'We explored the Maison’s grounds and wrote pieces inspired by what we found.' Photo: Maison Quaker à Congénies
French leave: Gillian Metheringham visits Maison Quaker
‘The Amis-Residents showed us the wonders of the area they had come to love.’
We knew it would be hot because the forecast had told us so, but even that didn’t prepare us for 40°C. Sheltering in the relative cool of the house, we peered out as the heat blazed on the flagstones and crisped the foliage. Fortunately the Quaker house at Congénies was built of stone in 1822, when they knew a thing or two about building for the climate, and it managed to provide an oasis of coolness that was essential for our writing. For that was the purpose of our visit: five of us had come from various places in the UK to the Maison Quaker à Congénies on a writing retreat, and spent each afternoon doing writing exercises, sharing our work, or in private writing.
The village of Congénies is in Languedoc, a region rich in history and unique local custom. During the mornings of the retreat we went on local activities, or chose to stay at the house for writing or quiet reflection. Amy and Chamba Cooke, the Amis-Residents (Resident Friends), were our chauffeurs, guides, and friends on the visits, showing us the wonders of the area they had come to love.
The afternoons were spent in writing exercises, guided by our facilitator, Kim Hope, herself a published writer. We had a great deal of fun. We explored the Maison’s grounds and wrote pieces inspired by what we found; we talked about character, and spent a whole day developing ideas around characters of our own; we even wrote stories based on the paintings of Richard Adams, an English artist specialising in quirky pictures of English scenes.
The retreat was fully catered, with wonderful buffet breakfasts, and communal lunches and dinners taken either in the spacious dining room or outside under the curling vines. Initially, we were served four courses at each meal (even lunch), until we at last requested to skip the cheese course at lunch, so overwhelming were the spreads.
A Local Meeting Friend, Françoise, gave us a talk about the history of the area and its connection to British Quakers. This association began almost by accident, soon after the American Revolution, when English Quakers sought to recompense French shipowners for goods that had been wrongfully looted. The notice which they placed in a French newspaper was read by a pacifist group, which saw echoes of its own beliefs in the Quaker effort to see justice done. The two groups met, and the first Quaker Meeting in France was established in 1788.
The Meeting house itself is a lovely stone building with a huge, cool room downstairs for Meeting and dining. Outside are the gardens and the Quaker cemetery, all lovingly maintained and tended by Jacqueline. Now in her eighties, Jacqueline came originally from Ireland and has been a Congénies Friend for many years.
This was a wonderful retreat in a delightful place, as well as an opportunity to get to know new Friends both as Quakers and as writers.
