Seine River Cruise Pilgrimage to France with Fr. Larry Richards and Dr. Ray Guarendi

We depart on an overnight flight to Paris from Cleveland or a NYC airport. Dinner and breakfast are served on the plane. Custom flight quotes, including Premium Economy or Business Class upgrades, are available starting 120 days before departure. Please note that group air regulations require ten or more passengers traveling together and do not allow for specific seat assignments; if confirmed seating is essential, we recommend booking a land-only package and arranging your own flights. Your dedicated Account Manager, Jane Allison, is always available to help with any travel questions.

Welcome to France. Upon arrival at the airport, we are greeted by our English-speaking French Guides. We board our motorcoach for a drive to the city center. The drive takes us through the streets of Paris, a city split by the river Seine. We see the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées, and other highlights of the city during a panoramic tour. We visit the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on Rue Du Bac, where we celebrate Mass and have time to visit the gift shop, before we walk a short distance to see St. Vincent de Paul Church. We embark around 5 PM and settle into our cabins. Our cruise includes a welcome drink, dinner, and an evening cruise. We delight in the illuminated buildings and the night view of the Eiffel Tower, seen from the ship’s upper deck or the lounge. Nightly entertainment and beverages are included on the ship. Overnight on the ship. Meals: D *Mass is subject to confirmation based on flight arrival time.

Enjoy the buffet breakfast and a morning exercise class on the top deck before a presentation by our group leaders while we are sailing. In the afternoon, we can choose to stay on the ship and explore the lovely little town of La Roche-Guyon or take the included excursion to the Claude Monet Estate in Giverny. The famous Impressionist artist Claude Monet lived here for 43 years, from 1883 to 1926. With a passion for gardening as well as for colors, he conceived both his flower garden and water garden as true works of art. Walking through his house and gardens, visitors can still feel the atmosphere that reigned at the home of the Master of Impressionism and marvel at the floral compositions and nymphéas, his greatest sources of inspiration. Return to the ship. Mass will be celebrated. Dinner, evening entertainment, and overnight on the ship. Meals: B.L.D

After breakfast, we disembark in the port of Caudebec and drive through the beautiful Normandy region to Omaha Beach, where we see the American Memorial and Cemetery. We remember our brave, fallen soldiers. 2024 marked the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landing. The 54 miles of the Atlantic Ocean that stretch from Utah Beach in the west to Sword Beach in the east are lined with WWII museums, monuments, cemeteries, and battle remains left in tribute to the courage of the British, Canadian, and American armies that successfully carried out the largest military operation in history: D-Day. It was on these serene beaches, at the crack of dawn on June 6, 1944, that the Allies finally gained a foothold in France; from this moment, Nazi Europe was destined to crumble. Lunch will be on our own in one of the small towns near the Normandy beaches. Mass will be celebrated at Notre Dame de l’Assomption de Colleville-Sur-Mer (TBC). Return to the ship for dinner and overnight. Meals: B.D*Lunch is not included today, as we have a full-day excursion away from the ship

After breakfast, we depart for Lisieux, home of St. Therese, the Little Flower. Upon arrival in Lisieux, we visit all the places associated with the life of the Saint and her parents, including Les Buissonnets, her childhood dwelling. We tour the magnificent Basilica of St. Therese and celebrate Mass in the the Crypt. (TBC) After a break for lunch, we visit the Carmel Convent and chapel where we have time to pray before the body of Saint Therese. Late in the afternoon, we return to our ship for dinner and overnight. Meals: B.D*Lunch is not included today, as we have a full-day excursion away from the ship

After breakfast, we visit Honfleur, where we see St. Catherine’s Church, built in the 15th century by shipwrights who gave it an oak ceiling that looks like the hull of a boat. Here we celebrate Mass. We have time to enjoy and explore the picture-perfect town. We suggest visiting the former smugglers’ harbor of Vieux Bassin, the most frequently painted scene in Honfleur, which looks much as it did a century ago, though now the boats in the harbor are more likely to be pleasure craft than fishing vessels. Walk down tiny lanes, where houses stand shoulder to shoulder in a jumble of styles: narrow 19th-century slate-roofed townhouses, 15th-century fishermen’s cottages, and tall and elegant mansions – many adorned with figures of chimeras or saints. We can go back to the ship for lunch (included) or enjoy lunch at a cafe at leisure. We are docked in Honfleur all day, so we have free time to explore the town or relax on the ship. Dinner and overnight on the ship. Meals: B.L.D

This morning, we are in Rouen, where we retrace the footsteps of St. Joan of Arc. Rouen offers a restored medieval quarter and a marvelous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame, often painted by Claude Monet. Throughout its turbulent history, the city was destroyed several times. During the Middle Ages, it was devastated by fire and the plague. The English occupied it during the Hundred Years’ War, at which time the French heroine Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in the central square in 1431. During WWII, Allied bombing raids laid waste to large parts of the city, especially the area south of the cathedral, but over the last six decades, the city has been meticulously rebuilt. We tour the city on foot, see the magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady, and the museum exhibit dedicated to St. Joan of Arc. We celebrate Mass at the Church of St. Joan of Arc, and see where she was brutally murdered. After we visit this lovely historic town, we return to the ship for lunch. Enjoy the views from the ship as we sail past the romantic-looking landscapes between Rouen and Paris, forests, small villages, and farms. Many of the houses near the river are old mansions from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There are quite a few locks between Rouen and Paris, and passing through them is one of the charms of a Seine River cruise. We arrive in Paris early tomorrow morning. Dinner and overnight on the ship. Meals: B.L.D

Our cruise has come to an end much too soon! We disembark from our ship, saying goodbye to the outstanding crew members who have become our friends. We head to the Montmartre section of Paris to explore the city’s bohemian quarter and the magnificent Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart Basilica), where we celebrate Mass and have time to visit the Basilica. We then visit the Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris’ most beloved church, with its Gothic towers and gargoyles. The rest of the day is at leisure in Paris to explore the city. Enjoy dinner on our own, with an opportunity to sample local food. Overnight in Paris. Meals: B

This morning, we check out of the hotel and are transferred to the airport for our flight back to the USA. Meals: B

We are transferred to the train station this morning, where we board the comfortable TGV train to Lourdes. Upon arrival in Lourdes, we settle into our hotel and visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes for Mass. Dinner and overnight in Lourdes. Meals: B.D

We have two full days in Lourdes. We celebrate Mass at the Basilica, have a walking tour of the Sanctuary, including the Grotto and the Basilica, and watch a video presentation that explains Lourdes’s story in detail. Our group will have the opportunity to see Boly Mill, the birthplace of St. Bernadette, and the Cachot, an abandoned prison where Bernadette’s impoverished family lived. We pray the Stations of the Cross and attend the Blessing of the Sick in the afternoon. We have time for private prayer and reflection. This evening, we join the Candlelight Procession. Dinner and overnight in Lourdes. Meals: B.D

Early this morning, we are transferred to Toulouse airport, where we board our flights back to the United States. Meals: B