Trains, Planes and Automobiles...and Ferries and Buses

My Time in Taize

Picking up on Wednesday morning now...Karen and I were up just after 6 am to get to the airport. After picking up a coffee and a farewell pasty for Karen, we took the tube all the way to Gatwick Airport, about a two-hour trip. We checked her in and then I waited with her until she went through security about 11 am. After seeing her off, I took a shuttle bus from Gatwick to Heathrow to await my 6:30 flight to Lyon. I spent a rather long afternoon at Heathrow and left the airportabout twenty minutes late, after which the flight went without a hitch. I got into Lyon about 9:30 pm local time (France is one hour ahead of Britain). I wandered around Lyon airport and after getting some directions, I found the shuttle bus I needed to get to Gare Part Dieu, the train station from which I would be departing the next morning. Then I walked to my hotel very close by to get some z's.

12th century Roman church in the village of Taize

Being rather tired, I decided not to be up at the crack of dawn the next morning to catch the 7:22 train to Macon that I had originally intended to catch. I got to the train station a bit before 8 am. I discovered the next train departed at 9:20, so picked up some pain du chocolat (basically a croissant with chocolate inside, for the uninitiated) for breakfast. After arriving at Macon-Ville about 11 am, I finally found the bus stop for the bus to Taize. After a rather long wait and a bit of a walk around Macon itself, I finally got on the bus to Taize about 1 pm.

The drive from Macon to Taize was gorgeous. We passed countless vineyarards, field after field of gravevines that had been pruned almost down to the root with grids of staking wire everywhere to guide the vines. It was a lovely first view of southern France. Driving through the small village of Taize, we passed lovely stone cottages set on a hill overlooking pastures with sheep calmly grazing and trees in full flower.

I arrived at the Taize Community about 2 pm where I was given an introduction by Marie, a German volunteer there this summer. Shortly after arriving, I was sent to the "Canadian regional" meeting, which consisted of a Canadian Taize brother and Laura Thiessen, an girl I went to university with in Winnipeg some ten years ago. We had a great hour or so of getting acquainted/reacquainted. Laura's an English high school teacher in Altona MB now and on a sabbatical year this year in order to travel Europe, including visiting Taize and completing the Camino de Santiago Compostela.

At Taize every day is virtually the same, so I'll go through the daily routine to give you an idea. Morning prayer begins at 8:15, followed by breakfast about 9 am. Then Bible study (basically a lecture/exegesis of part of the gospel of John led by one of the Taize brothers) was at 10 am, and then we had a small group discussion of the morning's Bible study. At 12:20 we gathered for mid-day prayer, after which lunch was at 1. At 2, there was "choir practice" (practicing some of the songs we were learning; I went on Friday and we worked on the pronounciation of a Polish song and a Dutch song we had sung). Mid-afternoon was free to do whatever, and then there were several workshops offered at 5:45 pm every afternoon from Tuesday until Saturday on a variety of themes ( from the Trinity to the Eucharist, to helping someone going through a difficult time). Supper was at 7 pm, and then Evening Prayer was at 8:30 and usually went on for several hours.

Prayer services also followed a routine. Scriptures were always read in 3-4 different languages, most often in French, English, German, Korean, and Spanish. We sang in each of the following languages at virtually every service as well: French, German, English, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Dutch, and Latin. Near the beginning of the service, there was always a ten-minute silent prayer time. I enjoyed these services very much. Since everyone sat on the floor--or if they were early and lucky enough, on one of the prayer stools provided, it was discomfort that usually made me decide to leave after two hours at the evening service.

Demographically the 17-24-year olds (the group that Taize primarily caters to) were the largest age group by a long shot. They came as large groups and had their own Bible study group and were employed afternoons cleaning bathrooms and washing dishes and various other jobs around Taize. I joined the 25-35 young adult Bible study group (about 30 of us). There was another Bible study group for all the other adults as well. For meals, all the under-30s ate near the main picnic area, while the over-30s ate in a separate tent quite removed from the youngsters. I was officially supposed to be in the older adults tent, but since I had a few friends in the under-30s, I spent some of my meals in both areas. In terms of languages, the French were by far the greatest majority, followed by the Germans. There was quite a large group of Chinese people that arrived on Friday afternoon as well.

Some people came with tents, but the remainder of us were housed in dormitories. During the day, we spent most of our time outdoors, sitting on benches or grass. There were lots of tents and benches set up in squares or triangles to facilitate visiting.

I th0roughly enjoyed the prayer services and the Bible studies. Not sitting on a chair with a back for three days was the hardest part of the experience I think. I'm a terrible sloucher...

Somewhere halfway through my time there, Brother Jean-Marie(?--our Bible Study leader) told us about Iceland's volcano and the problems at airports.

So on Saturday, I went online to find out how I was going to get home. It quickly became apparent that my scheduled flight from Lyon to London on Sunday morning was not going to be happening. I considered staying put at Taize for a few days, and I thought about trying to get a high-speed train to Paris (for 150 euros) and then a 9-hour coach to London. I also talked to various people at Taize who encouraged me to find someone who could give me a ride. Through talking to various people, I was introduced to Karen, an English woman who was driving home to Oxford. She was leaving on Sunday morning, so I quickly accepted her offer. We drove to Lille, where we were hosted by the family of a girl whom Karen is employing as a nanny for her daughter. So I entered my first French home where I was treated to their hospitality, including what my cousin Alex calls "la bise" a kissing ritual of greeting (L cheek, R cheek, L, R). Each member of the family kissed me upon arrival and again at departure. They served us a lovely meal. Then we drove to Dunkirk with Anna Joy (Karen's daughter) and Elise (the nanny) for an 8 pm ferry ride across the channel. From Dunkirk, we crossed over to Dover. Even at 9 pm local time, the white cliffs were visible upon arival. Karen dropped me off at the end of the District tube line at 11 pm, and I got home about 11:4o.
L'Eglise--the newer church where the Community worships three times a day

Since getting home this week, I have been supplying in the classroom of a teacher who had been holidaying in Greece and last anyone had heard, she had made it back as far as Madrid. British skies are supposed to be opening tonight...who knows how long it will take for things to get back to normal. My sense is that a lot of schools have between 5-10 teachers that are still stranded abroad trying to get home. What a nightmare...I'm happy to have made it home myself.