Paris autrement - Food lovers' tour of Paris

Join us for our upcoming trip to Paris in November. Enjoy a long weekend of discovery, sampling the myriad of gastronomic delights in some of the city's finest locales. 

"The Way to France has a very can-do and confidence boosting attitude to language, and I found my schoolgirl French returning, and that I was really enjoying the fact. I also really liked the way that the weekend was not a package – you decide on transport and the dates (I added an extra day) and the sort of hotel and price bracket you want. They will help you sort out a hotel, but all you actually pay TWTF for is the guided programme and the incidental French tuition. Everything else, you sort out to your inclination and budget." Kate P. from Cambridge

Save money by booking early. The tour itself is fantastic value at only £125 per person for the whole weekend and includes language tuition related to gastronomy as well as a full schedule of activities organised and chaperoned by our team (details below). As always we will give you all plenty of opportunity to explore on your own and don't forget you decide where you stay, for how long and how you prefer to get there. Early birds will get the best prices, so book your place now and start to dream of your trip to Paris in the autumn!

OUTLINE

Friday 19/11/10

• 18.00: meet and greet at our favourite bistro, our “head quarters” near Odéon. You will share a meal with the other participants and our team. We will also take a look at the programme of activities for the week-end, so you can best plan your stay.
• 21.00 onwards: “digestive” stroll to the River Seine through Saint-Germain des Prés

Saturday 20/11/10

• 09.00 -10.00: coffee morning at Odéon and preparation for the day’s outings
• 10.00 – 13.00: Visits
• Lunch: en route… place tbc
• 14.00 – 17.00: Visits
• 17.00 – 19.00: your own time
• 19.30: Special group dinner

Sunday 21/11/10

• 10.00: meeting for coffee (and optional croissant) at Odéon
• 11.00 – 13.00: Visits
• 13.00: Lunch time: attendance optional, yet preferred to review overall workshop as a group! Please confirm.
• 14.30: your own time

DETAILS

• Price for the workshop is £125 and includes programme of activities / useful addresses & documents / 15 hours French conversation / guidance and coaching.
• A deposit of £60 is required to secure your place. Detailed programme available upon reception. Full amount payable a minimum 2 weeks prior to departure.

ACCOMMODATION & TRAVEL
We also recommend you BOOK now to save money on your travel arrangements and hotel booking. To give you some options, we recommend booking at least 30 days prior to travel on Eurostar to ensure return rates as low as £69 per adult, pending availability. Note we cannot offer travel arrangements as we are not an agent, yet we know from experience of regular trips to Paris, that deals are to be had the earlier you book. We can however, help you with booking your accommodation, for a small additional fee, if you are not confident using your French. Below are some suggestions of local hotels:

• Hôtel St Pierre 4 rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, 75006 Paris. Tel : +33 (0)1 46 34 78 80
• Hôtel St André des Arts 66 rue Saint André des Arts, 75006 Paris
• Grand Hôtel des Balcons 33 rue Casimir Delavigne, 75006 Paris : +33 (0)1 46 34 78 50
• Odéon Hôtel 3 rue de l'Odéon, 75006 Paris : +33 (0)1 43 25 90 67 

Excerpts from recent article in Cambridge Local Secrets:
Another expedition to make you purr is a gastronomic weekend in Paris (Nov 19th –21st) organised by a Cambridge firm - The Way to France. There are two parallel programmes running through the weekend, and you decide each morning which bits of either you fancy, and chop and change accordingly. Between them they will take in street markets, a guided tour of the Musée du Vin, Saint-Germain des Prés pâtisseries, kitchen equipment, Ladurée macaroons, chocolate Place Trocadéro, Berthillon ice cream in L’Ile Saint-Louis, oysters, butchers and bakers. As for meals during the weekend, it is not the intention to go for top dollar feasts (though you could if you wished), but to have excellent and interesting meals at affordable prices.

I have myself been on a trip organised by The Way to France (on gardens, actually), and during last trip to “Another Paris” the participants were absolutely charmed and delighted by the hidden Paris they were shown – the little arcades, the tucked-away squares, the idiosyncratic, independent shops in back streets.

Terres du Sud HUGE success!

Our newest event celebratated the southern regions of France. This variation of our popular themed "French on your plate" workshops, was very much enjoyed by all participants! Rather than tell you about it ouselves, we have included quotes from everyone who came last Thursday to Cooks Barn, near Cambridge. Francine and Christine of Made in Provence, want to thank Martin Straus of House of Strauss, who joined them at this latest workshop which combined southern food with some of his fine wines. Our thanks also go to Chris and Ros of Cook's Barn for their hopsitality. As always, their wonderful showroom made for a perfect setting. A special thank you also to Pascale who has recently joined The Way to France team. You can enjoy all her photos on our Facebook page!

"Thoroughly enjoyable evening.  Look forward to another evening" 

"I feel like doing a course on wines now! And I will cook those recipes"

"Thank you for letting me speak English … occasionally!! Merci!"

"Have you branded this / trademarked this idea?  It’s very good… You should do this! (if you haven’t already)"

"Keep it going"

"What a great evening and a great group of people.  Merci beaucoup!"

All the way to France - to the very end of Brittany - and back…

As part of the rich and varied activities our little group enjoys running; here’s one for the books. We hope it inspires others to do the same! In case you are new to our bespoke teaching methods, The Way to France offers residential week-ends in France. A group of people gathers in a gîte to learn about individual regions, local traditions and specialties. Activities include going to the market, cooking, singing, watching a film or going for walks. Enjoying cultural activities and local delicacies all the while practising the French language under our guidance... These courses inspired an expat English couple, who’ve already moved to a beautiful part of Brittany near Quimper, to request a custom course, to support and speed up their integration there. Many British people have moved permanently to France and although they thoroughly enjoy their life there, they don’t always get as much opportunity to immerse themselves in the French language and culture as they would like. Understandably, they tend to mix with other “expats” who live nearby and thus speak and hear a lot of English at home. Improving one’s communication skills in French can therefore be slow and arduous. As to the local culture, it is not always readily accessible unless you are guided by French nationals. We're here to help!

Founder and Director, Francine, personally accepted the challenge of tailoring a course suited to David and Mary, a couple who had already established themselves in Brittany. The purpose of this custom course was to speed up their language learning process and gain a deeper appreciation of the region they have chosen to adopt. Providing her own version of “super nanny” (away from the cameras), Francine was able to pass on as many tips, shortcuts, advice, anecdotes in 8 hour day sessions over a 5 day period. She was welcomed by these two delightful people who are already living the dream in their wonderful home in rural France. Each day was divided in different activities which took place in different parts of the house or the garden. There was French spoken all the time, everywhere, complete with plenty of jokes and laughter over various explanations. In addition to the daily tuition, an extra 4 hour “exercise” was organised on the Wednesday night, where David & Mary, accompanied by Francine, joined two other French nationals for dinner! Following a fun evening, everyone needed a change of pace on the Thursday morning by “doing” something different, so discussions revolved around David and Mary's hobbies, a majestic Harley Davidson and delightful dolls' houses respectively.

An amazing amount of cultural knowledge and linguistic precision was added to David and Mary's existing knowledge of French. Not to just mention their discovery of Brittany's comic strip heroine 'Bécassine' as well as perfecting the way to pronounce the dreaded French word for leaves, "feuilles", which came in quite handy in an over the fence conversation with the neighbour!

"I enjoyed the week very much and understand the difference between the passé composé and the imparfait better. I am determined to make more use of the ‘lui, leur and elle’ parts of a sentence. I was amazed that I could make myself understood for a whole 40+ hours speaking French!" Mary

"The week was well structured and I learned (re-learnt?) a lot. We both enjoyed your company (and that of Becasine!)." David

"We would be happy to recommend your services to anyone wishing to learn French." David & Mary

There was also the day spent in the company of an English artist at the week-end. The view from her balcony overlooking Douarnenez Bay was absolutely stunning. Her 8 hours’ tuition on the Saturday was followed on the Sunday by a long walk to “La Pointe du Raz”, a picnic in beautiful sunshine and a visit to the Art Gallery in Audierne where Penella. is going to exhibit her work this winter.

What an adventure for all! If you want custom tuition, don't hesitate to contact us. Our website will give you an indication of the types of options you can choose from, yet above all, our aim is to provide you with solutions that work for you, so tell us how we can help and we will schedule it in! See more photos on our Facebook page and become a fan for updates.