The Shrines of France

YOUR TRIP INCLUDES:
Round-trip air from New York to France

9 nights Accommodation in 4-star or superior

tourist class hotels as follows: (or similar)
1 night: La Salette
2 night: Paray Le Monial
3 nights: Hotel Padoue or Gallia Londres, in Lourdes
3 nights: Hotel Concorde Montparnasse, Paris
Breakfast and dinner daily
Transportation by air-conditioned motor coach
Tour Escort throughout

Guided tours & admissions fees
Spiritual Director and Mass Daily
Luggage handling in hotels and airports
Flight bag & portfolio of all travel documents

Not Included: Lunches, Beverages with dinners, Airport tax (approx. $200-$380 depending on departure city and routing, when inter-itinerary flights occur taxes can be higher). Travel Insurance optional at $99-$219. Tips to your guide & driver ($6 per day). Items of a personal nature.

Sample Day-by-Day Itinerary:

Day 1 – Depart USA Departure from your home town for the overnight flight to France. Dinner and breakfast will be served on board.

Day 2 – Lyon – La Salette

Upon your arrival in France this morning in Lyon Airport we will be met by our guide and driver and transfer to La Salette located in a high alpine pasture in the French Alps, La Salette is the site where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1846 to two shepherds, Melanie Matthew and Maximin Gird. Our Lady appeared to these shepherds crying, lamenting over the lack of observance of Sundays and the profaning of her Son’s holy name. A spring forever marks the spot where the Virgin appeared and where millions of pilgrims come to in order to drink the fresh spring water and to pray. The stunning mountain scenery and lush mountain trails make La Salette one of the most spectacular pilgrimage sites in France, with a beautiful Basilica built to honor the Virgin Mary. In 1996 La Salette celebrated the 150th anniversary of Our Lady’s first appearance. Dinner and overnight in Corps.

Day 3 – La Salette – Paray Le Monial

Mass at Notre Dame De La Salette, then we continue our journey and travel North to Paray Le Monial. Dinner and overnight.

Day 4 – Paray Le Monial – Ars – Paray Le Monial

We start our day with Mass in hometown of the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Visit the Chapel of the Visitation where Jesus exposed His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque during a number of apparitions, Reliquary of St. Margaret containing her relics, located underneath a wax figure of the saint. Next we head to the pretty little town of Ars where St Jean-Marie Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, spent a great part of his holy life giving powerful sermons and spending up to 20 hours a day in the confessional, sleeping only two hours a night. People continuously flowed into Ars from every part of France seeking his spiritual guidance and healing. The charity and love for people of this simple curate of Ars became famous all over the Christian world. He died in 1895 and his incorrupt body lies in repose, along with many relics from this saint who was canonized in 1925. Continue to Paray Le Monial.

Day 5 – Paray Le Monial – Lyon – Lourdes

After an early breakfast we depart Paray le Monial for Lyon airport where we will board our 2 hour flight to Pau or Toulouse Airport (this flight is not included for Land Only participants).

Upon your arrival in Lourdes transfer to your hotel. Relax or explore before dinner, followed by a candlelight procession before retiring. Dinner and overnight.

Days 6 & 7 – Lourdes

Mass at the Grotto, enjoy a video presentation telling the story of Lourdes, and walk in the footsteps of St Bernadette. See Boly Mill where St Bernadette was born and the "Cachot," an abandoned prison where Bernadette’s impoverished family. Join your prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as you pray for the sick, drink water from the miraculous spring or submerge yourself in the healing baths. Experience Christ’s love as you walk the life-sized Stations of the Cross overlooking the holy Grotto. Kneel in the chapel built on the very rock of the Grotto, in obedience to the request of the "Immaculate Conception." Evenings are for Blessed Sacrament Procession before dinner. Your role in the universal church will have new meaning as you join the candlelight procession and group rosary.

Day 8 – Lourdes & Paris

After breakfast leave on the one-hour flight to Paris. Upon arrival in Paris, you will meet your new guide and transfer to for mass to the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. View the incorrupt body of St Catherine Labouret whose guardian angel led her to the chapel where the Blessed Virgin displayed a vision of the miraculous medal and later the green scapular. The Virgin promised bountiful graces for all who wore these. Our sightseeing tour includes some of the most beautiful and important churches in the world such as Notre Dame Cathedral and Sacre Coeur, see the sights as the Eiffel Tower, L’Arc de Triomphe, and drive through the Champs Elysees. Enjoy other sights on this mostly panoramic tour. Return to the hotel for little relaxing, dinner and overnight.

Day 9 – Excursion to Nevers

Leave by motor coach for Nevers by way of the picturesque Loire Valley. After taking the veil in 1867, St Bernadette lived for 22 years as a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Nevers. At least three times during her short life-time, she received the last Sacraments. She was gradually struck by other illnesses as well as asthma: among them, tuberculosis of the lung and a tubercular tumor on her right knee. St Bernadete eventually died at the age of 35. See St Bernadette’s incorrupt body at the convent of St Gildard, miraculously preserved since her death in 1879. Dinner and return to the hotel in Paris.

Day 10 – Excursion to Lisieux

After breakfast we travel northwest by motor coach to the town of Lisieux, the home of St Therese whom Pope Pius X called "the greatest saint of modern times." Her extraordinary love for God and service to humanity come alive as you visit the Basilica Cathedral of St Peter, and Les Buissonets, her family home. On display are relics, clothing, and personal objects belonging to the "little flower." View the statue depicting the Virgin Mary who smiled at St Therese during an ecstacy before curing her illness. Combine your prayers in the Carmel Chapel with those of the Carmelite sisters, just as St Therese did before her death in 1897. Return to Paris for dinner and overnight. Please note the carmelite convent is currently closed for renovations until late 2007.

Day 11 – Paris – USA

Transfer to the airport for your return flight to the United States.

2009 Departure Dates & Prices
Month 00 – 00 $Price

In categories: Tours for Groups