Healing the Mind • Restoring the Earth
France – September 11-24, 2023
Travel Planner
Overview | Itinerary | Travel Planner
Two Truths LLC is delighted to share with you life-changing cultural immersions in sacred places. The Tour pilgrimage-retreat in France will visit the medieval historic regions of the Dordogne and Limousin, among the great foodie kitchens of the world.
We recommend participants arrive in Limoges one or two days earlier, Saturday, September 9th or Sunday, September 10th, to adjust to time zones, and breathe in the molecules of this exceptional, high-sensory impact corner of paradise.
The Tour will be staying the night of September 11th (check in 2pm) at Hotel Campanile Limoges Centre-Gare, close to the train station.
We recommend that you book additional nights there now, so as not to have to change hotels through Booking.com or another trusted reservations platform, or reserve additional nights at a nearby hotel in the medieval neighborhood heart of Limoges.
Access to Limoges: Depending upon how you arrive in France (Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille, or Nice), France’s high-speed trains (SNCF), are fast, punctual, comfortable, and comprehensive.
An international flight into Paris is perhaps, most direct, and then take the legendary TGV fast train to Limoges. With seven trains a day, the 3 ½ hour journey through the picturesque countryside costs €52- €68 one way. You can book directly on the SNCF website.
Included in the 14 day adventure, $3,895.00 per person for Double or Twin occupancy. Single supplement, if that is your choice, is $62.00 a night, X 13 nights is $806.00.
Payment arrangement options:
- Bank-to-bank wire transfer
- Credit card
Deposits of 25% are due July 1, 2023. The balance is due August 10, 2023. Sending the deposit and a color copy of your Passport photo page and adjacent Passport signature page constitutes registration and the holding of space. A participant Questionnaire will be sent out at the beginning of August, identifying your food preferences, room/ roommate preferences, prior experiences and prior retreats, your aspirations and preferences on the pilgrimage and the retreats.
Included in the price is:
All lodging 13 nights, and land transportation from Limoges through to Sarlat-la-Canéda, all meals, except one dinner in Sarlat during free time on September 22, are included. Registration fees for the three retreats, is included:
- The Shambhala Dechen Choling Tibetan retreat, “Caring for the Earth-Gaia, An Approach to Global Ecology”; • The Plum Village Zen retreat; • Roshi Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt retreat, including somatic focused meditation, koans, Tai Chi, and QiGong.
Not included in the price is international airfare, travel insurance, wine and alcohol.
Refund Policy. For any reason tour payments will be 100% refundable (minus $200.00 admin fee) with written notice, up to 54 days or less, prior to your departure date from the U.S.
Fifty-four days or less,prior to the scheduled departure date, payments are 100% non-refundable, as we are required to make purchases to all our French vendors, hotels, ground transportation, and have already been committed.
Meeting Place September 11th at 11:30am in the lobby of Hotel Campanile Limoges Centre-Gare. If you choose to come earlier, please leave a note at the desk, for Charles and Marla.
Passports and proof of travel insurance. A color copy of your Passport pages that include your photos and passport number and signature, needs to be included in an email to us five weeks prior to departure. Your passport needs to be valid for at least six months after your scheduled return to home. You will also need to have a number of blank pages labeled ‘visas’, available in your Passport.
To renew or obtain a new passport, contact www.Travel.State.gov or call 1-877-487-2778. France has no visa requirements for U./S. citizens. 90 day stay permitted.
Proof of travel insurance also needs to be sent to us, along with your airline itinerary and dates arriving in France, five weeks prior to departure. There are many insurance vendors, and we can assist you, if you wish.
Vaccinations. Please visit CDC’s Travelers website, www.cdc.gov We will not be visiting tropical areas.
Packing. Pack your medications in carry-on luggage. Be sure to pack sunscreen, hand sanitizer or wipes, and pack copies of your health insurance, copies of all your prescriptions, your credit card and bank international phone contacts, xerox copies of the front and back of your credit cards and your Passport, your airline itinerary, an alternate form of ID, and personal phone and email contacts.
Typically the temperatures September 11-30th are 75-55 degrees fahrenheit. Pack to dress comfortably and also with ‘layers’. Review lists on www.travelite.org
We will be traveling comfortably by first-class bus, short voyages between three retreat centers and two hotels, during fourteen days. Our longest stay is six days at Plum Village. We will also be visiting the Lascaux Caves, called ‘the Sistine Chapel of Prehistory’.
Currency. France has completely embraced the euro (€), and so U.S. Dollars cannot be used for payments or purchases. Instead, best to change Dollars for Euros in Paris and at the airport or in another large city for the best exchange rate. Currently, as of this writing, 1 U.S. Dollar = .92€ – Or, expressed in reverse, 1€ = $1.08 USD.
Best to travel throughout the trip with a mix of different denominations of euros ( € ) an ATM card, and a credit card. Travelers checks are difficult to exchange. The best online currency converter is: www.xe.com To begin while in France, best and easiest to use an airport ATM for withdrawing funds from your bank, which will be given to you in Euros.
Check with your bank before departure to discover what fee they may charge you when you are using a French ATM. We will have ATM access opportunities throughout your time in France.
For local marché- outdoor open air markets or small purchases, you will probably need cash (euros) instead. Be sure to inform your bank and credit card companies of your upcoming trip.
International Air. You will be booking your own airfare. We recommend www.justFly.com www.skyscanner.com and www.kayak.com In addition, major carriers that fly into France.
Time Zone. France is on Central Europe Time, six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time.
- 6am in Washington D.C. is noon in Limoges.
Tips. Housekeeping staff in French hotels, doing good care, typically gain € 2-5 per night. We will be tipping our bus driver. If you feel called by the bus driver’s particular safety intention or otherwise, you are also welcome to tip that person for the multiple days’ driving.
In France, public restrooms have attendants that clean the facility, and always seem to be there. 1€ a small tip is appreciated, and so we encourage you to always keep small coins with you.
Dana. Dana is the spontaneous response of a grateful heart. During our three retreats, many things will arise and emerge. Buddhist tradition in the ancient Pali language of thousands of years ago, notices that in the dance of giving and receiving, the goodness of generosity, appreciation and reciprocity shine through.
Two Truths LLC, Charles and Marla will be making an offering to our three retreat teachers.
If, with reflection you are so moved in appreciation and respect for our teachers, you are welcome to offer Dana in gratitude.
French Electricity, Telephones, Internet, and Wi-Fi. You can obtain a compact Universal adapter/ converter at Best Buy, Target, or Walmart.
Telephoning and voice/ video over the Internet: Calling overseas to France is +33 then the area code and the number. Calling the USA is: 001 or +1.
Wi-Fi is readily available everywhere we will be going in the Limousin and the Dordogne regions. Other options are: Skype, FaceTime, or WhatsApp.
The latter two video/ audio, and all three need both sender and receiver to be registered with Skype, FaceTime, or WhatsApp.
Zoom video is also an option, as long as you are connected with the internet at a hotel, restaurant, retreat center, or other internet connection.
Resources. We invite you to view the following books and films for profound Buddhism, cultural insights, traditions, and French life.
Acquired Tastes, Peter Mayle, 1986.
The Debt To Pleasure by John Lanchester, 1996.
France, Eyewitness Travel Guides by DK Publishing, 1999.
My Life in France by Julia Child, 2007.
The Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the Cathars by Stephen O’Shea, 2003.
Training in Compassion/ Zen and Lojong by Zoketsu Norman Fischer, 2012.
The World Could Be Otherwise by Zoketsu Norman Fischer, 2019.
The Hidden LampL Stories from 25 Centuries of Awakened Women, Susan Moon, 2013.
Recalling Chogyam Trungpa, 36 Contributors, ed. Fabrice Midal, 2005.
Buddha’s Brain: happiness, love, wisdom by Rick Hanson, 2009.
Nothing Special, Living Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck, 1993.
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron, 2002. Buddha by Karen Armstrong, 2001.
Real Happiness, The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg, 2011.
Wherever You Go There You Are, Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn, 1994.
Happiness Is An Inside Job by Sylvia Boorstein, 2007.
That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist by Sylvia Boorstein, 1997.
The Bodhisattva’s Brain by Owen Flanagan, 2011.
Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa, 1984.
Essential Zen by Kazuaki Tanahashi: Poetry and Prose by Dogen, Basho et. others, 1994.
The Way of the Traveler, Journeys of Self-Discovery by Joseph Dispenza, 2002.
No Death, No Fear, Comforting Wisdom for Life by Thich Nhat Hanh,2002.
Coming To Our Senses, Healing Ourselves and The World by Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2005.
Altruism by Matthieu Ricard, 2015.
Love and Relationships – You Tube Video by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, (Khyentse Norbu), a Bhutanese lama and film-maker. Hilarious and true to the bone.
Loving Vincent (Van Gogh) a film, 2017.
Amelie, a romantic film comedy, 2001 and Chocolat, a dramatic film comedy, 2000.
Questions – please contact us at: charles@nulltwotruths.org
Charles Simmons and Marla Perry-Simmons