A memorable experience in Rochefort-du-Gard. Reservations not possible on Airbnb
Unique, secret or memorable places that can't be booked on Airbnb, Booking or Le Collectionnist.
These rooms, houses and places that can't be booked on Airbnb or Le Collectionnist. In Annecy, Avignon, Ravenoville...
In one of France's most beautiful cities, Annecy, Le Collectionnist, an agency dedicated to renting luxury villas, does not offer residences. ‘Our customers, who are mainly Anglo-Saxon, aren't looking in this area but in the resorts, so we don't have any products there,’ explains the company's sales consultant. Near Utah Beach, it was in Ravenoville that I discovered one of the most magical places in La Manche this year. And it was near a prison that I enjoyed a memorable dinner at the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud.
The Brooklynisation of the world is underway
Abritel was recently condemned for misleading commercial practices. Booking is capable of offering you a chatbot to solve a problem of identity theft. Don't believe the platforms that would have you believe, with the help of posters and massive purchases on Google, that they know the area and the terroir as well as a local. Don't set out to meet ‘authentic’ hosts as in the novels of Pagnol or G.B Edwards (the author of Sarnia, a story of impossible love, in Guernsey, an atomic book).
Au Sanctuaire.
Twenty minutes from Avignon, at the top of a promontory, there is an ‘auberge’ unlike any other. People come here to visit Notre-Dame de Grâce in her sanctuary. Passers-by sometimes stay overnight or enjoy the cloudless, mistral-swept sky. Here we meet its director, Jérôme Bourdenet, who and his team contribute to this unique experience of silence and fraternity. Not bookable on Airbnb. The sanctuary is also famous for its Ex-votos.
How long have you lived and worked at Notre-Dame de Grâce in Rochefort-du-Gard?
Jérôme Bourdenet: I arrived here with my family in December 2009 to become the director of a residential centre. I'm employed by the diocese of Nîmes as a lay person on an ecclesial mission, with a letter of assignment from Monsignor Robert Wattebled. The shrine welcomes and receives mainly church groups as well as some pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago or the Urbain V pilgrimage route. In 2018, we served 8,000 meals and accommodated the equivalent of 3,500 overnight stays.
You work as a hotelier without really being one, in a unique and atypical place. How did you get here?
I took a BTS in hotel management on the rue Médéric in Paris and then started my career at the Paris Country Club in Rueil-Malmaison as a bursar/controller. During a spiritual retreat when I was twenty, I experienced God's infinite love. Behind these words, I'm talking about mercy, the fact that God loves us as we are. At the time, I wanted to work in the luxury hotel business, but in fact I reconsidered everything. I ended up as bursar in a home for the elderly in Megève, as a civil servant. And then, my parallel spiritual path led me to apply for the position of head of reception at the diocesan centre in Annecy. I then took up a post as hotel manager in a community near Grasse.
Like all ‘hotel managers’, you took your family with you on each move, and shared with them the implications of this commitment, the first of which is extreme availability. How does it work?
We mainly welcome groups and guests at weekends, so I have time during the week to devote to my family, to taking the children to school or to the train, because they're grown up now. And to my marriage too. My own Shabbat is Wednesday! And my wife is also involved in the church. For the last five years, she has been a Catholic chaplain at Avignon Public Hospital. From a logistical point of view, I live on site and our flat and living quarters are separated by a door from the areas that welcome visitors. The door has a sign on it: Private. You have to try and draw some boundaries.
When you have the opportunity to talk to your residents, what do they tell you about their experience there, what do they appreciate?
Here's an example of a pilgrim's return from Savoie:
"Good evening Jérôme,
We were delighted to return from N.D de Grâce. Too short a pilgrimage according to the 33 pilgrims! On behalf of the whole team, I'd like to send you an armful of thanks for the welcome you gave us and your kindness. Without a doubt we include all those around you.
At N.D de Grâce, we found PEACE, COMFORT, SHARING and quite simply everything that's missing in today's world, which no longer has any points of reference and which doesn't know what love of neighbour and friendship mean. Personally, I'll never forget the Way of the Cross in the chapel this morning. MARIE was victorious, helped by Gisèle BILLIET, who led the discussion by asking what everyone felt as they made the Way of the Cross. I can safely say that it was a successful pilgrimage and I wanted to tell you about it. Thank you again, with our prayers and our sincere friendship, and why not see you next time (Gisèle Montmayeur and the whole team)".
What is the average price of an overnight stay, including meals?
50 euros. But some visitors pay a little less as we don't really have a posted rate but... advised.
How many people work at the sanctuary?
We have 2 full-time employees and 1 cook who works 24 hours a week. Around twenty volunteers come to help us regularly. Not all of them are committed to the faith; we are vigilant and attentive to the posture of welcome, essentially.
Is the need to give of oneself an essential element in such a role and in a place like this?
Running a sanctuary requires a great deal of availability, even more so for individual residents, which is why our work is geared towards groups. The posture of a shrine manager must first and foremost be that of someone who passes on experiences, because for 1,200 years, people have been coming here on the hill to pray, to ask for the Virgin Mary's intercession, and even today, candles and novenas burn as an extension of their prayer. And there are also those who come to say thank you for a grace or gift received. We always offer a guided tour, which includes the confession room for carriers of contagious diseases (dating from the 14th century), the monks' large corridors and then the church with its ex-votos. These are messages of thanks, placed here in the form of painted pictures. It's an extraordinary spiritual legacy. Thanks to an ambitious renovation plan, we've been able to renovate them and create a place for visitors. The DRAC, the bishopric and private donations enabled us to finance the project, which I oversaw.
From the quality of the bedding, the food, the landscape or setting to the silence, the wi-fi and the interaction, what are the must-haves of the hotel or visitor experience, at and in a Sanctuary?
Guests particularly appreciate the sober but comfortable rooms. The beds are not made up on arrival, which is a financial choice, and guests help with the cleaning before they leave. The depth of silence in the church allows guests to really settle down while our chaplain listens and reconciles those who wish to do so. It's always a powerful moment of encounter. The wi-fi is not yet widely used by people on retreat, but it is obviously used during meetings and training sessions. It's the panoramic view from the dining room that catches the eye. Our food is simple but varied and produced on site. For certain groups, such as those from Creighton University, we can offer slightly more sophisticated menus to allow you to discover the flavours of the South.
Readers who come across this quick interview will ask themselves: what if I'm not a believer, if I don't subscribe to all this dogma, if some of the words you use frighten me or make me smile, can I come and be welcomed?
Yes. Everyone is welcome as long as they respect the few rules of the Sanctuary and the place and agree to make their own bed. Not to have a television in their room. In 2018, I remember that you organised a meeting here on mindfulness and the economy of mindfulness. There were Muslims, Christians and atheists. Everything went well :)
‘The Brooklynisation of the world is underway’, explains Jean-Laurent Cassely in his instructive book No Fake contre histoire de notre quête d'authenticité. In Rochefort-du-Gard, you can take the time to think about this, and make some unexpected encounters.
Interview by Manuel Jacquinet
The site's website isn't exactly state of the art, but the opinions of visiting ‘guests’ are unequivocal about how the kindness and silence contribute to a magical experience that can't be booked on the platforms ;).
To contact Notre-Dame de Grâce, at least the Sanctuary or Jérôme Bourdenet: NDG30.fr
It's worth knowing: many places of worship in France and around the world welcome visitors, whether they are believers or not, such as the Shrine mentioned above. The Foyers de Charité community, for example, has 14 locations in France, from Dinard to Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, via Les Houches (Haute-Savoie). These communities are made up of lay men and women, with a priest, who have chosen to live together and welcome groups or individuals on a fairly large scale.