We offer some notes about the summer encounter held in France, organised by ACIT France-Belgium, which has meant a return to meeting and gathering after the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
As almost every year (except in times of health restrictions), the ACIT France-Belgium group offered an encounter of fellowship to people who wanted to spend a holiday in simplicity.
This year 2021, the Foyer Universitaire du Dôme (Paris) welcomed the group (15 people) from 19 to 25 July. People of different ages and diverse of situations: parents, children, singles, TA members and friends, Christians and also Muslims, especially women, came together to share this time joyfully, playfully, and also culturally by visiting Paris and its various sites and monuments: Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Tuileries, Montmartre with Sacré-Coeur, the Champ de Mars, the Trocadero, and the Art Nouveau of the Galeries Lafayette, to name but a few places... Then having a picnic at noon and go back in the evening to see the illuminated Eiffel Tower...
The composition of the group allowed for the sharing of identities: inter-religious dialogue on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, an Islamic religious festival commemorating Prophet Abraham's faithfulness to God after being tested with the unfulfilled command to sacrifice his son, which was celebrated with songs, dances, questions and explanations; intercultural dialogue at the time of the evening meal, which was taken in turn (the couscous was really delicious and everyone asked Samira for the recipe!) The sharing of skills, too: Agnès served as a guide and storyteller of the little stories that make up the big story, during the visit of the Saint Louis island and the Cité!
After contemplating the panorama of the roofs of Paris and buying the inevitable souvenirs, the group dispersed and each one returned home, amazed by what had been experienced together.
Isabelle de Sazilly, E7.
