Burgundy Immersion in France in 2024

Château de Joudes Saint Amour

Discover Burgundy, a region famous for its gastronomy, geography and history, in an unforgettable 10-day all-in-French immersion in which you can develop and strengthen your ability to communicate effectively in French.

Dates

- Monday 8 to Wednesday 17 April 2024 (FALC teacher: Marion) - FInished
- Friday 27 September to Sunday 6 October 2024 (FALC teacher: Samuel) - FULL

French Level

This immersion is open to all levels except complete Beginners.

Participants will be split into up to 3 groups of levels for language classes so that everyone can enjoy the experience at its fullest, with a language level appropriate to them.

Please note that, in order to guarantee a true French language immersion, this immersion is not open for complete beginners in French. If you consider yourself a Beginner but have studied French in the past, contact us to see if this immersion would be suitable for you.

Château de Joudes Saint Amour

Classes and activities are held at the Château de Joudes Saint Amour, a mansion constructed between 17th and 19th centuries.

There, you will be welcomed by Martine and Gerard, the property’s managers. Their mission is to take care of you during your stay and be attentive to your welfare and security.

The Château de Joudes Saint-Amour is 2.5 hours from Paris by high-speed train, 1.25 hour from Lyon and 1.5 hour from Geneva by car.

It is located at the crossroads of two French regions: Bourgogne Franche-Comté and Auvergne Rhône-Alpes.

The castle lies at the foot of the Jura Mountains, on the slopes of the Revermont, at the heart of a 10ha wooded park. 

The house is adapted to a community lifestyle but also provides private and intimate spaces: French style living-rooms, a rustic bookcase-filled library, dedicated classrooms. A free Wi-Fi connection available throughout the property will keep you in contact with the rest of the world.

 On site, there are a volleyball court and of course courts for “pétanque” (bowls). The castle is nestled in lush greenery and is the starting point for beautiful walks and strolls. 

A car shuttle service can be provided to the nearby villages and shops. You will be impressed by this property’s beauty, charm and conviviality – an ideal place to enjoy cultural and educational events. 

Accommodation

The property of Château Joudes Saint Amour has two buildings: le Château, which is the oldest building (1650), and la Ferme, more recent. Accommodation is available in both le Château and la Ferme, depending on the type of room that you have chosen.

4 types of rooms are available:

Chambre d’hôtes (9 available)
Large comfortable bedrooms with private ensuite bathroom and double bed. All bedrooms have been renovated recently and offer a charming mix of rusticity and modernity. One of those chambres d’hôtes is suited for guests with limited mobility.

8 chambres d’hôtes are located in la Ferme, 1 chambre d’hôtes is in the Château. 

Chambre de charme (5 available)
Comfortable bedrooms with private ensuite bathroom and double bed (4 rooms) or single bed (1 room). All bedrooms have been renovated and are a combination of rustic and modernity.

4 chambres de charme are located in la Ferme, 1 chambre de charme is in the Château. 

Chambre confort (5 available)
Those bedrooms provide a good compromise between renovation and conservation. They all have a double bed.
The bedrooms share a bathroom: on the first floor, the bathroom is shared between 2 rooms, while on the ground floor, the bathroom is shared between 3 rooms.

All the chambres Confort are in the Château.

Suite de la Baronne (1 available)
This very special room is available for those wanting to live the full « château » experience. From the wallpaper to the bed and furniture, everything has been kept as close as possible to the original. 

Meals

In the kitchen, our Chef Dick will cook traditional French meals for you and will help you to discover the produce of the region and its varieties. Please don’t hesitate to tell one of the managers if you have special dietary requirements; they will be glad to meet your needs.

All meals are included.

Language Classes

The goal of this immersion is to give participants an opportunity to develop and strengthen their ability to communicate effectively in French, in a region famous for its gastronomy, geography and its history: Burgundy.

Your stay includes 20 hours of goal-oriented lessons focused on French communication – to increase your grammatical knowledge and vocabulary using authentic documents and sources. The format of the lessons is divided between a “classical” style in the morning and a less formal setting all day long.

For basic users of French, we offer a course centered on standard communication, designed to  enable you to deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in France or any familiar  matters regularly encountered in everyday life. Increase your vocabulary and strengthen your grammatical skills.

For those who speak more French (intermediate and advanced levels), we offer a course based on the discovery of Burgundy (e.g. its history, its writers, its current issues) with an emphasis on oral expression (conversation class) enabling you to focus on specific aspects of the language (lexical, phonetic, grammatical, etc.), according to your level. You will gain in confidence and speak more and more spontaneously!

Activities & Excursions 

The program of activities is dense, rich and varied but also provides for free time to allow you to relax and enjoy the surroundings. During your stay, you will explore the following aspects of the region:

History

• Visit of the Château de Cormatin, between Tournus and Cluny in the heart of southern Burgundy
• Visit of the medieval cities of Cuiseaux
• Visit of the 12th century Abbatial Tournus
• Visit of the royal monastery at Brou 

Gastronomy

• Wine tasting of local wines from Burgundy and Jura
• Dinner in three gourmet restaurants, one of which is a Michelin starred restaurant 
• Culinary workshop at the château

Heritage

• Visit of Louhans and its famous market which commenced in the 14th century
• Discovery of 17th century Hôtel-Dieu and its apothecary shop
• Visit of Baume les Messieurs, Château Chalon, Tournus and more...

This will be supplemented by some special evening sessions on specific topics and discussions which will allow you to discover and appreciate Burgundy – including some relaxed evenings as well.

Programme

Price: from $7,500 per person

The price varies according to the type of room: 

• Chambre d’hôte (9 available) :  €5,000  -   AU$7,950*
• Chambre de charme (5 available) : €4,850   -  AU$7,700*
• Chambre Confort (5 available) :     €4,725   - AU$7,500*
• Suite de la Baronne (1 available) : €5,325   - AU$8,450*

*The price is AU$ is indicative and based on XE.com exchange rate at the date of the publication of this page (1€ = AU$1.69 on 16.06.2023). The final price may change if the exchange rate changes at the date of invoicing the second and final payment.  We will adjust the price in AU$ accordingly. 

Please note that rooms are available on a first come, first served basis. Participants can choose the room of their choice as soon as French à la Carte receives payment of the deposit. We cannot hold nor guarantee a room without deposit.

Shared Room discount: Participants who wish to share a room will each get a discount of €200

What's included

• 23 hours French lessons (20h morning lessons + 3h news time)
• Morning and afternoon tea every day
• Evening activities and lectures
• All meals at Château de Joudes Saint Amour
• Accommodation in Château de Joudes Saint Amour from day 1 to day 10
• All planned visits which appear on the schedule      
• Included in the price during those planned activities :
• Entrance fee and the guided tour of Castle of Cormatin, Apothecary of Louhans and  Monastery of Brou
• Visit of Baume les Messieurs and Château Chalon
• Cooking workshop
• Wine-tasting at Lugny or Mancey (or different places)
• Dinners in 3 different gourmet restaurants, including a Michelin starred restaurant
• Travel by coach to these visits/activities from Château de Joudes Saint Amour

What's not included

• Airfares, train transportation, taxes, passport fees, visas
• Shuttle bus from airport or train station to Château de Joudes Saint Amour (can be organised for an extra fee)
• Travel insurance (compulsory)
• Any personal expenses during the whole stay
• All transports other than those planned for the visits
• Aperitif in Château de Joudes Saint Amour (except for day 1) and at the restaurants
• Gratuities
• All expenses which do not appear in expenses included in the price

Payment schedule

• A non-refundable deposit of $1,200 is required to secure your booking and choose your accommodation. Bookings will ONLY be confirmed upon reception of the full deposit, on a first come, first served basis
  
• A second payment of 30% of the total amount will be invoiced for payment 90 days before the beginning of the immersion
  
• The final payment of the remainder is due 30 days before the beginning of the immersion

Terms & Conditions 

I Participation 

The intensive French sessions organised by Château de Joudes Saint Amour are designed for adults with elementary to advanced  level of skill in the French language. A test will be sent to you before the start of the immersion to enable us to organise the groups.

All the activities - visits, wine-tasting, evenings activities will be conducted in French. For the benefit of everyone during the session, we reserve the right to accept or reject any participant and to remove any participant whose conduct is deemed incompatible with the interests of the other students.

II  Cancellation 

By the organisers: If a sufficient number of bookings is not reached, we reserve the right to cancel the session. Your deposit will be refunded and any other money paid to us will be refunded in full. You will be notified immediately of any change. 

Cancellation Policy: All cancellations must be made in writing to French à la Carte 

• •If cancellation occurs earlier than 30 days prior departure, an admin fee of $400 will be retained if someone takes your spot, otherwise the full deposit will be retained.
• If cancellation occurs between 30 and 15 days prior departure, 25% of the cost will be retained. 
• If cancellation occurs between 15 and 8 days prior departure, 50% of the cost will be retained.
• No refunds are available if cancellation occurs less than 8 days before departure.

III Travel Insurance 

Travel Insurance is COMPULSORY for all participants - students and persons accompanying - during the session. Your insurance should provide cover against personal accident and sickness, medical expenses, emergency repatriation and personal liability. We strongly recommend that the policy covers pre-tour cancellation, curtailment and loss of luggage and personal effects. Please note: travel costs already incurred by the participant cannot be refunded, which is why we strongly recommend including pre-tour cancellation in your travel insurance policy.

IV  Organization

The organization of the course, the activities on the schedule and the itinerary may be subject to change without notice due to act of God, local circumstances and weather.

We contract with a range of third parties and individuals. To the best of our knowledge, the different third parties who will assist us during the course are qualified to perform the duties they are contracted to perform. Château de Joudes Saint Amour will not be held liable for injury, damage, loss, delay or irregularity that may occur due to the behaviour of these third parties.

Contact & more info

info@frenchalacarte.com.au

0400 141 370