03. 590 France (1/3)
Abbaye Saint-Wandrille
Abbaye Saint-Wandrille - Amis saint Colomban
Bretagne

03. 590 France (1/3)

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1100km long, the route Colomban took in 590 is divided into 3 parts, which can be followed successively or indistinctly. Beginning in Saint-Malo, this first part of the continental route leads to Rouen through Brittany and Normandy.
Around 590, Colomban and his Irish monks arrived on the continent via the west coast and penetrated inland to the east as far as the foot of the Vosges Mountains where they settled for about twenty years. Their exact route is not known except for a few places listed in Colomban's biography written in 640. The proposed itinerary follows this general direction, passing through the cultural and historical highlights of this northern part of France.

18 steps

Description

This crossing of France is fairly straightforward, in the image of Colomban, who sought to withdraw quickly as a hermit as far inland as possible. 

The first part (1/3) consists of 18 stages averaging 24km per day:

  1. Saint-Malo - Saint-Coulomb
  2. Saint-Coulomb - le Vivier-sur-Mer
  3. Le Vivier-sur-Mer - Mont-St-Michel
  4. Le Mont-St-Michel - Avranches
  5. Avranches - Petit Celland
  6. Petit Celland - St Pois
  7. St Pois - Vire
  8. Vire-Vassy
  9. Vassy - Pont d'Ouilly
  10. Ouilly Bridge - Falaise
  11. Cliff - St Pierre-sur-Dives
  12. St Pierre-sur-Dives - Lisieux
  13. Lisieux - Cormeilles
  14. Cormeilles - Pont-Audemer
  15. Pont-Audemer - Our Lady of Gravenchon
  16. Notre Dame de Gravenchon - St Wandrille
  17. St Wandrille - Duclair
  18. Duclair - Rouen
  • Departure : 35400 Saint-Malo
  • Arrival : 76000 Rouen
  • Towns crossed : Bretagne and Normandie

Altimetric profile

Access and parking

A major port, Saint-Malo is the point of arrival for many public transport services (bus, train or ferry for those crossing the Channel).
 
Rouen is a major city, accessible by bus and train.

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