Of monks and lemurs and castles and cheese

We had a lovely low-key day Friday, with the kids and grandparents playing cards and watching the Olympics most of the day, and me and John heading to Beaune for a few errands, groceries, and lunch out without kids. That afternoon, though, before the entire day slid away from us in the cozy comfort of La Maison des Chaumes, we decided to drive out to the Abbaye de Cîteaux, a half-hour drive away.

The Abbey was founded in 1098, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, by Saint Robert of Molesme under the rule of Saint Benedict (which was written by St. Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot). The Abbey was the first monastery of the Cisterian Order and would be the final resting place of those great Dukes of Burgundy.

It is known for great beauty and great cheese. Unfortunately, we weren't able to tour the property (as it was closed for winter hours), but we timed our trip with hopes of hearing the vespers service in the strikingly new and austere church at the Abbey, and (you will be greatly relieved to know), we returned with a nice chunk of monk-made cheese, too.

 

  

  

  

While waiting for the vespers service to begin, we did a tour of the church, which looks quite modern and cold from the exterior but was wonderfully warm and beautiful inside. It was interesting to be inside a modern church (after weeks of wandering through centuries-old places of worship).

 

Then we decided to take off to have a look at a few nearby chateaux.  Only in France (or probably England or Italy or Germany, come to think of it), can you kill a half-hour by checking out whatever beautiful castles happen to be in the neighborhood. You definitely can't do that in Canada.

The two we peeked at were the Chateau de Gilly, which apparently is now a small, luxury hotel where rooms can cost around 500 euros a night, and the Chateau du Clos-de-Vougeot, where the castles vineyards were created by the monks of the Citeaux Abbey (and taken away from the the church after the French Revolution). We would love to go back to both for a better visit.

 

  

We made it back for vespers just in time and all seven of us were quickly drawn in by the chanting and singing and quiet and prayer. 

 

The quiet chanting was interrupted just once, in fact, when Liv pulled Foo-Foo, her small and much loved stuffed lemur, out of John's pocket and pushed his tummy to make him giggle. Who knew such a little lemur could make such a big noise? One friend suggested it served as a good test of the monk's focus on the services, while others have said that they all probably got a chuckle. I hope so. In that instant afterwards, it was slightly horrifying, but hopefully it did no lasting damage.

 

I ducked out of the service just a few minutes before it ended to make sure I could get some of the monk's famous cheese (which was devoured quickly at home) as well as some honey drops that they make at the abbey as well. We will head back for sure to take a tour of the abbey when it is open -- and I think we'll try to leave Foo-Foo at home.