Sunday 07. 02. 10 After lunch with Gisèle and Jonathan we drove up to the Buddhist temple on the Larzac plateau just above Lodève. It was a lovely sunny afternoon but windy and much cooler on the plateau. The temple is one of the largest in France and was opened in 1992. It is open for visitors only on Sunday afternoons and we were shown around by a woman originally from Montreal. It has extensive grounds with a lake and small cabins for monks or for people attending retreats. I found the temple decoration quite garish but was assured that they were authentic Tibetan. I was surprised how unspiritual the space seemed – I guess I was looking for an atmosphere often found in old churches or monasteries in the Christian tradition and I was quite disappointed in the lack of a sense of peace and tranquillity. Afterwards we went back to the real world and stopped in Caylar for a coffee where Jonathan managed to catch part of the France/Scotland rugby match.
