Glorious Gregorian chant - but is the price right?



Just a few days ago I wrote about the sublime CD seen above of Gregorian Chant sung by the monks of L'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine outside the village of Le Barroux in Provence; while back in 2010 I discussed how in small French villages where there are traditionalist Catholic monasteries, block voting by the religious community can be an important factor in elections. Which makes the result for Le Barroux in last Sunday's first round of the French presidential election interesting reading: Marine Le Pen (far right) 135 votes, Nicolas Sarkozy (centre right) 135 votes, François Hollande (centre left) 63 votes. In the small village of Le Barroux 469 people voted, a turnout of 89.33%. Wagner set the benchmark, and I continue to be confounded by how people of intellect so effortlessly combine the sublime with the hateful.

* Thankfully Marine Le Pen is now eliminated from the second and final round of the election on May 6. We will be in France then, coincidentally not too far from Le Barroux. There are a few more posts to come and then An Overgrown Path takes an extended break as the search for more thin places continues.

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Comments

The Wound Dresser said…
I am stunned,often by this phenomenon . is it because 'religious' people tend to be more conservative? La pen is a racist,no?One in a more attractive package,still. France, which suffered so much from fascists and then collaboration ,how can this happen? my won country drifts further to the extreme right wing every day,with hate mongers becoming the mainstream.The argument itself has been so skewed that the far lunatic right is the center, and politely liberal views are portrayed as the far left,which is asinine .As is american politics .
10:54 pm
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