May 22 – 29 Bordeaux France
Why Bordeaux Again?
During my first retreat in Plum Village last winter, I felt at home and wanted to return. When I learned about a hiking retreat from 23 to 30 May 2025, I immediately signed up as I would anyway be in Europe after a 40-day voyage. I know hiking might be too demanding given my hip problem. But it does not matter as it would be time for retreat!
May 22. I arrived in Bordeaux France after 9:30pm. As the last direct bus to Gare St Jean had gone and a taxi would cost about 80 euro, I decided to take my first tram ride in Bordeaux though it required a transfer by bus (2 euro). My hotel is close to the station. A sweet young lady on the bus told me to follow her: I ended up getting off two stops before the station. As I was still about 1.5km from the hotel, I went into a lux hotel and asked the receptionist to help me find a taxi. I did not want to wander around in the dark. After waiting for some 20 minutes to no avail, he got me an Uber instead. The nice driver made sure I got into the hotel as it was after midnight! I was moved by the good will and kindness of these three young French who all speak good English. An eventful journey with sweet memories.
May 23 – 29 Hiking Retreat at Plum Village
May 23. This was my second visit to Plum Village and everything went smoothly. I took a train to Ste Foy Le Grande around noon, had lunch near the station before taking a transfer with Mr Jardini. I arrived at the Lower Hamlet shortly after 2 pm and was greeted by many familiar faces: I felt at home. This time, I stayed in a neighbour’s house opposite the hamlet and shared a room with a Canadian young lady.
This first ever hiking-themed retreat was apparently very popular attracting some 120 participants including many were not followers of Plum Village. All participants had to join a family: I was with the Playful Frogs. The group had 20 participants coming from Australia, France, Germany, HK (Jessica, Kenny and I), the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, UK and US. (I met three more persons from HK from another family later). Sr. Sang Nghiem was the Facilitator and Sr Tam Duc accompanied the group. At our first family dinner, we sat under the tree and introduced ourselves in beautiful warm late spring afternoon. The sun did not set till almost 9 pm.
During the entire retreat, we maintained a daily routine with a standard sitting at 6 am, a service meditation in the afternoon, and a sitting and slow walking meditation at 8pm. Light was off at 10pm and the golden silence lasted from 8pm to after 7 am the following morning. For the service meditation, our group were divided into two: one worked on the plants and the other in the vegetable farm. As I am not too mobile, I joined the vegetable group. We had a visit to the New Hamlet on Sunday (25/5) and a Lazy Day on Monday. Lower Hamlet received others on Thursday (29/5). As the special theme was hiking, five meditation hikes with different level of difficulty were arranged: each lasted from one to three hours.
May 24. Today we had our first hike. Led by Sr. Sang Nghiem, we set off with a packed breakfast at 7:30am. As it had been raining heavily, the paths were muddy. We had to cross a stream before reaching a field on a higher ground for breakfast. Sr. Hien Nghiem who walked in the front and a few group members had a magical moment when sighting a deer in the field. We crossed the field and walked along a road before taking another path through the field. As I walked very slowly, I decided to leave the group when we reached Rte Du Chateau (a paved road). I followed the road uphill, walked past Chateau Theobon and reached a small halmet Loubes-Bernac before taking D313 back to the Lower Hamlet. I was back in time for the family sharing at 11 am. I enjoyed my first meditation hike on my own.
May 25. We took a bus ride to the New Hamlet after breakfast. The ride through the green countryside in spring was a joy. We had a dharma talk on the mind and store consciousness, mental states and mind training, and the “four diligence”. They are four types of effort or energy that are essential for spiritual development (i.e. preventing unwholesome states from arising, abandoning unwholesome states that have already arisen, developing wholesome states that have already arisen, and maintaining and increasing wholesome states that have already arisen). This is all about actively cultivating positive mental states and eliminating negative ones.
After the talk, we had a meditation walk (longer than the one I had last December). There must be 150-200 people walking in silence. It was Pure Land with a blue sky, white cloud, green trees, wild flowers and fresh air …. Here I met a sister from Hong Kong and the other three persons from Hong Kong (a mom with her son and her friend). We left after lunch. On the way back, many got off at Loubes-Bernac and strolled through the field. I thought I had done a similar walk the day before and decided to skip. It was a mistake: I should have joined the group on this easy downhill walk through the field.
May 26: Lazy Day. I spent the morning walking through a vineyard nearby. We had our second hike at 4:30pm, walking for about 3km through a lovely woodland (a nature reserve) and passing by Son Ha (a hamlet for brothers) before walking uphill to reach Puyguilhem (7km from the Lower Halmet). We visited an old church on top of the hill with commanding views of the surrounding area. We sat on the grass and had dinner in silence. I visited Ben and Dorte (a lovely Dutch couple from the US) who stayed in a gorgeous AirBnB nearby. Dorte gave me a lift to Lower Hamlet while the rest of the group had a long walk back to the Lower Hamlet.
May 27. I joined the Playful Frogs walking only for a short distance before taking a shortcut through a forest back to the Lower Hamlet. I caught up with them again at 11am to walk to a most beautiful and hidden part by a stream where we had a “Touch the Earth” ceremony. It was a powerful and moving moment when I touched with earth with my head and whole body. This was the highlight of the day and a very special experience of the retreat.
May 28. When Playful Frogs departed for a long walk, I walked back to the spot where we had the “Touch the Earth” ceremony the day before. This time, I had the place by myself. I walked slowly ten times along the stream before sitting under a tree for a long time. Before lunch, I met up with the group and we had a circle sharing. Each shared his/her feelings and a few members were very emotional and in tears. In the afternoon we had a communication workshop. I then had my fourth as well as the last service meditation in the vegetable garden doing weed removal.
May 29. Today was my last day as I had to catch a 7-am flight to London on May 30. After breakfast, we quickly got the place ready to receive others from the New and Upper Hamlet. When they arrived, we had a wonderful Dharma talk by Sr. Hien Nghiem who gave a profound talk on perception and behaviour. At 11:30am, I had my last walking meditation through the beautiful and expansive daisy field before returning to the same spot by the stream where I visited twice.
After 3pm, we gathered at the main hall where a Transmission of Five Mindfulness Training Ceremony would take place. I had taken this ritual in Sravasti during the pilgrimage in India in February. But as I had to leave at 3:30pm, I could only stay for a short time before the commencement of the formal ceremony. I learned from a friend from Hong Kong who took the transmission that the whole ceremony was beautiful and very moving. In the evening, they had a wonderful farewell party and the Playful Frogs gave an excellent performance. For me, I spent a quiet evening in a hotel next to the airport. At 7am on 30 May, I was on my way to London.
May 30- June 1 London, UK
My brief visit to London was to visit a couple of friends. I landed at Gatwick and took a train to Ealing Broadway. I spent the whole day catching up with Emily and her son. On June 1, I took a bus to Oxford to visit my former boss Steuart who has mobility problem. I had lunch with his family in his lovely house by a canal in Oxford and had a sunset drink with Carrie and Mandy (Steuart’s daughters) whom I have not seen for half a century. Heathrow is only 20 minutes by train on the Elisabeth Line from Ealing Broadway. So I made my way to the airport after an excellent brunch with Emily. My plane departed after 5pm and I was back in HK around 1 pm on June 2.
Remarks (to add)