ABSTRACT
When visitors enter the convent, having arrived from Mazille via the singletrack rural road that loops upwards along the hill, they find themselves within its central walled quad, which is enclosed by the chapel to the right, the wings of the convent to the left and the bell tower in front (Figure 2.1). They, however, also find themselves outside the convent within that same walled quad whose blind walls clearly exclude them from the convent’s interior life, unmistakably signalling the exclusionary nature of its austere Carmelite community (Figure 2.2). Its daily schedule is meticulously organised:
07.00 Morning prayers 08.30 Work 11.00 Eucharist 12.00 Meal 13.30 Work 17.30 Evening prayers 19.00 Meal 20.00 Lectio Divina 21.00 Night prayers
This daily schedule at the Carmel de la Paix is lyrically described on a religious internet site:
Small concrete pavilions, each sheltering six nuns, appear mong the trees that cover the hilltop overlooking Mazille. All is quiet at six in the morning when the rising sun illuminates all the surrounding hilltops. Sister Anne-Sophie gets up
2.1 The entrance courtyard. Photo, the author.
