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The parish of Fives-Lille, where Bernard was born, offers the couple their holiday centre near Compiègne in the region of l'Oise , in a hamlet named «Caulmont». It is not used by the parish for ten months of the year and becomes the foundation of the "Caulmont adventure". The Caulmont Community as an official Hospitality Association takes its first few steps. A
year goes by and the 'experiment' becomes more complicated - Myriam and
Bernard will be able to keep using the property on the condition that
they leave it free during July and August. For the next five years, come
the end of June, the team pack their bags and take 'an obligatory two
month holiday' before returning again in September. It's a time of joyful
instability! 1974, The Caulmont Communion is created. It becomes an official Christian Association, and comprises a larger group of people as well as the original team- both Catholic and Protestant. This wider group do not live on site, but together they make an ecumenical commitment to supporting the Caulmont vision. The Parish can no longer offer the holiday centre, but the 'Caulmont experiment' has proved to be successful enough to merit finding a permanent base. The team will need something which is available the whole year round, and which can be adapted according to the needs and vocation of the community. The search begins for a large enough property and, above all, the finances needed to hire or to buy it. 1976 : The wider group of friends form themselves into a property syndicate in order to fund the purchase of a permanent residence. Thanks to them, the property in Froberville is bought from Le Havre's Reformed Church, at a very reasonable price. Caulmont 'uproots' and moves to Normandy. A new chapter begins. During the next few years, the old house in Froberville is transformed into a hostel, with the help of many volunteers, manual workers, friends and individuals who each make their own contribution to the project. |
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 The team of residents, also known as companions, changes and evolves. Throughout the decade the team, at various times, consists of between 4 and 7 adults, with their 5 to 11 children. Comprising both Catholics and Protestants, the team members choose to live in, committing themselves to |
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call of hospitality and prayer. As the years go by, the members of the team;
individuals, couples or families, young and old; all lead different sorts
of lives, according to what suits each one the best. Members come and go,
and the community changes with the ebb and flow; the prayer and the hospitality
remaining at the heart of community life. 1984, after discussion with the local Catholic church and with the Bishop of the area, Caulmont welcomes a little community of Benedictine nuns from Fécamp, now too old to be self sufficient. They take up residence on the first floor of the house. It is now 'the period of the Benedictine Sisters', for whom the lift was built. During this time, there are 22 residents, including the Sisters, aged between 2 and 85 years. Everyone being resident in the house, there are not many rooms left available for guests. |
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 With the Sisters having left (all now passed away), and various members of the team having moved on, the live-in community slims down and consequently there now is a larger capacity in the house for receiving guests. The twenty or so bedrooms now available can accommodate around fifty people. |
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Groups can be received again. The possibilities for hospitality develop and diversify. Thanks to friends and members of the communion, large projects can be undertaken to bring the old house up to date and in line with all the new security measures which have to be respected. Thus the project "Securité 2000" gets underway. |
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 The team, the communion, now comprising around one hundred families, and the directors, are counting on all our friends to help the Caulmont adventure to continue making progress during this third millennium. |
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