What is a VIP French Immersion Retreat after all?

WHAT IS A VIP FRENCH IMMERSION RETREAT AFTER ALL?

So, do you want to go to Paris with me?

You know, the quickest way to learn a language is by immersing yourself in the culture and surrounding yourself with chic, fluent, native French speakers!

Read on to find out all the delicious details, and check out how the last adventure went in the video below.

(BIG surprise for you at the end of the video)!

(This week: VIP FRENCH IMMERSION “Paris in April”)

French Immersion at its best

I’m walking in the streets of Paris and I feel like having a café Chantilly. What a day! It’s raining but the rain is doing nothing else but adding a little more Paris to my coffee.

Of course, I’m in the middle of a private immersion retreat with one of my favourite students, but the coffee has its place, its flavour, its story, and can never miss.

We’re walking towards the Metro Station Louvre – Palais Royal, sortie Place Colette, to meet René-Gustave, someone we never met before, but who promised to show us the hidden gems of Paris.

Were we wrong? Was I wrong to choose him to show us Paris so that we can do more conversation in French? As soon as we met, sharp at the top of the hour, I had a really good feeling about him. Slim, with a quick eye and wit, René-Gustave made a nod of approval, because we were on time (watch the video to the end, to meet him).

Then off we went.

First, he explained to us why Palais Royal was called this way in the first place, with plenty of historical details, then he stopped abruptly looking down at a golden disk that was sitting on the pavement in a random place.

– Savez-vous ce que cela est?
– …
– Ce disque marque le méridien qui passe par Paris.

My American client opened his eyes wide, looked at me, then smiled in contentment: “Who knows this kind of things?” Immediately we knew that we found a gold mine.

Needless to say that we both felt that this is going to be an adventure, and one we’ll never forget.

Heavy rain, wind and cold could not stop this immersion team today! We started the day at 10:00 and ended it at 22:00 – guided by the same René-Gustave of “Parisien d’un jour” who you met 2 paragraphs ago. He became family and we shed a tear (I know I did) when we said our good-byes – feet wet and cold, tired but happy – over a café maison at Café de Flore. He said that he wants to be the family who is waiting for us when we come back next – I didn’t meet anyone that passionate about their city and the people who they guide.

Not knowing a word of English made him my perfect partner in crime.

Montmartre, Sacré Cœur, Moulin Rouge, Marché des fleurs, Notre Dame are just the well known sites from today’s adventure. Hidden doors, roman pavement stones, secret private hotels, the Wall of Philip II Augustus built in 1,200 hidden in an underground parking lot, a solar dial by Dali on a random building are just a few examples from at least 100 other hidden jewels that only René-Gustave can know.

It was an adventure 180 degrees from your typical touristic guided tour of Paris – which is what I was looking for in the first place. It left us with the feeling that we saw and now know places that the vast majority of tourists don’t even dream they exist, made us a part of an impromptu and exclusive expedition in space and time designed by a Parisian heart of gold.

So much love for Paris poured that day, along with the drops of rain, that some could say that it was a day in the life.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!
Tell us in the comments below, what is your favourite French Immersion activity you saw in the video? 🙂

Let me guess.