I tried going seeking for an overnight stay at a monastery that we can accommodate for about 6500 yen per night with two meals

As a way of staying while traveling, hotels, inns and dormitories are common, but you can also stay at a monastery as a different means. On the website for travelers "Why are not you staying at the monastery?Although it says an article saying that it is a relatively common way of accommodation in Europe, it does not ask much in Japan, so from the place "How do you book?" From "Where is the monastery?" Is it? "It has confirmed to the thing.

Abbey which we can accommodate exists in various countries / cities, but this time we will stay at the monastery in the city of Lourdes in southern France. Since we do not have reservation sites like hotels, we sent a message from the address listed on the following monastery's website to contact us. A few days later, a PDF file for application was sent, so if you send back the content filled in by e-mail, the reservation is completed.

Center of the Assumption | Lourdes


The city of southern France · Lourdes is a high-speed train from ParisTGVIt is about 6 and a half places.


Since I was walking down to the monastery because it was a small town, I did not know the details of the way, so I go to the station information for the time being.


I got a map of the city. It is the road to the monastery that is traced with a yellow marker, and it is about 20 minutes when I walk. Because there is no bus, it was a taxi or a two choice whether to walk.


Although it had been raining a bit, I will walk fairly with the problem that it will be OK if it is around 20 minutes ... but after a while the rain became stronger and the road was a gentle mountain path, so it is quite hard if the load is heavy It was a journey.


Walking along the mountain path while looking at the world of Harry Potter, the fortress wrapped in the mist ......


Arrived at the monastery.


I imagined a small place from the sound of a monastery, but it is a pretty respectable building.


As soon as you enter the gate you will see the gate.


This is feeling like a reception and is not shown in the photograph, but Sister and staff member will respond.


A state of the corridor. There is a bench before the reception, and when waiting for a while the sister came and will explain the way of accommodation and the description of the room etc, but it was French only, so you should be a little careful when you stay at a regional monastery to invite. I managed to understand by hand gesture this time.


I got a small brochure of the monastery and two keys, a small memo with a code written. One of the keys is for opening the room and the other key is the key of the back door used when going to the church through the back road. The code was at opening the front mouth of the monastery.


The room is on the third floor. It is France with many elevator-free buildings, but there was an elevator in the monastery so I got a relieved breath. It is reflected in the picture decorated next to the elevatorBernadetta SvilleThe saint of. Bernadette was said to have met Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1858, and since then Lourdes has become known as Catholic's largest pilgrimage site.


When going into the room through this corridor ... ...


Inside is like this.


You can see the inside of the monastery room from the following movie.

A view of the room where we stayed at the monastery in Lourdes - YouTube


The number of guests We booked alone, but there are two beds.


There was a light and an outlet in the bedside.


There is a switch on the light above the outlet.


Next to that is the cross.


The bed is fluffy.


The closet included extra blankets and hangers.


There is a desk with a drawer and a chest in front of the bed.


Chair on window side. From the window you can look down at the beautiful scenery of the church and the city, so it's okay to read books leisurely here. Since there is neither TV nor telephone, I can enjoy a very quiet space away from everyday noises.


The bathroom is like this.


With a toilet in a rather spacious space ......


Shower room


Two towels and a wash basin with a cup


Next to thatBidethad. The location of the sacred place, for the disabled people to come also, the bathroom was a space that was quite large and affordable.


I will go out to the town a little while I was absent in the room. From the station to the monastery it was necessary to go around the mountain in a roundabout way, but from the monastery to the city with the church it was quickly accessible by simply descending the mountain. I leave the building of the monastery and go through the path like the world of the ghibli.


As the sign with the arrow is standing, follow the arrows.


Open the door and the door with the key received at Sister at the reception ......


There was a small tunnel as I further walked down the path.


Go through the tunnel and go down the stairs and the door again. However, as this was the door to private property, go through and turn right at the corner ......


Finally, if you open the following little door with a key you can go out to the road.


When I turned down looking down the mountain, I could see the monastery on the top of the hill.


And this is the "Immaculate Conception of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral" built on the word of the Virgin Mary's "build a shrine here." In Lourdes, between April and October, a "candlelight queue" will be held where people with candles here will queue and pray. Please look forward to seeing the details of the candle line again later.


Since the meal at the monastery is from 19 o'clock, we returned to the cafeteria of the monastery before 19 o'clock. On a table for four people, we will have a breakfast with other guests. The cafeteria looks like the following.


The menu of this day starts with potato and carrot soup ......


baguette


We have a bottle of wine in the table, so we share it with other guests and drink.


Hot pizza


salad


Dessert was fruit.


At this time happened to have three sisters coming from Japan, so why did the sisters listen to stories about the various parts of France that they were on training and why decided to become sisters in the first place? Listening to such a story while munching. A variety of people gathered at the monastery, such as French people and African people, and thought that meals would be done in a rigorous atmosphere, everyone was served by the sister's sister's daughter while chatting with the Banquet I was having dinner at the beginning.


In addition, I also eat breakfast at the cafeteria. Dinner start time was from 7 o'clock, but since breakfast has a range of time from 7:30 to 9 o'clock, it is ok if you head for your favorite time.


There were cornflakes, biscuits, tea packs, various jams and the like.


Breakfast is like this. Orange juice etc was to be in the glass, cafe au lait was put in the bowl, it was supposed to cut as much as you want and buy the bucket placed on the table yourself.


I also had honey, so I morge with honey butter. There were fruits etc.


In addition, there are places like monsteries in the abbey ... ...


Study.


Of course there are churches, so you can quietly meditate alone.


Depending on the monasteries there are rules and curfews, so it is not a hotel, so we need to take that point into consideration, but the accommodation fee is much lower than the hotel etc, so we can spend the day in a very simple and quiet space. Also, depending on the location, the bathroom is shared and there is a shared kitchen. In most cases it is local payment, but paying attention to the fact that credit cards can not be used in many cases.

An example of a French monastery that can be accommodated in other places can be confirmed from the following website. In ItalyMonastery specialized search siteThere is also no loss because it is in the mind as one of the accommodation methods when traveling Europe.

Staying at a monastery and meditating ... | France Tourism Official Site
http://jp.rendezvousenfrance.com/ja/information/24367