Magical, Mystical Fantastic France!

After breakfast we take a short drive to Grotto St. Baume, the “cave of Mary Magdalene”. Legend says that she passed the last 30 years of her life here in prayer and contemplation. This has been a pilgrimage site since medieval times, the energy here is quite profound and we will have plenty of time to soak it all in. To get to this cliff side sanctuary requires a slightly challenging uphill walk. It takes about an hour going at a slow pace with plenty of time to rest and breathe in the beauty.

After experiencing the cave, we make our way back down and drive to Saint Maximum for lunch And a tour of the St. Maximim Basilica. Built in the 1200’s, it’s impressive architecture is grandiose yet very peaceful. The paintings and frescoes are stunning here and the bones of Mary Magdalene are housed in a crypt, a very powerful spot especially for Magdalene enthusiasts.

After all of this we can discuss and contemplate on our drive to Sainte Maries de La Mer. Upon arrival we get checked into our hotel and have dinner in a local restaurant.

Lunch and dinner included

“Pilgrimage to the place of the wise is to find escape from the flame of separateness.”
Rumi

Sainte Maries de la Mer is a charming seaside town on the Mediterranean where Mary Magdalene along with Mary Salome, Mary Jacob, Lazarus and several other disciples landed after they were forced to flee the holy land after the resurrection. Legend says they were put on a boat with no sail, no rudder and no food. Amazingly they survived and landed here where they were welcomed by the gypsy locals.

We will walk the beach and the town and tour the church dedicated to the Mary’s, which enshrines a Black Madonna statue of Sara-la-Kali, whose origin and identity are quite mysterious. The gypsies that throng to worship her each May believe Sara to have been a powerful local queen who welcomed the tired travelers from the Holy Land, while other sources suggest she may have been an ancient pagan goddess or a black Egyptian woman who was the servant of Christ’s mother Mary. The church also has an incredible roof top with amazing views of the town and the sea.

The town is set in Frances’s beautiful Camargue area, where wild white horses, black bulls and pink flamingos roam. Afternoon is free to tour the Camargue, go on a bike ride, relax on the beach and/or shop. There are great restaurants and shopping in this small town.

Lunch and dinner on your own

“The loving universe, which fosters my self growth in so many ways, also provides the wherewithal for me to make this journey. As I realize that the journey I am on is a spiritual one, all I need appears before me.”
Joe Dispenza

After breakfast today we take a short ride to Arles, located on the Rhône River and a UNESCO world heritage site. Vincent van Gogh came here from Paris in February 1888. He stayed 14 months producing some 200 paintings. A walking tour will show us many of his favorite places of inspiration for his famous creations . We will also visit a special church that houses the bones of Saint Anne, grandmother of Jesus! Arles is also a starting point of the Camino de Santiago on the Via Tolosana route. After our walking tour we will have lunch at a local spot, and make our way to Carcassone.

Lunch and dinner included

“You will bring back pots and pictures. A sheaf of photographs. A jingle of coins. But you will bring back more. A Vision of a wide world. Remembered laughter. New friends. New understanding.”
Pam Brown

Carcassonne, is a charming fortified medieval city known for its Cathar beliefs and history and which looks like something out of a fairytale.

We will have a walking tour of the village with a local guide. The afternoon is free to explore the area.

Outside the walls, there are lots of gorgeous sights to see as well: The Canal du Midi, a set of waterways built in the 1600s to connect the Atlantic and Mediterranean (and another UNESCO World Heritage Site), runs right through town, and its banks are ideal for a nice stroll, or you can take a cruise on a riverboat.

Lunch and dinner on your own.

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.”
Hans Christian Andersen

After breakfast we depart Carcassonne for Rennes Le Chateau, known as the village of mystery relating to a story about a priest, Berenger Saunière, who lived here in the late 1800s. This village was made famous by the 1980s book “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” and later Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci code,” which created a treasure hunting craze due to a supposed secret treasure buried here. Saunière made a mysterious fortune and refurbished the church and devoted it to Mary Magdalene. Some people report that being in this village feels like being in another dimension.

Lunch and a tour with local guides is included. After lunch, we return to Carcassone for an evening on your own.

“Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.”
Kurt Vonnegut

After breakfast we head to Montsegur, best known for the castle. It is famous as the last Cathar stronghold, which fell after a 10-month siege in 1244. A field below the hilltop castle is said to be the site where over 200 Cathars were burned alive, having refused to renounce their faith. We have the option of walking up to the castle, a slightly challenging trail or walking down into the town. We will meet at a local restaurant for lunch.

After lunch we drive to Toulouse.

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”
Mary Anne Radmacher

Toulouse, another city with Cathar history, is located on the banks of the River Garonne. There is much to see and do here, we will begin our day with a tuk tuk tour of the city and then the afternoon is yours to explore. We meet for our final dinner at a delicious restaurant and enjoy the evening lights in the city as our pilgrimage comes to an end.

“Travel is more than the seeing of sites, it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, and the ideas of living.”
Miriam Beard

A final breakfast farewell. Fly out of Toulouse.

 

“If ‘heaven is the lord’s,’ the earth is the inheritance of man, and consequently any honest traveler has the right to walk as he chooses, all over that globe which is his.”
Alexandra David-Neel