of the great explorers | Saint-Malo – Mont-Saint-Michel Bay

The legends of our Destination

Some of the greatest explorers in the history of Saint Malo have gone down in history, including Jacques Cartier, the “discoverer of Canada”, and Commandant Charcot, who explored the Antarctic. Today’s explorers are less focused on discoveries and more on performance and innovation!

Jacques Cartier (1491-1557)

Commissioned by King François I, the navigator discovered the St Lawrence estuary and took possession of Canada in 1534. Buried in Saint-Vincent Cathedral.

Jacques Cartier is certainly the most famous French sailor of the Renaissance. The “discoverer of Canada”, born in Saint-Malo in 1491 was the son of fishermen from Saint-Malo. He began his career as a sailor and then as a master pilot before being promoted to ship’s captain by François 1er. The latter entrusted him with two missions: to explore the “Northwest Passage” to Asia and to find new lands rich in gold and other treasures, in order to establish a French settlement there. It was thus that Jacques Cartier landed on the shores of Newfoundland in 1534, marking the start of the colonisation of New France.

©Statue Jacques Cartier St Malo Smbmsm 10135

©Statue Jacques Cartier St Malo Smbmsm 10139

©©pjosselin Statue Mahé De La Bourdonnais

Bertrand-François Mahé de la Bourdonnais (1768-1848)

He criss-crossed the seas as a Lieutenant and then Captain for the Compagnie des Indes; he contributed to the economic development of the Bourbon Islands (Reunion Island) and the Isle of France (Mauritius), of which he was Governor. Jealousised by Dupleix, he was imprisoned for 3 years before being found innocent. His statue is located at the Île Maurice roundabout near the Cale de Dinan.

Le commandant Charcot

Jean-Baptiste Charcot, doctor and polar explorer, left his mark on the history of Saint-Malo. It was from the corsair city, that he undertook the Antarctic expeditions. In 1903, he had a 32-metre three-masted schooner, “Le Français”, built in Saint-Malo and mounted the first French expedition to Antarctica. The scientific discoveries were remarkable, with 1,000 kilometres of coastline surveyed and 75 observation boxes sent to the National Museum of Natural History.

Today's explorers

Today’s skippers and sailors

On your holiday, you may come across famous sailors who have chosen Saint-Malo and the Bay of Mont-Michel as their home port: trimaran racer Gilles Lamiré or sport catamaran skipper Thibault Vauchel-Camus.Servane Escoffier started out racing with her father, Bob, and went on to make a name for herself when she took part in the Route du Rhum twice. In 2010, she finished in 2nd place behind the winner Franck Cammas

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A story to Explore

Discover Jacques Cartier at the Manoir de Limoëlou, on a bike ride in his footsteps or even take a tour of the ramparts and come across his statue at the Bastion de la Hollande.