May 4, 2026 – Roquebrune-sur-Argens to Lorgues – 26 kms – Carnets de Voyage
May 5, 2026 – Lorgues to Montfort-sur-Argens (with a visit to Abbaye du Thoronet) – 28 kms – La Cachette du Compte
Today our route passed the twelfth century Monastery of Thoronet. I once imagined the lives of medieval monks as pastoral, isolated, and deeply communal, their simple, quiet existence shaped by vows of poverty, chastity, and prayer. That picture began to shift when I read The Kingsbridge Series by Ken Follett, and changed more profoundly when I walked my first Camino de Santiago through France.
Monasteries, I came to understand, were rarely just places of contemplation. They were also centers of power, wealth, and influence. In some cases, that wealth was acquired in ways that feel strikingly unspiritual today. The Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques, for example, secured its fame and fortune by taking the relics of Sainte-Foy from another monastery. Apparently this practice was not uncommon in the medieval competition for pilgrims.
I was struck by the vast vineyards and forests associated with the Thoronet as I cycled. At one time its lands stretched almost to the Mediterranean. Founded by the Cistercian Order, Thoronet was not an exception to the broader pattern of wealthy Orders. The Cistercians, inspired and guided by Bernard of Clairvaux, sought a more austere and disciplined life than that of the more excessive Benedictine Order. Yet even with their emphasis on simplicity and restraint, Thoronet, at it’s peak grew into a substantial landholding institution with significant economic and political reach. It also maintained a strict class structure that separated lay monks, drawn from the peasant class, from their “brothers” the choir monks, who often came from the higher classes. These groups even had separate doors to access the Church. Medieval monasteries, regardless of their founding ideals, often became deeply embedded in the structures of power and wealth that shaped their world.
Before visiting Thoronet, Gord and I met up for lunch and waited out a rain shower under a tree together. There is a reason the countryside gleams with fresh green growth in the Spring. We finished the day at the remarkable, and undiscovered, town of Montfort-sur-Argens. It has a tight medieval centre reminiscent of a Greek chora.
So jealous of your visits to these beautiful old places with all their history.
You would love it here Wendy.
Ruth, I love your adventures so much. My husband and I are also riding our bike Fridays in Germany at the moment. Your watercolors and the details on your now about the history of the places and your perspective on the people there is so wonderful to me. I don’t know if I’ve commented before but wanted you to know I do watch and follow and love your posts. Thank you
Hello Darla, Thanks for reaching out. If you blog I would love to hear about your travels too. May the wind be at your back!
What an amazing journey! Ruth, I am always impressed by how much and how deeply you see during your pilgrimages, and how well you are prepared.
When I walk, it is only with my body, by the strength of my legs only and it seems that you move across the lands by the power of your reflection.
Have a great time, my fellow pilgrims!
I don’t think you have ever “ just walked with your body,” Ewa! You are a true philosopher in the way you look at the world and try to make sense of it. I love your writings on fb even if the translation mangles your words they are also poetry.