The Loire: The program begins with five days in Blois, an ancient village in the château country along the Loire River. Students visit the châteaux of Amboise, Cheverny, Chenonceaux, and Chambord, meet French students while kayaking on the river, and visit Leonardo da Vinci’s Clos Lucé. Each day, students participate in conversational French exercises specifically designed to help them communicate more easily with the many French people whose lives they share.

Brittany–Research Projects: From the Loire, the group travels by train to a rural fishing and farming village tucked into the coast of remote Brittany. There, they explore the town by bike and live on a small family-run farm that is also an inn, among the friendly Breton people. Each student joins in the life of the town by investigating some aspect of local life and reporting orally in French on what he or she discovers. Students can fish or dig clams with local fishermen, brew espresso at a cafe, discuss local politics with town officials, or help the baker at the boulangerie make baguettes and pastries.

Paris: Six days are set aside to enjoy Paris–the boulevards and shops, the Tuileries, the Left Bank, Notre Dame, Île de la Cité, and Montmartre. Visit theatres, flea markets, museums, Chartres Cathedral, and other churches. Relax in restaurants and sidewalk cafés.

Family Living: Then students become part of French life by spending a week with a French family in a lively and historic town. This is an opportunity to enjoy French life as it is really lived – from helping with household chores to exploring the town with French brothers and sisters. Both leaders remain in the same town as the students during the homestay, and each unit of the program visits a different town.

Provence and the Riviera: The group heads south to the university town of Aix-en-Provence where they attend performances of opera and music at the International Festival in Aix and in nearby Avignon, and visit the fortress of Les Baux, the Roman arena at Arles, and the ancient aqueduct, Pont du Gard. Continuing south to the Riviera they relax in the sun for five days in St. Raphael, overlooking Mediterranean beaches. There they swim, windsurf, sail, and walk on the beach with friends, as well as visit Cannes, the Leger Museum, the Maeght Foundation, and the Matisse Chapel in Vence.

The French Alps–Mountaineering and Glacier Hiking: The program ends in a small village near Chamonix in the French Alps. The group stays six days at a mountain chalet opposite Mont Blanc, the highest point in Western Europe and an area of magnificent natural beauty. Students ride by téléferique over glacial peaks, and hike (the primary focus of this week) through spectacular snow-covered passes. Professional alpine guides take those who wish on rock climbing and canyoning trips. Students can hike on glaciers in the beautiful summer sun, and enjoy ice skating, alpine sliding, swimming, tennis, and a professional hockey game.

Participation is limited to students currently studying French in school. 10th through 12th graders must have completed two or more years, 8th and 9th graders at least one year. Students are required to speak French while in France and must sign a pledge that they will do so. Unit B and Unit D go to Brittany, Paris, the Loire, a homestay in Provence, and the Alps, skipping the Riviera.