Program Directed by
Julian Hartmann-Russell
If you have questions or would like to talk further about this program, please get in touch!
Leadership
Travel programs with the Smithsonian Institution for grades 8–12
Challenge yourself academically at the world's most prestigious universities
Non-profit organization offering student travel scholarships
High school youth summit focused on public health, climate change, and equity
Campus-based climate change program for grades 9–12
Immerse yourself in French language and culture as you explore villages and cities in six regions of France. During your travels, bike to village markets and interview local fishermen, make truffles with an artisan chocolatier, savor the culture and cuisine of Paris, surf in the Mediterranean, hike to glaciers in the Alps, and spend a week living with a French host family.
This itinerary represents our best projection of the group’s schedule. However, we may implement changes designed to improve the quality of the program.
Meet your fellow high school student travelers and one or more of your leaders in New York, and fly together to Paris, France. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
After landing in Paris, board a train to spend five days in a traditional Breton fishing village on the remote coast of Brittany. Stay in a small family-run inn on an educational farm, and explore the area by bike. Warm up your speaking skills by working alongside local shop owners, market vendors, and artisans.
Return to Paris by train and spend four days savoring the pleasures of Parisian life and taking in the world-class glamor. Discover your favorite boulangerie, visit the world’s most renowned art collections, taste escargots at grand Art Deco brasseries once frequented by Picasso and Sartre, and cruise down the Seine River to see the city illuminated at night. Explore the neighborhoods of the Left Bank, Île de la Cité, and Montmartre, and visit our favorite local spots as well as renowned sites such as Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and the Musée d’Orsay.
Immerse yourself fully in French language and culture by spending a week living with a local family. Both leaders remain in the same town as students throughout the homestay, and the group gets together for excursions during the week.
Head south to Aix-en-Provence to explore this university town and take day trips throughout the region. See where van Gogh painted, visit Cézanne’s studio, and swim beneath the Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct.
Continue south to the Mediterranean coast and relax on the sunny beaches of the Riviera in the town of Saint-Raphaël. Spend your days on the glittering sea learning to sail, surf, and tube in the warm waters. Sample seafood and peruse the waterfront night markets.
Journey to Chamonix, a mountain town renowned for its boundless opportunities for outdoor adventure. Hike through wildflower fields with panoramic views of snowcapped peaks, try canyoning through glacial streams with professional guides, or raft in the valley with the spectacular backdrop of the Alps.
Return to Paris by train, and enjoy a final celebratory dinner with your group.
Fly with your group and a leader from Paris to New York, then continue on to your final destination. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
This itinerary represents our best projection of the group’s schedule. However, we may implement changes designed to improve the quality of the program.
Meet your fellow high school student travelers and one or more of your leaders in New York, and fly together to Paris, France. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
After landing in Paris, board a train to spend five days in a traditional Breton fishing village on the remote coast of Brittany. Stay in a small family-run inn on an educational farm, and explore the area by bike. Warm up your speaking skills by working alongside local shop owners, market vendors, and artisans.
Return to Paris by train and spend four days savoring the pleasures of Parisian life and taking in the world-class glamor. Discover your favorite boulangerie, visit the world’s most renowned art collections, taste escargots at grand Art Deco brasseries once frequented by Picasso and Sartre, and cruise down the Seine River to see the city illuminated at night. Explore the neighborhoods of the Left Bank, Île de la Cité, and Montmartre, and visit our favorite local spots as well as renowned sites such as Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and the Musée d’Orsay.
Immerse yourself fully in French language and culture by spending a week living with a local family. Both leaders remain in the same town as students throughout the homestay, and the group gets together for excursions during the week.
Head south to Aix-en-Provence to explore this university town and take day trips throughout the region. See where van Gogh painted, visit Cézanne’s studio, and swim beneath the Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct.
Continue south to the Mediterranean coast and relax on the sunny beaches of the Riviera in the town of Saint-Raphaël. Spend your days on the glittering sea learning to sail, surf, and tube in the warm waters. Sample seafood and peruse the waterfront night markets.
Journey to Chamonix, a mountain town renowned for its boundless opportunities for outdoor adventure. Hike through wildflower fields with panoramic views of snowcapped peaks, try canyoning through glacial streams with professional guides, or raft in the valley with the spectacular backdrop of the Alps.
Return to Paris by train, and enjoy a final celebratory dinner with your group.
Fly with your group and a leader from Paris to New York, then continue on to your final destination. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
Meet some of our featured leaders. Please note that these may not be your leaders for the program.
Meet some of our featured leaders. Please note that these may not be your leaders for the program.
France is a spectacularly diverse country, with landscapes that range from rugged Atlantic coasts to rolling hills, snowcapped Alpine peaks, and dazzling Mediterranean coves. French culture is equally varied, entrenched in local traditions, and has enchanted travelers for ages. We experience the full spectrum of contemporary life in France: the pulse of Paris’ most fashionable boulevards and the quiet majesty of pastoral castles, the rooted traditions of rural villages and the joy of Provençale markets, the vibrant palette of Mediterranean seascapes, and the humbling austerity of the Alps.
French is the official language of France, although there are over 40 regional dialects, including Norman, Provençal, Béarnais, Gascon, Limousin, Langue d’Oc, and Basque. Some regions we visit also have a local dialect.
Summers in France are generally warm and dry, and most of our days will range from 70–90°F. Occasional rains in coastal Brittany can bring 50°F maritime breezes, and periodic mountain storms in the Alps can cool temperatures to 45°F.
French cuisine is lauded as the finest in the world. In 2010, UNESCO added French gastronomy to its list of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. Each region of France has its own specialties—northern French cuisine is influenced by dairy farming and coastal Atlantic fishing, and southern French cuisine showcases Mediterranean and Italian influences.
France is a spectacularly diverse country, with landscapes that range from rugged Atlantic coasts to rolling hills, snowcapped Alpine peaks, and dazzling Mediterranean coves. French culture is equally varied, entrenched in local traditions, and has enchanted travelers for ages. We experience the full spectrum of contemporary life in France: the pulse of Paris’ most fashionable boulevards and the quiet majesty of pastoral castles, the rooted traditions of rural villages and the joy of Provençale markets, the vibrant palette of Mediterranean seascapes, and the humbling austerity of the Alps.
French is the official language of France, although there are over 40 regional dialects, including Norman, Provençal, Béarnais, Gascon, Limousin, Langue d’Oc, and Basque. Some regions we visit also have a local dialect.
Summers in France are generally warm and dry, and most of our days will range from 70–90°F. Occasional rains in coastal Brittany can bring 50°F maritime breezes, and periodic mountain storms in the Alps can cool temperatures to 45°F.
French cuisine is lauded as the finest in the world. In 2010, UNESCO added French gastronomy to its list of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. Each region of France has its own specialties—northern French cuisine is influenced by dairy farming and coastal Atlantic fishing, and southern French cuisine showcases Mediterranean and Italian influences.
Review specific program expectations here. For more general information:
The goals of this language immersion program abroad are to improve your fluency in French by building vocabulary and confidence in speaking, and to explore France’s culture through outdoor activities and interactions with locals. Each day, leaders hold dynamic conversational language lessons designed to help students let go of their inhibitions and communicate more easily. Language lessons are fun, interactive, and incorporate hands-on elements such as scavenger hunts, games, and informal interviews.
Two years of language study are required for this program. Each student signs a language pledge to speak only French during the program, not only with the many local people you meet, but also with your leaders and within your group. To learn more about our Language programs click here.
Pursue an independent project and explore an aspect of local culture of particular interest to you—set up an easel at Cézanne’s favorite lookout and paint a landscape in his style, create a recipe book with traditional recipes from your homestay family, or interview mountaineers preparing to climb Mont Blanc.
This is a physically active summer program. You can expect to participate in hiking, biking, surfing, canyoning, and walking during this program. You do not need to be at peak fitness to participate, but it is important that you have a desire to be physically active, and that you are excited about trying all activities.
Accommodations in France are varied, ranging from old world-style hotels to mountain chalets, many of which are run by welcoming families Putney has known for years. During the homestay, students will be matched with a trusted local family. Accommodations are simple and comfortable. Rooms are a mix of doubles, triples, and quads. Students have access to common and outside space at our accommodations for community meetings, working on projects, and socializing. Leaders reside together with the students throughout the program.
We begin each day with a traditional French breakfast at our residence. For lunches and dinners, we complement meals at restaurants and bistros with delicious picnics and plenty of stops at cafés and boulangeries.
This program visits a high-altitude destination. On hikes in Chamonix, we climb up above 9,000 feet/2,743 meters.
Review specific program expectations here. For more general information:
The goals of this language immersion program abroad are to improve your fluency in French by building vocabulary and confidence in speaking, and to explore France’s culture through outdoor activities and interactions with locals. Each day, leaders hold dynamic conversational language lessons designed to help students let go of their inhibitions and communicate more easily. Language lessons are fun, interactive, and incorporate hands-on elements such as scavenger hunts, games, and informal interviews.
Two years of language study are required for this program. Each student signs a language pledge to speak only French during the program, not only with the many local people you meet, but also with your leaders and within your group. To learn more about our Language programs click here.
Pursue an independent project and explore an aspect of local culture of particular interest to you—set up an easel at Cézanne’s favorite lookout and paint a landscape in his style, create a recipe book with traditional recipes from your homestay family, or interview mountaineers preparing to climb Mont Blanc.
This is a physically active summer program. You can expect to participate in hiking, biking, surfing, canyoning, and walking during this program. You do not need to be at peak fitness to participate, but it is important that you have a desire to be physically active, and that you are excited about trying all activities.
Accommodations in France are varied, ranging from old world-style hotels to mountain chalets, many of which are run by welcoming families Putney has known for years. During the homestay, students will be matched with a trusted local family. Accommodations are simple and comfortable. Rooms are a mix of doubles, triples, and quads. Students have access to common and outside space at our accommodations for community meetings, working on projects, and socializing. Leaders reside together with the students throughout the program.
We begin each day with a traditional French breakfast at our residence. For lunches and dinners, we complement meals at restaurants and bistros with delicious picnics and plenty of stops at cafés and boulangeries.
This program visits a high-altitude destination. On hikes in Chamonix, we climb up above 9,000 feet/2,743 meters.
If you have questions or would like to talk further about this program, please get in touch!
If you have questions or would like to talk further about this program, please get in touch!
Providing immersive summer travel programs for middle & high school students since 1951.