DESTINATIONS Our pilgrimage starts upon your arrival in Paris on the morning of the 25th of September, and ends when we return you to Paris on the evening of the 4th of October. As you will be making your own air travel arrangements, it is important that you make sure that your scheduled flight gets you to Paris Charles De Gaulle airport not later than 10:30 a.m. on the 25th.
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc or D’Arc) was born in the village of Domrémy (now called Domrémy-la-Pucelle) on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th), probably in the year 1412. She was one of five known children born to Jacques d'Arc and his wife Isabellette, described in the depositions of their fellow villagers as "good and faithful Catholics, and good farmers, and of good repute and upright life.". The other children were her older brothers Jacquemin, Jean, and Pierre, and her sister Catherine. The village was located in the Duchy of Bar, on the western bank of the Meuse River, surrounded by farmland, forests of pine, beech, and oak, the white blooms of cherry trees, and a convoluted feudal structure that divided the inhabitants of the area into two camps. It was in Domrémy that she first experienced her visions, at the age of 13 while in her father's garden. Thereafter she said she was frequently revisited by these saints (usually the Archangel Michael, and Saints Catherine and Margaret), especially during the ringing of the church bells or while walking through the woods on her way to the nearby churches and shrines. There is now a cross, allegedly erected by the Count of Dunois, along one of these forest paths which she had once frequented. As Jeanne grew older and her saints continued to urge her to embark on the mission which God had outlined for her, she appears to have withdrawn from much of the secular life of the village. She was described as taking part in the picnics which were a village tradition on "Fountains Sunday" but she didn't dance with the other villagers on these occasions and seems to have preferred to be off by herself at her beloved churches, especially Notre Dame de Bermont, a small isolated chapel in the middle of the woods above the nearby village of Greux. In January of 1429, around the age of seventeen, she left Domrémy for the last time, and set off for Burey-le-Petit (ostensibly to visit her relatives Durand and Jeanne Lassois, but in reality to start on the journey which was to take her across hundreds of miles of territory and ultimately land her titular command of an army). Out of necessity, she scarcely said a word of farewell to the people she had known all her life, merely calling out to a few of them as she went on her way down the road. Two of her brothers later joined her in the army, and the rest of the family would later see her again at Rheims; but she never returned to Domrémy during her earthly existence. Little of the village of Domremy remains as Jeanne would have known it. However, the house in which she was born and spent her childhood still stands beside the little country church where she attended worship and first heard her voices. It was purchased in 1818 by the department of the Vosges, and classified as an historic monument in 1840. The house has been restored and is open to the public. One and a half kilometers from the village stands the Basilica of Bois Chenu. Begun in 1881 and consecrated in 1926, it is built on the spot where Joan heard her “voices". Contained in the crypt beneath the basilica is the original statue of Notre Dame de Bermont before which Jeanne prayed and received visions in the tiny hermitage in the forest above the village of Greux. This beautiful area with its tiny village and surrounding hills and forests is a truly spiritual place. Come and discover for yourself a little of the power that inspired and transformed the young peasant girl into a warrior saint that would change history and the map of Europe forever.
Margaret Starbird wrote of this scene: “On this day of my pilgrimage to Vezelay, I wanted to remain before the statue of Magdalene, basking in her gentle presence and reflecting on her role as the incarnation of the ‘Hagia Sophia’-the holy wisdom. She was the archetypal Sister Bride and beloved of Yeshua, his mirror image in the form of the Divine Feminine.” In Vezelay we will stay at the enchanting Hotel Poste et du Lion d'Or, a lovely old inn within the outer walls of the town from where you can enjoy a wonderful view of the valley below and follow the pilgrim’s way up the hill through the old town to the Basilica.
Chateau de Sully, an imposing castle with a park, moat and spectacular medieval ceiling, is first mentioned in 1102 as “Castrium Soliacense”and was undoubtably constructed to defend the left bank bridgehead across the Loire which dates from Roman times. It belonged to one Gilon, first lord of Sully, Aix and of Vault-in-Berry. The chateau continued in the possession of the Lords of Sully until the end of the 14th century when the male line came to an end, and its single heiress, Marie de Sully, married Georges de La Tremoille in 1382. La Tremoille undertook to renovate the castle completely, and required the famous architect Raymond of the Temple to draw up the necessary plans. (Raymond was employed by Charles V to modify the Louvre). La Tremoille had for two years been grand Chamberlain of France and the Dauphin’s Lieutenant general for Burgundy when Jeanne arrived at Chinon. He took an instant dislike to her, and soon became her most resolute enemy at court, constantly working in the background to undermine Jeanne’s influence with the young weak-willed Dauphin. La Tremoille set out to restrain her aggressive tendencies and to manipulate her success in a way that would best suit his own ends. Jeanne was a guest at Sully on two occasions. The first following her victory at Patay and the subsequent collapse of the English campaign in the Loire, when she came to Sully to plead with her frightened Dauphin to let her take him to Rheims to be anointed and crowned King of France. The second visit was under less happy circumstances during the winter of 1429, when the newly crowned Charles VII, under La Tremoille’s influence, disbanded her army and forced her to join the court festivities at Sully. Under virtual house arrest, and separated from her comrades and friends, the action-minded Jeanne languished in the frivolous company of the royal court for most of the winter, only finally escaping La Tremoille’s clutches at the end of March 1430. It was from this magnificent chateau that Jeanne set out on her final campaign, a journey that would take her to her capture, imprisonment, betrayal, and eventual death at the hands of her enemies. Join us as we visit this imposing yet somber chateau where our heroine spent some of her last days of freedom. Wander through the magnificent halls and rooms of this extraordinarily well preserved example of medieval architecture, and see the actual room where Jeanne wrote her final letters to the besieged populations of Rheims and Compiegne.
“En nom Dieu, je ne suis pas venue a Poitiers pour faire signes; mais conduisez-moi a Orleans, je vous monterai les signes pour lesquels j’ai ete envoyee…. In Gods name, I am not come to Poitiers to make signs; but take me to Orleans, and I will show you the signs for which I have been sent……By God, the men at arms will do battle, and God will give them victory. ” Jeanne D’Arc, age 17, to Master Guillaume Aimeri, church interrogator on behalf of Dauphine Charles VII, Poitier, March 11, 1429. Who was she? This mysterious seventeen-year old peasant girl who in 1429 emerged from the marches of Lorraine to challenge the patriarchial hierarchy of the medieval world, and in under two years inspire a defeated monarch, unite a country, and lead a beaten and dispirited army to victory over an enemy who had remained invincible for over eighty years. Who then went on to be betrayed by the very king she had crowned, suffer imprisonment and torture at the hands of her enemies and the Roman Church, and finally in the Old Market Place of Rouen to die engulfed in the flames of the stake, crying in a loud voice for forgiveness for her enemies from the One who had sent her. Join us in Orleans, scene of her greatest and most miraculous victory, as we follow in her footsteps and trace the extraordinary career of the young female warrior saint who dared to cry “Freedom” in a world made dark and terrible by war, greed, corruption, and tyranny. Who changed the course of world history in two short years, and left a legacy that has come to represent the archetypal image of female heroism and the dignity of the human spirit. In Orleans we will visit La Maison de Jeanne D’Arc, a faithful reconstruction (the original was destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII) of the house she purchased for her mother but was never to have the opportunity to enjoy. Here we shall see the full story of her campaign to liberate France, along with costumes, armor, weapons and other artifacts from her time,. Several dioramas modeled by Luicien Harmey recount the main episodes of her life, from the audience at Chinon, through her campaign to liberate France from a century of tyranny and crown the Dauphin Charles at Rheims, to her capture at Compeign and her final death at the stake in Rouen. From Orleans we will cross the Loire by the famous Pont de La Torelle and follow the river eastward to Sully sur Loire, where we shall spend the afternoon viewing the Chateau and gardens before setting out for Vezelay.
We will arrive at Chartres around midday and will stay that night at Hotel de la Poste, which is located in the old town, and within an easy walk from the cathedral. The remainder of the afternoon will be personal time to allow people to rest from their journey and to adjust to French time. We will meet for dinner and after a good meal and a night’s rest, we will spend the following morning viewing the cathedral and crypt before setting out for Orleans and the Loire valley. For more information or to reserve your place, contact Laconneau@laconneau.org |
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