Program of the excursion to Saint-Malo and Mont Saint-Michel
Week-end of the 14th and 15th of October 2017
(Français )

Come discover Mont Saint-Michel’s magnificent medieval site nicknamed “The Wonder of the Western World”. Visit the fortified city of Saint-Malo, capital of the corsairs and one of Brittany’s most beautiful beaches…


Source : CIJP

World famous for its unique location and the beauty of its architecture, Mont Saint-Michel is one of France’s main monument attractions. It offers us an unforgettable view!

Mont Saint Michel

Source : afloresm/Flickr

“Wonder of the Western World”, Mont Saint-Michel stands at the center of a huge bay dominated by Europe’s strongest tides. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it welcomes close to 3.5 million visitors yearly; both pilgrims and ordinary tourists. At the request of the archangel Michael, “field commander of the Army of God”, Aubert, bishop of Avranches, built and devoted the first church on October 16, 709. In 966, at the request of the Duke of Normandy, a community of Benedictines settled on the rock. Its pre-Romanesque style church was therefore built before the year 1000. During the 11th century, the Romanesque style abbey was built atop a group of crypts at the rock’s peak. The original buildings of the religious community were propped against its north wall

During the 12th century, the Romanesque style religious community buildings were expanded to the west and south. In the 13th century Philip II Augustus, king of France, following the conquest of the Normandy region, donated money which made possible the construction of the Gothic style “Merveille”: two three-story buildings crowned by the cloister and refectory


The cloister, an architectural wonder (source : CIJP)

The Abbey, a monumental masterpiece

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Hundred Years' War made it necessary to protect the Abbey with a set of fortifications which allowed it to survive a siege lasting over thirty years. The Abbey church’s Romanesque style choir collapsed in 1421, and was replaced by a flamboyant Gothic style choir at the end of the Middle Ages.

This impressive spiritual and intellectual nexus was, along with Rome and Santiago de Compostela, one of the most important pilgrimage routes of the medieval West. Over nearly one thousand years men, women and children came via routes called “paths to Paradise” to request eternal life from the Archangel of Judgement, “judge of souls”.


Source : CIJP

Breathtaking beauty

After admiring the Abbey, you’ll be able to contemplate the unique beauty of the Bay by going down the curtain wall path, or the roundabout path on your left bordered by small gardens, which you can get to from the Fanils porch.


Mont Saint Michel, by night (source : Pixabay)

    Saturday's program :

    • Meeting at 6.30 am on the stairs of the Opéra Garnier (metro Opéra, lignes 3-7-8 and RER A, station Auber)
    • Departure for the Mont saint Michel
    • Time for lunch at the Mont Saint Michel
    • Guided tour of Mont saint Michel Abbey
    • Free time to walk around
    • Departure for Saint Malo
    • Diner at the city center
    • Night at the hotel in Saint Malo

Saint Malo
Saint-Malo is without a doubt one of the most memorable cities in the Brittany region. It’s considered the jewel of the Emerald Coast, at the center of an extremely developed tourist area. Its stones have inspired the greatest adventure seekers and many famous authors.

The richness of the accumulated Malouin heritage showcases the major events of the city’s history. You’ll find nine official historical monuments in Saint-Malo: the palace, curtain walls and Solidor Tower, “Fort National”, Saint-Vincent Cathedral and Gicquelais Hotel, birthplace of Chateaubriand. 80 other buildings were later added to the Supplementary Inventory, including roughly 60 located within its walls.


Source : CIJP

 


hSource : CIJP

A bit of history

Founded during the 6th century by the Gaulish monk Saint-Malo, whose name it bears, the Gaulish, then Roman, and finally Malouin community began at Saint-Servan, which was originally called Aleth. Too vulnerable to invaders, Bishop John of the Grating moved its government to the rock, a high-tide island, during the 12th century which is when the old city was founded.

At the end of the 15th century Anne of Brittany, via her successive marriages to Charles VIII and then Louis XII annexed the Duchy of Brittany to the Kingdom of France. During the 16th century its sailors scoured all the Earth’s oceans. Jacques Cartier discovers Canada. Surcouf and Duguay-Trouin, the King’s Corsairs, conquered several strongholds, making Saint-Malo the Kingdom’s wealthiest city.

Sunday's program:

  • Breakfast at the hotel
  • Guided tour of Saint Malo Intra muros
  • Time for lunch
  • Free time to enjoy the beach and visit some monuments (aquarium, castle, Chateaubrilland’s gravestone, national fort…)
  • Departure for Paris
  • Arrival expected around 10:00 pm

For more information : :

Contact CIJP
Club International des Jeunes à Paris
201-203, rue de Vaugirard
75015 Paris
Tél. : 01 43 06 23 16

Website : www.club-international.org

Price :120 €

Are included :
- transport by coach
- Guided visits and entrance to the Abbey of Mont Saint Michel
- Accommodation in shared rooms ( 3 occupants) or double room (with 7 € extra/people)
- Breakfast of Sunday Morning

**An additional 7 € per person for double rooms

BOOK HERE (For members, 120,00 € Week-end of the 14th and 15th of October 2017)

To become member Click here
Click here to see the terms of participation

*Definitive reservation only on full payment.

See photos from previous trips