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French Language & Provencal Cooking Course - Holiday in France

months available

May, August, October

Facilities & Awards

Description

French Language Course with Provençal Cooking (20 language lessons per week + 15 cooking lessons in 2 weeks) - Aix-en-Provence, France.

It's not all about sitting in a classroom...picking up a language is as much about getting out there and doing it as it is about learning verb tables. Our Language & Activity courses are the perfect opportunity to combine language classes with a whole range of exciting activities, from salsa, cooking and wine tasting to surfing, diving, tennis, golf, and much more. Your group language classes will take place in the morning, leaving the afternoons free to indulge in a brand new activity or perhaps an old favourite. So whether you're a beginner or a pro, you can share your passion with others from across the globe and come back having learnt a lot more than just the language.

This course combines the General Course with activities. In the afternoon, the activities are focused on French cooking, wines, cheeses and other specialities of the Provencal cuisine. All the activities are assumed by our teachers and combine linguistic and culinary aspects. The programme includes: a guided tour of the town on the first Monday afternoon, a presentation of the typical products from Provence (how to use them, their history and traditions). This includes France and its cheeses, pastries and wines. All the themes are treated theoretically and practically, including wine tasting, a visit to a vineyard and an olive oil mill, as well as cooking classes. This course is for all levels except beginners.

Summary Info
Lesson Length - 45
Testing Methods - On first day. Oral and written (our own test)
Age Range - 18 to 100
Average Class Size - 8
Maximum Class Size - 10
Nearest Airport - Marseille-Marignane (24 km)
Extra Facilities  - The University canteen is very near to the school and students can find reasonable priced meals there. Multi-media Ressource Centre, terrace. A warm and friendly atmosphere.

The School
Founded some 30 years ago, the school is located in a charming turn of the century building, just a few minutes' walk from the city centre. On one side it looks onto a magnificent tree-lined boulevard and on the other, onto lovely green gardens. The building consists of 15 classrooms, a multi media room, a lounge area and library, the latter looking out onto a sunny open-air terrace. And whether you're here for personal or business reasons, the professional yet friendly attitude of the school will ensure rapid results as well as a fun and social environment in which to learn the language.

Out and About
You don't even have to plan your route round Aix. The Circuit de Cézanne will have you tracing the artist's footsteps and visiting all the best-known places in Aix simply by following the signs. When it comes to music Aix seems to be in a realm of its own. July sees two big events, the Jazz Festival and the Festival Provençal d'Aix, an exquisite show of ballet and classical opera. Slightly more intriguing is the Tambourine Festival in April. But no matter when you come, make time to indulge in the spécialités provençales in the many open-air cafés and wonderful gourmet restaurants.

Important Information - Private apartments are also available, please contact us for prices and availability. Prices may vary from £150 to £550 per week depending on the season and size.

Best Time to Go - Aix is known to enjoy 300 sunny days a year. The city benefits from a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers, and not much rain. Summer usually lasts until October and autumns are very mild. Winters are mild and sunny The warmest months are June, July and August, with temperatures averaging 30°C. The coolest month is February with an average temperature of 10°C.

Accreditations - SOUFFLE, EQUALS, FLE (“French Foreign Language Quality”)

Activities - The school offers several activities at low prices, giving the students the opportunity to meet together in a friendly atmosphere such as wine tasting, wine and cheese evening, slides projection. Students can also enjoy a library, a large selection of videos, a multimedia room with 3 computers connected to the Internet. Outside the school, the school organises many different activities at low prices with enrolment and payment at the reception at the school such as Cuisine provençale, Pétanque, Barbecue, Painting lessons, places for the Festival of Aix-en-Provence.

Once every 2 weeks or every week in summer, there are organized excursions. These are just some examples : the Luberon villages, Avignon and the pont du Gard, Arles, The Verdon canyon, la Camargue and les Baux de Provence, Cassis and the calanques, Marseille, the Riviera, Nice and Cannes. For sports, the school staff will inform you about all the possibilities to practice open-air sports such as Walking, Sailing, Scubadiving, Golf, Tennis, Horseriding, etc.

Airport Transfer Options - Marseille-Marignane (24 km) - £49.00
Transfers are from Marseilles airport. Alternatively you can take public transport from Marseille Airport to Provence: shuttle bus approx 8 euros or from Nice Airport to Provence, the bus is approx 24 euros. Transfers are from Marseilles airport. Alternatively you can take public transport from Marseille Airport to Provence :Shuttle bus approx 8 euros or from Nice Airport to Provence, the bus is approx 24 euros.

Price
Length (Weeks): 2
Course Only -    £929            
Course with Host Family (Single, No Meals) - £1,269                    
Course with Host Family (Single, Breakfast + Dinner) - £1,419                    
Course with Host Family (Single, Breakfast) - £1,289                    
Course with Student Residence ("Résidence Mirabeau") (Single, No Meals) - £1,679

About Cactus
Cactus is an award-winning company and one of the world's leading providers of language travel abroad and tailor-made language training. Established in 1998 in Brighton's North Laine (See Map), we are proud to offer language courses in over 25 languages, and in some 45 countries and 150 destinations, worldwide.  At Cactus we are passionate about languages and lifelong learning and, as well as speaking some 12 languages between us, have personally visited all the locations we send our clients - often taking the language courses ourselves! This means we are consistently able to offer you, our clients, the highest levels of customer service, good value and enjoyment. And, unlike our competitors, there are no hidden costs as all registration fees and course materials are included in our prices.

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