THE STORY

The Cistercians monks who own the island of St Honorat are very well organized and they say they have the goal of following more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict.
The emphasis of Cistercian life is on manual labour and self-sufficiency, and many abbeys have traditionally supported themselves through activities such as agriculture and brewing ales.
They have for sure a talent for business in all cases. Actually they run the only boat trips to the island, with a kind of monopoly, which doesn’t allow the boats which provide public transport to the other islands to land to St. Honorat.
The island, just to remain in theme, it’s a real Garden of Eden, with wonderful greenery and cultivated land and, of course, an exceptional climate.
There is only one restaurant, guess it, run by the monks, which is extremely expensive, but absolutely nice. It looks very easy going, as you can see from the picture, but the bill might make you fall down from your chair on the soft sand.
The monks divide their time between prayer and producing red and white wines, honey, lavender oil and Lérina, an herbal liqueur
Before lunch, still unaware of the prices, we decided to try an aperitif and we were suggested to taste a cocktail based on Lérina, the liqueur of herbs produced by the monks.
“Oh, it must be good for stomach, all ecological herbs” I said naively.
The cocktail arrived and at the first sip I felt immediately drunk, it was like receiving a horse kick directly to the stomach.
Obviously I’m not a great drinker…so I gave my glass to Sergey, who could more or less manage with his one.
Being Siberian he could cope with the double ration without collateral damages.
Those monks were really full of surprises




This photo is part of a series taken in Cannes(France).
If you feel like seeing the others, please click on the olives
below...