Gila at Arundel hotel

Gila at Arundel hotel
Visit with Mercedes

Thursday, 27 September 2007

Paris and St Etienne-du-Gres

My dear Friends

It 's 9 pm and I am exhausted, having only returned from my trip in the early evening. But it has been truly amazing, rich in experiences, all them of happy, I am delighted to say! It was a wonderful idea to take my guitar: I met a group of retired American ladies on the Eurostar, who asked me to play, and as the train set off, I already had my foot on the seat to balance the guitar and I was playing and singing! It was an incredible feeling of freedom and lightness and the trip continued that way.

We spent a lovely musical evening at Alexia's house, with her parents and neighbours, reminiscing with 'old' modern French songs by Jacques Brele and others. My bedroom overlooked the church in Villecresnes, and Alexia and I had a walk by the river close to the woods, which are abundant in that part of the world, about 30 minutes drive from Paris.

Going back to St Etienne-du-Gre in Provence, near Tarascon, was very moving for me. It was there, with the Sisters of Pomeyrol, that the grace happened in 1998 for The Little Sisters of Joy to be born. Retracing my steps, I remembered almost every detail of the landscape, quite a unique one, a kind of golden light everywhere, with cypress trees - Les Cypres.

The first night in the community I was quite cold in the middle of the night. In the morning I didn't want to get sick, so I took myself off to the bar in the village and had a coffee and a stiff brandy - this story went round the village, as I discovered when I went to the mass in the Catholic Church the following Sunday Sunday!

So much more to tell, but its getting late and I need to sleep so will finish tomorrow.
Sleep well, dormez bien
Sister Gila

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