shitting en plein nature to crouching in a dark smelly port-a-loo. He is a real townie. Very irritated with me because 'I'm always right' - I was 'helping' him bbq the sardines, which he hates, and so was doing it badly. I told him I was taking a vow of silence for Lent, he said why not Advent, which was very quick and funny for Andrew. Only he wasn't joking. Poor sod.
. . . , and Wednesday 11 July - Day 42
Time to get dressed and go and pick up Giovanni from Poitiers. Arrives at 7:41.
Got to Giovanni a few mins late (heavy morning traffic) but he was OK and I got him back to Bonnevaux before M.Ruel had made it up the hill. He'll be with Luke in his French house for most of the summer and said Pol and I could come over and visit - he remembered Pol from Monte Oliveto - must be nearly 10 years ago. Go see Chauvigny and St Sauvin and a very pretty village near him, Les Angles des Angles or something. Be nice if I could borrow the Picasso, or maybe hire a car for a few days. The Astra badly needs some tlc and is a bit sordid, if very useful here as a general load carrier. At the moment it's a tool box / workshop while I work on Rebecca's tent.
They are all meeting in the Salon, and of course the door with the magic lock has locked itself and will not be unpicked.
Think in the car - I am sensing negative feelings in others, and in myself, a lot. I just don't need to react to that. Listen to them, see what they are saying, mostly about me and my behaviour, but also my mood, and the moods of others. This is not an easy place to be, and there's a lot going on, inside and out.
Nice Rebetiko on the CD player - very good morning music. And now one of Kissilova's pieces on France Musique, on an organ - her version is much nicer, this one just sounds mad. Bach? Vernay / Verneuil - Liber Tango, apparently.
And I've made my caravan look nice - swept the floor, tidied up and put away things on my worktop. A lovely real cup of tea this morning - I should do it every day, make a nice ceremony of it.
Andrew just popped his head out of the window and asked me to dismantle the Salon door lock. It has typically magically locked itself for their meeting and nothing will open it, so I've removed it. Also that M.Ruel has discovered the ancient cloister floor tiles beneath the 19th Century ones. Everybody is being very busy but no one seems to want me for anything, hooray. Maybe I'll go up to the office and post some invoices, or do Stuart's book.
We went to vespers at Ligugé and met Abbot Christophe who showed us the private monastic garden, huge and very quiet, and pointed out the library ('it's private' he said, very firmly) - 350,000 books, the oldest an Iraqi cuneiform. Umberto Eco visited and was inspired by it to write In the Name of the Rose. He told us about 'hell' to which only he has the key, which contains all the books the monks aren't allowed to read. A very nice smiley and surprisingly young man. I was surprised too by how differently I felt in vespers, that they were doing what we do, that we were brothers. I admired the care and attention that they gave to singing the office. Lots of antiphons for Benedict. Rita Weyens from Belgium and her mate came with us. She complained about how fast Andrew drives (in a panic not to be late for Vespers. We were 10 minutes early, so I finished my fag in the car park).
Felt absolutely shattered in the afternoon, again. I managed to put up signs at the entrance and around the grounds - Private Property, but with a welcome notice and our phone number at the gate, in French and English, no swimming, no entry and WC signs all around. I wonder if anyone will actually come. I told Laurence about Laurence Clark from the Chateau de Picol and he got very excited and rushed off to ring him.
I ventured a critical remark about Laurence's reaction to Brigitte's offer of a fridge - basically it doesn't matter if she's mad, or simple, don't worry about exploiting her good nature, just take it, and said quite brutally - I think he may have been corrupted by his desperate search for money, very much like many parish priests. But still, without him, this place and us simply would not be, so it's easy to be judgemental, and unfair. Funnily only Andrew really agreed (that it was wrong to exploit Brigitte). The saintly aura (he doesn't have one) that people view Laurence with is very powerful - Alison's nervousness at meeting him. I've never felt that about anyone - may be the Dalai Lama, but I've never met him. And I just like him, he's such a jolly man. And Laurence is a perfectly nice, in fact rather impressive, human being. It is strange how people want idols and gods.
We watched / listened to France vs Belgium in the world cup semi final (England vs Croatia tonight) - France won 1-0. Rita and her mate had left to go back to their BnB in Coulombiers so we didn't have to cope with their tears and upsets. No fireworks or cries of joy from Poitiers or Marcay. Be funny if we play them in the final.
Rebecca being a pain (well, being Rebecca) about her tent and mattress and yoga floor. We've got her a bed out of the stables. Jean Christophe thought it was huge (i.e. much too big for a) Rebecca and b) the tent) but it is actually a perfectly normal king size and fits rather well in the tent. I'll try and finish the base today and move the tent over it. Was tempted to sleep in it myself last night, but was dog tired after clearing up the kitchen and went more or less straight to sleep at 11.
Laurence had a meeting with us in the morning for an hour talking about saying the office (slowly) and what to include and leave out. Delyth had her moan about psalms in general and 119 in particular. She's very resistant to the Christianness of it all (if she had to repeat an incomprehensible Sanskrit mantra for hours she'd be perfectly happy) but I'm such a little conservative and love it all.
Kailas is nice - seems only really to have got involved because he worked in Singapore and met Peter Ng and Lee Kwan Yew (who became a meditator at the end of his life, thanks to Peter Ng). His practice, DP, lets him work for WCCM pro bono. Very into the disciplines of project management, said Elba is really an engineer, not a PM, and Rouel is very difficult because he won't report back and up to the trustees in any formal fashion, or possibly any fashion at all, so we're all flying in the dark. Ha ha.
Found the workers' toilet going strong behind the spoil heap while putting up signs. Thought about clearing it up, but ended up just putting up a no entry sign. Andrew is appalled and can't understand why they prefer shitting en plein nature to crouching in a dark smelly port-a-loo. He is a real townie. Very irritated with me because 'I'm always right' - I was 'helping' him bbq the sardines, which he hates, and so was doing it badly. I told him I was taking a vow of silence for Lent, he said why not Advent, which was very quick and funny for Andrew. Only he wasn't joking. Poor sod.
. . . , and Wednesday 11 July - Day 42
Time to get dressed and go and pick up Giovanni from Poitiers. Arrives at 7:41.
Got to Giovanni a few mins late (heavy morning traffic) but he was OK and I got him back to Bonnevaux before M.Ruel had made it up the hill. He'll be with Luke in his French house for most of the summer and said Pol and I could come over and visit - he remembered Pol from Monte Oliveto - must be nearly 10 years ago. Go see Chauvigny and St Sauvin and a very pretty village near him, Les Angles des Angles or something. Be nice if I could borrow the Picasso, or maybe hire a car for a few days. The Astra badly needs some tlc and is a bit sordid, if very useful here as a general load carrier. At the moment it's a tool box / workshop while I work on Rebecca's tent.
They are all meeting in the Salon, and of course the door with the magic lock has locked itself and will not be unpicked.
Think in the car - I am sensing negative feelings in others, and in myself, a lot. I just don't need to react to that. Listen to them, see what they are saying, mostly about me and my behaviour, but also my mood, and the moods of others. This is not an easy place to be, and there's a lot going on, inside and out.
Nice Rebetiko on the CD player - very good morning music. And now one of Kissilova's pieces on France Musique, on an organ - her version is much nicer, this one just sounds mad. Bach? Vernay / Verneuil - Liber Tango, apparently.
And I've made my caravan look nice - swept the floor, tidied up and put away things on my worktop. A lovely real cup of tea this morning - I should do it every day, make a nice ceremony of it.
Andrew just popped his head out of the window and asked me to dismantle the Salon door lock. It has typically magically locked itself for their meeting and nothing will open it, so I've removed it. Also that M.Ruel has discovered the ancient cloister floor tiles beneath the 19th Century ones. Everybody is being very busy but no one seems to want me for anything, hooray. Maybe I'll go up to the office and post some invoices, or do Stuart's book.
 |
| The Meeting. The cat's in the Chair. They're talking kitchens and gas or electric. Andrew's wondering wtf I'm up to. |
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