This four-week trip offers French language students the opportunity to immerse themselves in French culture through travel and a three-week homestay. The trip will begin with an 18-day host-family stay in Arles, a small provincial city, where students will hone their language skills while exploring the history and culture of Southern France. We will then move to France’s second largest city, Marseille, where we will explore the infamous Chateau d’If and the Cote d’Azur for three days before finishing in the city of lights for the remainder of the trip. A central question in each location will be an interrogation of where these various cities are looking: one to France’s Roman history, one to France’s ties to North Africa, and another to the future and the Americas.
In Arles, students will hone their language skills through daily classes with Arles à la carte, our partner in Arles, and through afternoon cultural activities and site visits in the town that Vincent Van Gogh called home. Students will also travel on daytrips and afternoon excursions, such as a visit to the magnificent Palais des Papes in Avignon, learn about Muslim traditions, explore the Camargue region (and maybe catch a French cowboy), visit an ancient roman arena, and much more. They will also have an entire weekend with their homestay family, where travel away from Arles may be possible (with advance permission from the faculty leaders). Students will return to Deerfield with increased command of the French language and a deepened understanding of culture, grounded in connections made to a family in France and to central questions that have focused their attention.
May 29 – June 26, 2023
This trip is open to current 9th, 10th and 11th grade students who are currently enrolled in French II or above and who plan to continue to study French at Deerfield after our return. All interested students are encouraged to apply by November 6. Financial Aid is available to all qualifying students.
Deerfield Academy’s Center for Service and Global Citizenship strives to make all of our travel programs affordable and accessible for all students while ensuring a high quality global education experience. While the costs of travel around the world have been rising steadily over the past several years, all of our trips are subsidized, and thanks to the generosity of many we are able to provide robust financial aid for qualifying students.
*This itinerary is subject to change
May 29-30: Travel from NE/NY based airport to Marseille
May 31: Transfer from Marseille to Arles
***This portion of the trip will be unplugged***
June 1 – June 18: Arles Homestay
June 18 – 20: Marseille
June 21 – 26: Paris
June 26: Travel from Paris to NE/NY based airport **
** Families are responsible for transportation from a U.S. based airport to the student’s destination for the remainder of the summer.
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