Have fond memory of hitch-hiking in the late 1960's from the Taize Community in the east of France to Spain's St Michel de Cuxa and 'working my keep' for a couple or so weeks picking peaches and blasting boulders with dynamite to produce workable blocks for field wall construction. The brothers seemed very laid back - enjoying 'freedom' in this fabulous location after their fairly recent 'escape' as a monastic off-shoot from constricting mountainous Mother Montserrat. Franco still ruled then.