Meg and Joe, two Wake Up London members, left the UK with their bikes a few days ago and started their long journey to Plum Village, the practice centre of our teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh in the south west of France.
We will be following them and posting updates on here to let you know how they are doing.
Update and pictures from Meg:
Hello from our tent. We are pitched amongst some bushes beside a canal path. I am cosy in my sleeping bag, listening to the rain as it pours down outside. Joe is asleep beside me, from his slumber he sends his love 🙂
Our days are calm, very peaceful and very beautiful. The scenery is all shades of green and blue. The weather is changeable, but when the sun comes out, even for 5 minutes, it brings a warm and bright joy that always makes us smile to one another. We meditate each morning, and most evenings. We take our meals in silence, enjoying all the flavours. One of the joys of travelling in autumn is the Harvest. We forage most days for corn, apples, chestnuts, cabbage leaves, and nettles, which we mix in with tinned lentils and beans, rice cakes and oats – I have never enjoyed food so much (although, we finished our 1kg tub if peanut butter on Friday and have not yet been able to find a shop that sells it here in France… I am hopeful that today is the day we find some!)
We cycle a few hours each day, and every few days we summon the courage to swim and wash in the canal (which feels colder (‘invigorating’) every time!) We expect to reach Nantes on Thursday morning, from there we will take a train to Bordeaux, and camp outside Plum Village so that we can arrive first thing on Friday morning. (I had to chuckle the other morning – to think we would ever be able to cycle to Bordeaux in 11 days!)
Each day feels like a retreat already – arriving at plum village will be wonderful.
With love to all,
Meg (and a sleeping joe 🙂 )
Xxx
