Orientation and Travel

Provence, and Arles in particular, present an array of possibilities. The staff and our families, after our daytime classes and over the weekends, take us on a variety of excursions—visits to museums and monuments; bullfights and the ballet; jazz or a premier international photographic festival; or take part in a schoolyard basketball game or pick-up soccer. Browsing in colorful open-air markets and making trips to Avignon, Les Baux, the Pont du Gard and to nearby Mediterranean beaches reinforce the lessons in the classroom.

Travel - The Riviera, Loire, and Paris (10 days)

Our voyage begins on the French Riviera, only minutes from rolling hills and beaches. From our seaside base in Cap d’Ail, we visit St. Paul de Vence, the famous Maeght Foundation, Monaco, Nice, Cannes, and Antibes. We continue morning language classes here, with emphasis on vocabulary and current topics. We also read a French play which we will later see in Paris.

Afterward, we travel north to the Loire Valley, the former haunt and hunting ground of royalty. From our base in the richly historic city of Blois, our days and nights include biking to a picnic at Chambord, visiting other châteaux, including Azay-le-Rideau and Chenonceaux, learning about wine production, and dining and dancing in Tours.

Paris, the "City of Light," has been saved for the last. Our students’ newfound familiarity with France and its language enables them to appreciate more of what the city and its region have to offer—the Musée d’Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, the treasures of the Louvre, les grandes surfaces; a cruise down the Seine, perhaps a climb into the sewers. And the food—interesting left bank spots to more formal purveyors of French cuisine.