The Explorers Club Helps Us Trace the Path of Jean-Baptiste Charcot

It’s no secret that the luxury small ships of PONANT exude a French flair, from our fine dining to our extraordinary service. We are also inspired by the adventurous spirit of French explorers. Our ships are named for them, and many of our itineraries trace their historic routes. Our Antarctic expedition In the Wake Jean-Baptiste Charcot pays homage to one such man. It is also enriched by the insights of a brilliant modern-day explorer, thanks to our collaboration with The Explorers Club. 

During our In the Wake Jean-Baptiste Charcot voyage, our exceptional Antarctic naturalist guides and onboard scientists combine their talents to create a truly extraordinary and insightful expedition. Both your itinerary and our ship, the world’s only luxury icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot, were named for the legendary French adventurer who sailed these waters more than 100 years ago, Jean-Baptiste Charcot. A pioneering figure in polar exploration, Charcot led several groundbreaking expeditions along the Antarctic Peninsula between 1904 and 1910.

Every time we trace his route through these remote waters and take in the breathtaking white wilderness around them, we profoundly feel his presence. During our December 2025 departure, you will be in the prestigious company of another explorer, this one very much from the modern day, Dr. Britney Schmidt, who was named to the 2023 TIME 100 list of most influential people for contributions to climate science in Antarctica.

Dr. Schmidt joins us thanks to our collaboration with The Explorers Club. The distinguished astrobiologist and associate professor from Cornell University develops robotic tools for studying polar regions, leading to critical insights into understanding this icy world. Her expertise offers a fascinating perspective on Charcot’s early Antarctic explorations and highlights the ongoing significance of polar science. PONANT and The Explorers Club invite you on this deep dive into the region’s rich history and 21st-century scientific discovery.
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Charcot’s Antarctic Discovery

When Charcot led the French Antarctic Expedition into these waters in 1904, much of Antarctica’s frozen shores were unknown to humankind. The French physician and polar scientist changed that. His voyage in the Southern Ocean expanded geographical knowledge of the Peninsula and sparked worldwide interest in Antarctica – calling attention to Graham Land along the west coast of the Peninsula’s tip and its many surrounding ice-strewn islands. Charcot’s rigorous voyages, often in extreme conditions, secured his place in polar history.

He returned to the white continent in 1908, sailing the Pourquoi Pas? – which translates into “Why not?” This journey led him into the Bellingshausen Sea and the Amundsen Sea, which stretch south of the Peninsula, as well as more bays and islands closer to land. He named Charcot Island after his father Jean-Martin Charcot (not himself), and Hugo Island after Victor Hugo. Little known fact: the famed author of Les Misérables was the grandfather of Charcot’s wife Jeanne.

Sail in Charcot’s Footsteps

Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, you’ll have the rare opportunity to visit many of the places along the Antarctic Peninsula that Charcot explored. The Peninsula’s jagged peaks, massive glaciers, and rich marine life remain among Antarctica’s most stunning features, and Charcot charted and documented them in all their splendor.

You’ll witness the same landscapes that enthralled Charcot. The shimmering icebergs of the Gullet, the narrow channel between Adelaide Island and the towering, immaculate ice shelves of Graham Land’s Loubet Coast. Alexander and Charcot Islands, once attached by ice and now each its own land mass cloaked in white and crowded with sea birds. And if you’re lucky, you’ll see majestic emperor penguins along the shores of the Bellingshausen Sea, named for the Russian admiral who set eyes on it in 1820.

The Spirit of Exploration

Charcot’s expeditions took place during an intense period of global competition for polar discovery. It was the early 1900s. Several nations were racing to map Antarctica’s unknown territories and Charcot felt a drive to be among them. His voyages embodied deep national pride and scientific ambition, to be sure, but they also exemplified the broader spirit of exploration that defined the age.

Retracing Charcot’s route today connects you to that same spirit of adventure and curiosity – and to a legacy that inspires Explorers Club member Dr. Schmidt. Like Charcot before her, she is sailing into unknown realms, changing our perceptions of the world, and making discoveries and plans that Charcot could never have dreamed.

Schmidt and her colleagues have been piloting underwater robots from expedition ships like ours, with a goal to detect impacts of climate change invisible to the human eye. So far, they’ve identified weak spots in the Thwaites Glacier that are letting in warmer water and contributing to melt.

Schmidt’s next logical step is to use this remarkable technology to study the solar system. First stop: Europa, a moon of Jupiter. After having found evidence of a vast lake on the surface, she is developing an underwater robot named Icefin, which she hopes one day will explore the moon in the same way her earthbound robot explores the underwater ices of Antarctica.

Be Part of Charcot’s Legacy

Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, you’re not just retracing Charcot’s steps; you’re part of an ongoing journey of discovery. Our In the Wake Jean-Baptiste Charcot voyage blends history with modern science, bringing together adventure, knowledge, and exploration in a way that honors the spirit of one of Antarctica’s greatest pioneers – and supports the ambition of another.

Sail with PONANT and we’ll introduce you to modern scientists, inspired by Charcot’s adventures, including the woman unraveling the mysteries of the ice and, soon, the lakes of Jupiter’s moon.