Bordeaux is a hugely popular destination among French as a foreign language students. We have devoted an entire article to the capital of wine and vineyards, but that doesn’t stop you venturing out of the city! Bordeaux is surrounded by fantastic places to visit within a 2-hour radius.

Let’s join Taylor, a literature student from Hungary, as he explores the Nouvelle Aquitaine region during his French as a foreign language course. Here’s his travel diary visiting Gironde and Dordogne, the dunes, vineyards, forests and fortresses!

Following in the footsteps of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Blaye citadel

We followed Eleanor of Aquitaine’s path to Blaye, where she lived for years. The citadel was designed by Vauban (well after Eleanor’s time!) and it’s a sight for sore eyes: the star-shaped layout is home to impressive defensive architecture by the river. We met craftsmen working inside the citadel who told us what the structure was for: to monitor traffic and keep an eye on enemies between the river and Atlantic Ocean. How exciting!

Dordogne and its 1001 châteaux

We left Blaye for Périgord, a leafy region full of forests, rivers and châteaux! Take your pick from medieval fortresses and Renaissance châteaux, this place has them all! We visited the village of Beynac on the banks of the Dordogne. We picked up Eleanor’s story here: after marrying the future King of England, some of the land fell into English hands. The Dordogne River marked the border between the two enemy kingdoms: Château de Beynac stood on the French bank opposite the English Castelnaud Fortress. This is what we experienced when we visited both amazing castles with views overlooking the valley.

Turn back the clock: prehistoric caves in Lascaux

From Dordogne to Gironde:
Saint Emilion and the fabulous vineyards

Set sail for Pilat Dune and Arcachon Bay

From leafy vineyards to sandy dunes!

Boat trip to Cap Ferret 

Cap Ferret is famous for its beautiful villas (owned by celebs!), traditional oyster huts and Île aux Oiseaux. “Bird Island” is highly protected and you can only get there by boat. You tend to sail in pinasses, small wooden and flat-bottomed boats typical of Arcachon Bay. You can’t miss Île aux Oiseaux for its cabanes tchanquées, cute and colourful oyster huts that look like storks standing in the water. They are surrounded by countless species of protected migratory birds.

We began with a trip in Cap Ferret around the bay. We visited oyster farming districts with original names (L’Herbe, Le Canon etc.) home to colourful oyster huts. It was time for a tasting! We couldn’t come here without trying the local speciality: oysters. With or without sea water? With or without lemon juice? With or without buttered toast? What oysters lack in looks, they make up for in flavour! 

Vacances Actives Linguistiques visited Alsace this summer and brings you its favourite things to see and do during a language stay in Alsace for our French students. Here’s a trip through both the region (north to south) and time as you travel back to the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Industrial Revolution. Autumn and its golden colours make Alsace one of our favourite destinations: half-timbered houses, fortresses standing on mountain roads and hillside vineyards, staggering views of the Ballons des Vosges and rib-sticking comfort food! 

1 : Craftsmanship and culture, Musée Lalique, Hochberg

2 : Strasbourg and flammekueche foodie workshop.

Strasbourg is a must-visit on this language stay in Alsace. The city and European district are worth spending a full week exploring (please see our first travel guide in Strasbourg).

After a walk around Petite France and a trip up the cathedral to say hello to the gargoyles, the students got stuck into a cookery workshop devoted to a local delicacy: flammekueche!

The wood-fired recipe has simple yet specific ingredients: smoked lardons, onion and cream. Once our aprons and worktops were completely covered in flour, the workshop turned into a tasting session to find out who had made the best flammekueche!

3 : Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, Alsace’s iconic medieval fortress

4. Humanist Library in Sélestat

Say goodbye to the Middle Ages and hello to the Renaissance as we follow in the footsteps of the humanist Beatus Rhenanus. He left his fantastic book collection to the Alsatian town of Sélestat where he was born and it is now listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. 

As you flick through the books, manuscripts, leaflets and numbered schoolbooks, you experience the lives of great humanists and travellers like Beatus Rhenanus and his famous friend Erasmus. Discovering uncharted territory, meeting new cultures, making progress in science and technology, considering man’s place in the universe and more, a trip to the Humanist Library certainly got our French students and budding travellers thinking. 

5 : The Eagle Park at Château de Kintzheim

6 : Charming little Alsatian towns: introducing Colmar, Eguisheim and Ribeauvillé

We simply had to spend a day visiting Alsace’s beautiful villages with their signature personality and romance. These towns are popular during the holiday season with their magical Christmas markets, but they’re just as lovely on a trip to explore and sample local produce! Feast on cured meat, bretzels and classic choucroute galore on the Wine Route! 

Ribeauvillé is a fine example of Alsatian village architecture with bright and colourful half-timbered houses. Our students’ favourites were Auberge de l’Éléphant and Maison des Ménétriers (meaning the House of Musicians) at the top of the Grand-Rue with its beautiful frontage dating back to 1683. We kept our energy topped up with a trip to a family-run Alsatian chocolate shop!

We did a little scavenger hunt in Eguisheim: our young visitors explored the village with spiral lanes and met locals and tourists to answer as many questions as they could in the shortest time. Mission accomplished! Half-timbered houses, high-pitched roofs, sculpted lintels and secret fountains… there were hidden clues everywhere! This colourful village is a favourite among French people (just ask TV presenter Stéphane Bern!) with its pretty labyrinth ideal for having fun and enjoying views of the Alsatian hills. 

Last stop: Colmar, the most magical and peaceful of the trio. The so-called Little Venice is home to half-timbered houses lining the canals and cobbled lanes. Since the Christmas market and its many craftsmen and traders weren’t here, we focused on the Ecomusée d’Alsace: a traditional Alsatian village brought to life to showcase bygone buildings, trades and costumes. We met the blacksmith, cooper, wheelwright and schoolteacher who held a class about Alsace’s history in the classroom! Listen up!

7. La Cité du Train, SNCF heritage in Mulhouse

For this language stay diary, we’re going off the beaten track on a trip to the Baie de Somme. Our French teacher, Amelia, and her group of students from Malta were won over by the beautiful Baie and bring you their highlights. All the students reconnected with nature on this revitalising trip from Paris to the region between Picardy and Normandy.

Top 5 of the Baie de Somme 

Our language stay went in a whole new direction when my group of students, guide and I left the bright lights, museums and monuments of Paris for the Baie de Somme. Within just two hours we had a total change of scene and maybe even a trip back in time! White chalk cliffs, dunes and wetlands, Belle Epoque beach huts, sheep and kites, chic seafront villas…. My students soaked it all up and almost forgot about their smartphones! Here are our favourite experiences in a 5-stage travel diary. 

1. Le Crotoy and land sailing

2. Saint-Valery-sur-Somme: full of sheep and medieval charm

Saint Valéry is one of 3 ports in the Baie de Somme and its village is perched on a rocky headland. We visited the idyllic and romantic medieval town home to ramparts and two defensive towers. We really enjoyed exploring the fishing quarter, Courtgain, and its maze of narrow lanes lined with flowers, half-timbered houses and red and white checkerboard walls. 

After a pot of mussels and chips, we headed for the Herbarium des Remparts: a botanical garden dating back to the Middle Ages and home to countless rare plant species. 

From the top of Saint Valéry, students feasted their eyes on the fabulous scenery with a patchwork of sandy beaches and meadows: mollières (they have very specific terms to describe the landscape, flora and fauna here… it’s not easy!) where salt marsh sheep graze peacefully. The salty plants make the lamb taste like nothing you’ve tried before. 

Last but not least, we visited the flint and chalk so-called sailor’s chapel: the architecture is unique to say the least! There’s no cockerel or cross at the top of the spire; there’s a seagull! 

3. Cayeux sur Mer and Hourdel Lighthouse

4. Mers-les-Bains, a chic rock pooling village

Our trip back in time to the Belle Epoque continued in Mers les Bains, tucked into the white chalk cliff. The village is home to beautiful villas! Colourful houses with bow windows and beautifully decorated fronts form a picture-perfect setting. We spent the morning rock pooling with the guide and several keen amateurs during low tide. We actually gave them our catch at the end of the grey and windy morning… the sun can’t always shine at the Picardy seaside!

5. Parc du Marquenterre: nature break

Thian, a French teacher from Argentina, shares highlights from his Marseille language stay with his Buenos Aires students and Vacances Actives Linguistiques agency. This travel journal is packed with flavour and sing-song accents that made the group very happy as they took a deep dive into French culture and language… Provençal style.

My Marseille travel diary

Marseille is a buzzing and bustling city whose locals are famous for speaking their mind! It’s the perfect destination for my group of French language students: it’s easy to get chatting with people, there are lots of places to interact with locals and the city’s residents talk a lot! The local accent may not make oral comprehension any easier but it certainly spices things up!

We had a fantastic schedule packed with Provençal history, architecture, stunning scenery, thrilling tales and delicious dishes. 

Two Marseille landmarks to visit with 800 years between them 

Stunning scenery from a dreamworld

Château d’If, from a distance

We never get bored of the sea! The third day of our language stay in Marseille saw us set sail to the Frioul archipelago. The schedule included a stop at Château d’If standing on a rock. Unfortunately, the Mediterranean Sea’s swell didn’t let us dock so we listened to the story that made this place a legend: the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. 

The royal fortress was built by King François I in the 16th century and was a state prison for over 300 years. This magical yet imposing historical landmark really inspired my French students. A few months before, we studied the legend of Monte Cristo in class, read part of the novel and did a creative writing contest based on the character. What if Edmond Dantès had an accomplice in Château d’If? 

That day in Marseille, the sea sealed our fate: we didn’t get to visit Château d’If and we reached the Frioul archipelago half-drowned by the splashing waves!

Exploring Cosquer Cave: the highlight of our Marseille language stay!

Our French students fell in love with Cosquer Cave, an underwater prehistoric cave (the original is protected so you can only visit the replica). It’s an otherworldly place. The story of when the cave was discovered is as unique and magical as the site itself. A passionate diver called Henri Cosquer was exploring the Marseille shores when he stumbled upon the underwater cave in 1985 and its cave art a few years later! Mankind visited the cave 33,000 years ago… The replica of the cave and its art is open to small groups at a “submarine base” 3 floors under the sea. The students loved the incredibly realistic dive into prehistory. 

Marseille, cinema city

Our students had already visited Marseille before coming here! Some of them had watched Stillwater, an American film from 2021 starring Matt Damon and Camille Cottin, shot entirely in Marseille’s streets and calanques.

Le Panier is a popular film location and we explored the neighbourhood’s sun-drenched and colourful lanes lined with artisans and bustling eateries. The guide told us that the district is where a famous soap opera is filmed and broadcast around the world in several languages: Plus Belle la Vie. Next, we visited the Belle de Mai Media Centre to tour the series’ film studios where everyday scenes are recreated from the famous Le Panier area. 

Experiencing Marseille food and drink at the Vieux Port!

A Marseille urban legend… 

Did you know that a long time ago, a giant sardine blocked the Vieux Port in Marseille so ships couldn’t sail into the port. No matter what they did, the sailors couldn’t move it! The giant sardine refused to budge. 

A little boy came up with the solution: he used a small mullet as bait to attract the giant sardine away from the port. He did it! The diversion tactic worked and the port was open again. This quirky little story says it all about Marseille’s storytelling legacy and the unbreakable bond between the city and the sea.

In the series “learn French in”, Vacances Actives Linguistiques takes you to the capital of French gastronomy, Capital des Gaules, City of Lights, and City of Gones … so many names and renames to describe Lyons!

A few minutes of reading will inspire you on a gourmet, folkloric journey rich in experiences, with a taste of French slang!

Here is a tasty linguistic and cultural stay menu to visit France with our FLE guides keen on history and gastronomy! Discover our essentials, our flagship activities and our unmissable events in Lyons: the best destination in France for a gastronomic stay according to “The Times (2015)”. 

Any traveller disembarking in Lyon must be well shod: wandering through the districts, traboules and old alleys of Lyons is exciting, energetic and endless! Each visitor will find his favourite era and district. You can walk around the city and soak up the cultural dynamism and historical richness of Lyons, and use the funicular at the Antiquaille to save yourself a little effort!

Our French guide, a true expert of the must-see “Vieux-Lyon”, a medieval and Renaissance district, will take students and learners through the traboules, these semi-hidden passages connecting the streets together and reveal surprising interior courtyards, Italian-style galleries, wells and spiral staircase towers…

From Fourvière to the Fontaine des Jacobins, from the Croix Rousse to the promenade of the Saône quays, Lyons offers a perfect setting for travellers who wish to follow a photographic circuit! The city is particularly photogenic!

Lyon has built its fortune on the silk trade, developed at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône rivers. At the Canuts’ House and the Silk Factory, we rediscover ancestral looms and centuries-old silk printing techniques. Students and learners will be able to attend particularly unusual demonstrations in French, weaving workshops on Jacquard, or observe the various printing and hand painting methods, unique in France! 

Learning and discovering the city of Lyons continues in the Croix Rousse district, steeped in working-class life, the silkworm culture and the textile industry in the 19th century: a story full of twists and turns to share with our historian guide.

4,300 restaurants, 20 starred restaurants, 20 traditional “bouchons”: enough to get lost as there is such an abundant choice (and quality) of good gastronomic addresses in Lyon, the birthplace of the world-renowned starred chef, Paul Bocuse.

By travelling with Vacances Actives Linguistiques for a linguistic and culinary stay in Lyons, you can count on our expert and gourmet guides to direct you to the best addresses, the real “bouchons” that do not deceive their customers. And why not introduce yourself to the culinary art made in Lyons!

Let’s stop at the halls of the Paul Bocuse market, which brings together some fifty high-end food shops. It is the meeting place for gourmets, and chefs who come to stock up on supplies. 

The more adventurous foreign travellers can be introduced to the workers’ snack early in the morning: the “mâchon”, made from cold meats and tripes, and a drop of Beaujolais! 

Or more soberly, prepare an authentic picnic with the many cold meats from Lyons or a local Saint Marcellin (a cheese).

The “bouchon” is anchored in popular imagery and has given all its character to the tables of French brasseries: a counter, red and white checked tablecloths, wooden furniture, adjoining tables, a decor of copper cookware and old posters… 

At noon, travellers will take advantage of this convivial moment to discuss their morning French lessons or visits, and to taste Lyon specialties in a good mood. Tablier de sapeur, Poulet Célestine, Quenelles de brochet, Cervelle de Canuts etc… so many specialties with incongruous names that call for curiosity, gluttony and storytelling at the table! You could finish off with a small slice of praline tart… 

2020 did not totally turn off the city of Lyons on December 8. If the Festival of Lights has been cancelled, the inhabitants have maintained the tradition of placing or hanging tealights (short, fluted candles inserted into glasses) at their windows. This historic festival brings together millions of French and foreign visitors each year, one of the four largest festive gatherings in the world.

The entire ancient city dazzles the eyes during four days: heritage sites, river banks and hills, streets and neighbourhoods are illuminated and sound and light shows are given every evening for an impressive technical and artistic festival. 

December 8, a date to remember for all our groups of French learners curious to visit Lyons in a magical atmosphere !

Perhaps the reputation of Guignol has won over European countries and even across the Atlantic … A visit to the Guignol Museum will introduce our students in French to this fantastic character, emblem of the city of Lyons. This hand puppet created around 1808 by Laurent Mourguet is a silk worker, talkative and exuberant. He speaks the Lyons dialect and uses earthy expressions to evoke funny scenes of life, during performances in small theaters, sometimes mobile and improvised throughout France. So beware of Guignol’s little chastened vocabulary, it is not necessarily an example to follow for our learners of the language of Molière…