Although the shrine of Lourdes is so well known throughout the world, there are several other sanctuaries in France which record the appearance of Our lady during the turbulent and socially fast-changing period of the mid-nineteenth century. The message received by St Catharine Laboure in the convent of the Sisters of Charity in Paris, in 1830 was the first recorded vision of this kind to the modern world and marked the start of a series of messages which not only warned society of the dangers of ignoring God but also the great consolation and aid through recognising the saving grace of Jesus Christ. La Salette is situated in one of the most scenically beautiful areas of Europe, the Alps, easily accessible for us today and attractive to tourists and sportsmen alike but in 1846 was a remote, poor backwater, where dialect was spoken more than standard French. The apparition at La Salette had much in common with others in France that it was to children of a poor background, lacking in religious instruction that Our Lady chose to appear to and that she communicated a clear message related to the times. Melanie and Maximin Giraud were typical children from a deprived rural farming area, who had little formal education and certainly only rudimentary formation in the Catholic faith. In fact when one day they were confronted by the extraordinary sight of a beautiful lady weeping, like Bernadette and the children of Fatima they had no idea who was in front of them. The message of Our Lady of La Salette was in a sense the forerunner to that of Fatima: that if people did not heed the teachings of her Son, Jesus Christ, calamities would befall the world on a local and international level. As with all the other appearances of Mary those to whom she made herself known were commanded to make her words known at large. One of the impressive aspects of the story of La Salette as in those at Lourdes, Fatima and the other places of apparition is that these simple uneducated children could make those in high positions not only believe them but make them act on the missive communicated to them. Only a few years after Mary’s appearance to the children at La Salette, Pope Pius IX approved of the devotion of La Salette and his successor, Leo XIII had a great basilica built on the mountain, where pilgrims have flocked to ever since and still do. The first part of this pilgrimage is devoted to La Salette and a whole day will be spent following a day of programmed devotions. Following the stay in La Salette the tour moves via the great monastic foundation of La Chartreuse, the first house founded by St Bruno and the blueprint for one of the most ascetic forms of enclosed life, to Ars, the village of the Cure D’Ars St. John Vianney.