Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour With Private Guide
Joan of Arc is a French heroine, an icon for nearly six centuries, her epic is strongly linked with the Loire Valley, with Tours, Blois, or Chinon but Orléans is apart on the list, it is the place of Joan of Arc first and chief victory, the turning point of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. Your Joan of Arc Tour in Orléans, with a private licensed guide who will conduct you in the footsteps of this young woman called Jeanne who, in Orléans, in a few days of the spring of 1429, changed the course of French and English history.
Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour: Joan of Arc sculpture by Princess Marie d’Orléans – in Orléans, Val de Loire, France © Broaden horizons.
The Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour essentials
69 € for 1 to 2 people + 7 € per extra person
- Private +/- 2 hours walking Tour in English
- Really private tour = your party only (6 people max.)
- Postgraduate (MPhil) certified French national guide
- Flexible time schedule 7/7 if available
- Online booking & payment
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What’s in the Tour?
Orléans Middle Age Heritage
Siege of Orléans Military Events
Joan of Arc representation in the Arts
Joan of Arc & Catholic Church
Joan of Arc’s Political Aspects
Your Private Guide in Orléans
Certified French national guide.
Centre-Loire Valley Region accreditation (VAH).
BA, Magna cum laude, Heritage Developpement & Preservation at Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers.
Postgraduate (MPhil) from Paris Dauphine-PSL University.
Why to follow the Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour?
Because Joan of Arc, in French Jeanne d’Arc, is the symbolic figure of the city.
Indeed it is following her intervention that the English army left the siege of Orléans on the 8th of May 1429. This event is considered the watershed of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.
Eternally grateful for nearly 600 years, Orléans still celebrate this event during the Joan of Arc Festival in French “Les Fêtes de Jeanne d’Arc” from the 29th of April to the 8th of May each year.
Often called the Maid of Orléans, she is present everywhere in the streets (dedicated iconography, squares, streets, and monuments). So an Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour is something you shouldn’t miss!
Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour Content
In this Joan of Arc tour, we will tell you about her story and more specifically about the Orléans-related historical figures: Isabelle Romée (Joan of Arc mother), Pierre du Lys (One of her brothers and comrades in arms), La Hire, the Bastard of Orléans (a Duke of Orléans’s son), etc.
Moreover, the tour has been structured in three levels:
1. Middle Ages heritage still present in Orléans
City wall remains, Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier Collegial, the Middle Age university of law with the “salle des Thèses”, the Tour Blanche, stone or half-timbered houses, etc.
2. Joan of Arc iconography
The Maid of Orléans is omnipresent in the city: the stain-glass windows of the Cathedral Saint-Croix, Romantic statues, streets, etc.
3. Joan of Arc-related places
Places where she passed through, corresponding military events: Bourgogne street, des Tourelles Battle, etc.
We will also see the house of Joan of Arc which is the reconstructed house of Jacques Boucher, Treasurer General to the Duke of Orléans in which Joan of Arc was living during her stay in the city.
An Extra Reason to Follow our Orléans Joan of Arc Tour
Besides our Joan of Arc tour also allows you to discover the southeast city center which is not covered by the two other main Orléans walking tours.
Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour: the entry of Joan of Arc in Orléans April 29 of 1429: One of the 10 stained glass windows by Jacques Galland and Esprit Gibelin depicting Joan of Arc life in Orléans Cathedral. Orléans, Val de Loire, France © Broaden horizons.
Joan of Arc in the Orléans Monuments
Orléans Sainte-Croix Cathedral is not the only monument in which you can see Joan of Arc representation, even if it is not possible to show you all of them during our Orleans Jeanne of Arc Walking Tour, here are places where can be find more Joan of Arc iconographia:
- Cathedral parvis, with two Joan of Arc bas-relief by sculptor Paul Belmondo.
- Hôtel Groslot, with a famous Joan of Arc romantic sculpture by princess Marie d’Orléans.
- Place du Martroi, Orléans main square where is the most famous Orléans Joan of Arc statue.
- Rue des Tourelles is a Joan of Arc Neo-Classical sculpture where was the English ruled des Tourelles forteress.
- And also, Saint-Donatien church, Notre-Dame-des-Miracles chapel, Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc church etc.
“The Vision and Inspiration” is an oil painting by Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel. The big version of the painting is presented in the Orleans Museum of Fine Arts meanwhile a smaller one is shown in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The canvas depicts Joan of Arc receiving visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret.
Joan of Arc in the Orléans Museums
Orléans Museum of History and Archeology (Hôtel Cabu) exibit one of the very first painting depicting Joan of Arc.
The Orléans Museum of find Arts is the where you will fine more Joan of Arc-related works of art, as for example “The entry of Joan of Arc in Orléans” a famous painting by Scherrer.
Or a seven meters wide Joan of Arc canvas by Orléans native painter Boutet de Monvel who got worldly fame at the end of the 19th century for his Joan of Arc illustrated for children.
So if you are a real fan of Joan of Arc and don’t have enough with our “Joan of Arc Orléans Walking Tour” do not hesitate to ask us to organize a museum complement for your Joan of Arc tour.
The entry of Joan of Arc in Orleans in rue de Bourgogne an oil painting by Jean-Jacques Scherrer. This academic painting represents Joan of Arc as an icon for all the people of France: rich and powerful as poor and humble. © Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans, crédit François Lauginie.
Joan of Arc around Orléans
Château de Sully Sur Loire (+/- 42 km): Joan of Arc stayed twice in the castle of Guy de la Tremouille who was Charles VII, Grand Chamberlain.
Château de Meung-sur-Loire (+/- 21 km): where Joan of Arc stayed after the battle of Orléans. Meung-sur-Loire is also the place of one of the five Loire Valley Campaign Battles.
The other places of the Loire Valley Campaign are also close to Orléans: Jargeau (+/- 20 km) the first Joan of arc offensive battle after Orléans, Beaugency (+/- 26 km), and Patay (+/- 28 km) the last of the five battles where English forces where finally heavily defeated. Don’t hesitate to ask your Orléans local guide about it.
Story of Joan of Arc the Maid of Orléans
Childhood: Joan of Arc was born in the east of France around 1412. At thirteen years old, she starts to hear a voice from God,
Orléans: At 17 she claimed the voices (She will later name them as being Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Marguerite) told her to raise the siege of Orléans from the English. Joan of Arc reached to meet the Dauphin Charles in Chinon who trusted her, and following her intervention in Orléans English army gave up the city siege on the 8th of May, 1429.
Reims Coronation: Joan of Arc insists that the Dauphin should go to Reims to receive his rightful crown. And after some other important French victories during the Loire Valley Campaign, the Dauphin was consecrated King Charles VII of France on the 17th July of 1429.
These Orléans’ events ended by the Reims coronation were the watershed of the Hundred Years’ War which finally ended with the victory of the French against England in 1453.
Rouen trial: Joan of Arc was burned alive years before in Rouen in 1431, as after her capture in Compiègne she was put on trial by a pro-English Bishop and declared guilty.
Rehabilitation: Joan of Arc trial was reopened by the examination of Joan’s mother, Isabelle Romée in Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral on the 7th of November 1455. The original sentence of Rouen was officially canceled in the same city on the 7th of July 1456.
The city of Orléans took in Joan of Arc’s mother. One of the Joan of Arc’s brothers, Pierre du Lys also settled near Orléans.
Joan of Arc, a heroine of France, was canonized in 1920.
Customer Reviews
Yves is a very passionate guide!
As a journalist l am doing a story about Joan of Arc. Yves gave us great information. He is really charismatic, honoust, passionate and friendly. He gave us a new perspective. The kind of men this world needs.
So Thank you So much!
Tour Booking Information
Meeting Point
In front of the Hôtel Groslot,
place de l’Etape, 45000 Orléans.
Access: Tram ligne B, station Cathédrale.
Attention Points
- Tour is on foot.
- Weather: the tour will start on schedule rain or shine.
- Prices do not include transportation, food, drinks, or any other extra services.
- Neighborhood tour: we don’t enter monuments unless otherwise specified.
- Tour duration & content are purely indicative, they may vary due to contingencies.
- We can’t guarantee access to the cathedral: exceptionally the cathedral can be closed or forbidden to tours (ceremony) without notice.
Book the Orléans Joan of Arc Tour
Choose below your tour: You will then be asked : -> choose the number of people, date & hours of visit -> after our validation-> pay on line.
Orléans Joan of Arc Private tour
(+/- 2 hours)- For 1 to 2 people + 7 € for any extra
- A group of maximum 6 people
- Group exclusively yours
- English language
Orléans Joan of Arc Walking Tour: Joan of Arc statue in Orléans main square : place du Martroi. Orléans, Val de Loire, France © Broaden Horizons