Cultural events

The Les ateliers FL programs of activities is a unique opportunity to learn French in a different manner: to practice the French language in a stimulating, playful and passionate context, immersed in the traditional and everyday life of the French people while being in contact with passionate and talkative natives.

Every student registered in our schools will have the opportunity to choose among many cultural recreational and fun activities taking place several times a week in our schools. You can come and celebrate for free French national and local events with the other students and your school’s staff – events such as la Fête de la Musique (music day), Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s day, the Cannes film festival, le 14 juillet (National Day) and many others. 

Depending on the school you are staying at, you will also have the opportunity to follow free tours of the city where you will discover the history, the architecture, the cultural and night life and many secrets of the cities where our schools are located.  

You will also be able to discover the French culture through its cinema, famous worldwide, with a free film club. Regularly, a French film is screened for free in our schools. This screening is followed with a debate with a passionate animator who will help you understand, discover, or simply share your opinion and impressions on the movie.

movie club

The French Lumière brothers invented the cinema in Paris in 1895. That’s why France since then remained very attached to this new art. Naturally, the French cinema managed to become one of the most important in the world.

We endeavour to present and share the passion for French cinema in the entirety of its styles (author movies, new wave, comedy, …) and eras. Hosted by a passionate professor, Our movie club gives you the opportunity to discover every week, for free, a different French movie, sometimes very famous, sometimes less, always with subtitles in French for an easier comprehension. Every projection is followed by a debate where you will be able to ask questions, exchange, discuss, or simply share your opinion and your experience on the movie that was projected.  

Watching movies in French is an excellent way to work differently on your French. The French subtitles are particularly useful, listening to oral French while reading the transcription is one of the best comprehension exercises to make you practice and improve your French. 

So come train/ work on your understanding and listening skills by discovering a major and symbolic part of our culture. Who doesn’t know Amélie Poulain, the Untouchables, Marion Cotillard in la Vie en Rose? These few movies had the chance to reach international stardom, but there are so many more that you may not know and that could make you fall in love. It is in its cinema that the French culture expresses itself the best, in all its diversity, its complexity and its beauty.  So, come join us at the our movie club! Plus, it’s free! 

Neighbourhoods tours

The Latin Quarter, Montmartre, Le Marais, Montparnasse, Saint-Germain des Prés… You may already know these neighbourhoods, symbols of Paris and France, you may even have already been there. Paris is the most touristic city in the world and yet, only few people really know its secret history, its small streets, its parks and alleys, its terraces… Les ateliers FL invite you to explore Paris secrets, to meet the real Paris.

But our schools can also be found in Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Biarritz and even in Martinique, a paradisiacal French Island in the Caribbean. Each school offers a full range of activities of discovery and a different way of learning. Among these activities are the tours of the city and the neighbourhoods. 

Each week, we organise these tours of neighbourhoods, sometimes famous and touristic, sometimes authentic and typical and sometimes original and peculiar. You will be able to discover the multiple identities of the French cities, their history, great or small, known or secret, unusual and strange, the great monuments, the architecture, the culture but also everything that is part of our daily life, restaurants, bars, markets, shops etc… Planned and guided by passionate locals, these tours will allow you to see the city like you have never seen it before, from within, immersed in all the elements that makes it a place of life and history.  

These tours can also be the opportunity for you to work on your spoken comprehension in specific contexts that mix history, culture and real daily life in France. You will discover and practice the vocabulary of all these themes, of great historical figures and events, historical monuments and museums, architecture and sculpture, cafés, restaurants, pubs etc. These tours will present you an overview of the city and the neighbourhoods as if you have always lived there. 

For a few hours, you will follow our guide through the streets and monuments of the neighbourhoods. You will be able to ask questions and fulfill your curiosity about French cities and the life of its inhabitants, you will discover the secrets that made the French art of living a model and a dream for people all around the globe. Do not miss this experience, free and yet priceless! 

Tastings of local products

What would France be without its gastronomy? And what would our school be without its tasting of local products events? Our school honours this essential element of the French identity by offering you different activities of tastings of local French products in our different schools. Come and discover what makes the worldwide reputation of the French gastronomy: the diversity of its products. French cuisine relies entirely on the quality of its products and the centennial traditions involved in the process.  

In France, each region, almost each valley, has its own culinary traditions and products. The Provence and the French Rivieira with olives, ratatouille, Niçoise salad or lavender (yes! It can also be eaten!), South West with foie gras, duck breasts, cassoulet or Espelette pepper, Lyon with its gastronomical traditions that are known in the entire world such as saucisson, quenelles or praline pie, Bordeaux, where products from the land and products from the sea are combined to create a complex cuisine accompanied of course by famous wines, Normandy with its famous cheeses like the Camembert and its apples, Brittany and the galette bretonne, or savoury crêpes, its sausage, its famous apple cider and its mead (Honey liquor, real nectar of the Breton fairies!) Aveyron with its delicious beef, its charcuterie, and its many cheeses (Tomme, Roquefort or Laguiole) etc… All these dishes and products are of course just examples among the infinity that forms what we call the French gastronomy, as varied and complex as its cheeses, more than a thousand different types of cheeses! 

It is then to invite you to discover the worldwide famous culture of cuisine that we organize tastings of our regional products.  

During these events, people that are passionate about gastronomy will present you the products of our regions, their history, their preparation and fabrication, their role and their use in French cuisine, of course without forgetting the presentation of the region itself. You will then be able to sample the different products selected with care by our team and share your impressions with the other students present. For some events you will have the chance to meet and learn from a real professional who will take you through her or his job and passion and will make you discover a bit more about French culture and gastronomy.  

This activity will also be the opportunity to practice your French in a very authentic context applied to one the most fundamental elements of the French identity, Cuisine, food, terroir (local artisanal products) and sharing! Forget your sandwich and come share our products with us, sometimes delicious, sometimes weird and unexpected, but always authentic, you will not be disappointed! 

Excursions outside of the cities

From Paris, discover Normandy, the home of the impressionist painter Monet, the landing beaches (D-DAY), the extraordinary Mont-Saint-Michel or the impressive cliffs of Etretat. You can also take a step back in time by visiting the most beautiful castles of France like Chambord and Chenonceau. Also visit the French vineyards of the Reims region and enjoy the best champagnes. Finally, discover Europe Belgium, Brussels and even Amsterdam are a few hours from Paris!

From Nice, take a stroll a in the heart of Provence, in the lavender fields or in the Gorges du Verdon. The Côte d’Azur and the hinterland of Nice will have no secrets for you! Go meet whales and dolphins swimming along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and leave France to join Monaco or Italy to live the Dolce Vita for a day or evening.

From Bordeaux, discover a rich and famous wine region. Visit the estates which give a unique wine: Saint Emilion, Côte de Bourg & Blaye, Entre meux mers, Médoc, Graves and Sauternes. Climb to the top of the Pilat dune, the largest sand dune in Europe and admire the Arcachon basin, famous for its fauna, flora and oysters. You can also face the waves of the Atlantic Ocean on the fabulous beach of Lacanau.

From Biarritz, get away from the waves of the ocean and marvel at the Basque country, rich in typical villages and cultural and gastronomic traditions: Saint-Jean de Luz, Bayonne, Espelette. Attend a Basque pelota tournament, rafting down the Nive or climb to the top of the Rhune (by train or hiking, anything is possible). The Pyrenees and Spain are only a stone’s throw away.

From Lyon, visit the famous medieval town of Pérouges, stroll through the vineyards of Beaujolais, cruise up the Sâone or cruise down the Rhône and why not leave for a couple of days in the nearby Alps to see the Mont Blanc from Chamonix ?

In Martinique, live the blue Martinique life with the famous Saline beach, the diamond rock and the peninsula of Caravelle but also the green Martinique for the impressive flora and fauna offered by the Pelee mountain and the mangrove. Escape by boat and join Dominica, Saint Lucia or the Grenadines islands. Taste the thousand flavors and colors that make up Martinique gastronomy.

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Last page update : 10/01/2024

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