We headed northwest from Nice, going through some now familiar territory by Avignon. The route north took us out of Provence through farmland and mountains, and we eventually came to Cluny in Burgundy. Cluny is the site of a very famous medieval abbey with influence all over Europe. Only a few walls of the abbey are still standing. The historical museum was closed as 1 May is a national holiday in France, so we enjoyed the simple medieval church.
After a good French sidewalk cafe dinner (steak frites et salade), we drove a few km to the community of Taizé for Evening Prayer. For those of you who may not know about Taizé, click
here for more information. Here is a picture of the bells that begin to ring 5 minutes before worship:
You sit on the floor on steps in the large but very modern and simple worship space, surrounded by thousands of young adults. (People over 30 cannot visit there more than a week year.) Rick Steves calls the worship space "the place where Lutherans can get over their fear of icons!") We sang new chants and familiar ones in English, French, Latin, German, and Romanian. It was great to have this opportunity to worship at Taize in the Easter season. I had good memories of when I first visited there in 1992 with my friend Joan and her daughters (then 12 and 10) Erin and Annie.
After a good French sidewalk cafe dinner (steak frites et salade), we drove a few km to the community of Taizé for Evening Prayer. For those of you who may not know about Taizé, click here for more information. Here is a picture of the bells that begin to ring 5 minutes before worship:
You sit on the floor on steps in the large but very modern and simple worship space, surrounded by thousands of young adults. (People over 30 cannot visit there more than a week year.) Rick Steves calls the worship space "the place where Lutherans can get over their fear of icons!") We sang new chants and familiar ones in English, French, Latin, German, and Romanian. It was great to have this opportunity to worship at Taize in the Easter season. I had good memories of when I first visited there in 1992 with my friend Joan and her daughters (then 12 and 10) Erin and Annie.
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