The French Vipassana centre is situated on 100 acres of land, 165 kilometres to the south of Paris, in beautiful country, a lovely mixture of woods and meadows. Goenkaji called the centre Dhamma Mahī, « the land of Dhamma ». The climate is temperate, warm summers and wet winters with occasional ice and snow. The property, constructed as a holiday camp for young children, was bought to serve as a Vipassana centre in February 1988. The area for walking is considerably expansive and well protected from both sides by woods. In 1993 a neighbouring farm was bought to house long-term servers and to offer sufficient space to assure a meditative atmosphere.  

Pictures of the center

An infrastructure to serve the courses

The new Dhamma Hall built in 2009 can accomodate up to 120 students and 30 servers. Meditation cells for old students are in a structure which is independent from the main building. The main building is constructed in the shape of an « H » with two symmetrical wings allowing for a very clear separation between men and women. Two dining rooms, a large kitchen and rooms for English language discourses are in the central part of the building. The bedrooms and double rooms for servers are located in the two wings.

Four new accommodation buildings, with a total of 48 bedrooms (single rooms with attached bathroom), were opened in October 2011 and April 2012 including 4 rooms specifically designed for disabled students. The extensive walking areas allow you to walk through fields and woods.

The development of the centre is described in the masterplan drawn up since 2023: Volume I (site analysis, November 2024) and Volume II (development guidelines, February 2026). The previous document (November 2014) remains available for reference.

One or two ten-day courses are held in the centre each month, in French, in English, and occasionally in Khmer.

Different langages are available on audiotapes so that foreign students can listen to the evening discourses in their mother tongue.