Paris — Mont St-Michel — Angers
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Mont Saint Michel Tourist Information Center
One of the country's most iconic attractions, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed abbey of Mont St-Michel is perched on a rocky island amid a vast bay and encircled by stout ramparts and battlements.After fueling up with lunch at a local restaurant, follow your guide on a walk to the top of the hilly village, where you’ll then travel back in time as you enter the fascinating abbey
Duration: 1.25 hours
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Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel
As you'll learn, Mont St-Michel was a major cultural and pilgrimage center during the Middle Ages. Legend has it that the abbey was established in the 8th century, when the bishop of Avranches was visited by the Archangel Michael in a dream.
Duration: 60 minutes
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Fortifications du Mont-Saint-Michel
Today, the abbey is still crowned by a gilded copper statue of Michael slaying a dragon, representing the triumph of good over evil.
Visit the abbey’s cloister and refectory, and see how the ramparts have been added to support the Gothic monastery over the centuries. After your tour, wander the surrounding village at your leisure.
Duration: 30 minutes
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Baie du Mont St Michel
After your tour, wander the surrounding village at your leisure. Walk around the abbey's ramparts, shop along the main street, visit the island's museums, and witness Mont St-Michel's most well-known and alluring feature: the extreme tides. At low tide, the island can be surrounded by bare sand for miles, but at high tide — just six hours later — sea water swells up and fills the bay, surrounding the whole island.
Duration: 60 minutes
Angers — Langeais — Amboise — Chenonceaux — Paris
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Chateau d'Angers
Start with a brief photo stop at Château d’Angers, hanging over the River Maine. Founded in the 9th century by the Count of Anjou and expanded in the 13th century, it is home to the Apocalypse Tapestry, the largest tapestry in the world
Duration: 20 minutes
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Chateau de Langeais
Then head to Château de Langeais, also founded by the Count of Anjou. This castle was attacked by the Count of Blois and then destroyed during the Hundred Years’ War. In the 15th century, King Louis XI rebuilt it into a grand château, and it now serves as one of the world’s best examples of late medieval architecture.
Duration: 60 minutes
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Chateau de Chenonceau
Straddling the River Cher, it served as an escape route during World World II from the Nazi occupied zone on one side of the river to the ‘free’ zone on the opposite bank.
Duration: 60 minutes
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Chateau de Chambord
The castle with its famous "double revolution staircase"
Duration: 45 minutes
