France
Living and Learning in Bordeaux: Independent Stay and Study
Program No. 23313RJ
Make Bordeaux your home for six weeks and immerse yourself in French culture, history and cuisine as you explore the city on your own and join experts on educational field trips.
Participant Reviews
Based on 20 Reviews
SHOWING
Living/Learning Bordeaux was an exceptional immersive experience. Bordeaux offers many similar experiences of the larger French cities like Paris without all the crowds and expense. The details of the program including the Apartment/Hotel (staff, location, quality, amenities) were perfect for me. The accommodations were located a stone's throw from the city's historic center and within sight from the front door. The tram stop and bus stop were both located around the corner and across from a large indoor shopping center that had every necessity known to man. All of the group activities were well thought out and executed, offering an upclose look at the Bordelaise lifestyle and history of the region. The opportunity to see incredible architecture, taste world class wine and thousands of cheeses was an experience I will never forget. Our guide, Caroline Calvet and her assistant Florence were very knowledgeable and did an amazing job of keeping us engaged and immersed in the local culture. Of course, The New Deal Institute where I spent every morning learning French was outstanding. Their professors, specifically Marion Le Bail, was the absolute best. The qualifications of the professors was exceptional in every way. I would not hesitate to come back to this city and continue my French education. I look forward to participating in another Road Scholar program in the near future.
— Review left December 10, 2024
What a wonderful six weeks! I’ve regretted not doing a junior year abroad program in college and this program fulfilled that desire. I improved my French speaking, reading, and listening skills and explored Bordeaux and its surrounding region. I tasted excellent cheese, bread, and wine and visited cathedrals over a thousand years old. I learned French cooking skills, tasted French olive oils, and spent time with 20 kind and interesting fellow Road Scholars. Whether you speak no French or are almost fluent, you will find this program tailored to your ability. It was fabulous!
— Review left November 26, 2024
I just returned from the 6 week Living and Learning program in Bordeaux. It was life changing! I can’t say enough about the wonderful learning experience. The teaching was fabulous- in-depth and expert. We were divided by French language abilities and backgrounds from beginner to college French majors. They did a great job to accommodate us at all levels and make it a profitable time spent for each of us. The extra curricular activities were fun and broadened our experience of living in the beautiful city of Bordeaux, thanks to a very engaged group leader. The other participants made my time spent living and learning a true highlight of my life’s travel journey.
— Review left November 26, 2024
Just completed my 2nd Road Scholar trip and I intend to do more! Road Scholar made me feel safe and cared for in every way- while I was learning and growing in different environments. Plus, I've now met several new, interesting people who have definitely enhanced my life.
— Review left April 28, 2024
Great experience. Bordeaux is a great place to live and the Adagio is in a great location. Everything, including the bus station and airport, is walkable or easily accessed by tram/bus.
— Review left April 25, 2024
I loved getting to know a city-its history and beauty and meeting new friends both within the program and with people living in the city-
— Review left April 20, 2024
This 45 days trip was a transformative, inspiring and liberating trip for me to discover a new language to attempt learning. Learned a lot about wines and wine tastings, cooking and a little bit about the history of the Bordeaux region. The town is marvelous, the people wonderful, the hotel is very centrally located and the staff are helpful. Road Scholar and their ground crew do a great job at trying to deal with the usual unpredictable events such as ran and tramways stops and other situations that we don't have control over. The language school was excellent as well and I would use that school for furthering my learning of French on my own if I were to go back to Bordeaux and do this again but on my own. Fantastic once-in-a-lifetime group as well.
— Review left December 2, 2023
I have never been on a trip where I felt safer, freer, or more delighted. Our group leader Caroline was the very embodiment of "joie de vivre" and kindness. No challenge was too much for her, no concern too small. Her deep love of Bordeaux, her network of artisan friends, and her familial connections with the city's history gave us a perspective of this city like no other.
— Review left June 4, 2023
Magnificent! Magical! Memorable! I loved everything about it!
— Review left April 30, 2023
Bordeaux is a unique French city, different from Paris. The wines are the showcase here, but there is a hidden Bordeaux that we were able to discover by walking the city and talking to the citizens. That's the reason to come to Bordeaux to discover that something unique.
— Review left November 12, 2022
This was a fabulous trip. I highly recommend the longer stay, looser schedule format of traveling. You can choose which tracks you want to register for in order to have a more or less busy schedule. The city of Bordeaux is beautiful, warm, and welcoming. It also feels very safe. I couldn't recommend this trip enough.
— Review left November 6, 2022
What a neat way to try out living in another country and learn something along the way. I loved the six weeks I had learning French in Bordeaux. This satisfied two questions I had: What would it be like to live in another country and could I learn a new language? It would be fun to live longer in France and yes, with more lessons I believe I could become proficient in French. Great experience.
— Review left October 28, 2022
Love, love, loved it! I wish I could have stayed longer! Bordeaux was a beautiful surprise for me...hands down, more enjoyable than Paris. Easy to get around, friendly
people who appreciated my attempts at French!
The possibilities for excursions on the weekends are wonderful! The Sea 45 minutes away, and mountains, and then there's Arcachon and the Basque Country!
Caroline, the group guide, is Bordelaise through and through! Full of information and energy, all positive! Absolutely a lifesaver and so much fun!
The culinary program was so much fun! I am not a cook, and I would do this again in a heartbeat! A variety of tastings from chocolate to wine and truffles! Hello!
The French school took a bunch of people with all varieties of experience in the language , from zero to quite proficient and was friendly and helpful and well located.
And I already miss the whole group of people...every one of them, Caroline included.
— Review left April 19, 2022
The program was a disappointment, mainly due to the selection of the language school. Our group represented a wide range of French skills, but only two class levels were offered on our arrival. (Later, a 3rd was added.) No effort was made to review the results of the placement tests with us, and no oral assessment was done on arrival before assignment to classes, as had been promised. Classrooms were cramped, making social distancing difficult, and street noise was a constant problem for listening comprehension and classroom communication. The promised textbook for the program wasn’t delivered until the end of the 4th week of instruction.
The school permitted unvaccinated students to enroll, and to be in the same classes as us. Inexplicably, Road Scholar disclosed this policy to us only when one of our own students became infected, after an unvaccinated student fell ill and tested positive for COVID. It meant that our colleague was not permitted to return to the USA until a 10-day quarantine had been completed.
My overall impression of Living and Learning in Bordeaux is that, while the program description is appealing, the delivery falls short of expectations. Bordeaux is a wonderful city, and the location of the hotel selected by Road Scholar was perfect: centrally located, within easy walking distance to most sites in the downtown area. Unfortunately, the choice of school to provide language instruction—a key part of the program—was an unfortunate one. Poor organization and lack of attention to the safety of participants resulted in a disappointing experience. I would not recommend this program.
— Review left February 19, 2022
This program met my expectations for Living and Learning in Bordeaux. Having independence was important for me, but it was nice to know that, if needed, assistance was available. I was able to get a good basic re-introduction to French, such that I'm continuing online with the French teacher. The historical and cultural excursions were a nice touch and the weekend trip to the Basque County a wonderful interlude. Other day trips with fellow participants will always be highlight memories. I look forward to returning to Bordeaux, meeting up with Caroline, and continuing to add to my knowledge of France and my ability to speak the language;-)
— Review left December 11, 2021
A wonderful experience. Bordeaux is a beautiful city and the hotel is in the old city which is quite large. My French teacher was excellent with lots of conversation. The last week was shortened when one of the unvaccinated Swiss students contracted covid. However, the teacher from the affected class conducted classes outside of the school for our group. There was much walking on our wine tours. Our tour leader was knowledgeable and very enthusiastic. We took a few tours on our own like a train trip to Toulouse, a trip to Pair-non-Pair and trips to Dordogne and Blaye with tour guides. Mostly, living in a city for six weeks is a wonderful experience as well as the friendships that ensued. I totally recommend this trip and the extra trips.
— Review left November 22, 2021
I loved this program!
— Review left November 11, 2021
The Living and Learning program allows the visitor to really experience the history, culture, and people from another country. Thank you, Road Scholar for developing such programs.
— Review left October 28, 2021
This was a memorable trip illustrating the history, culture, and cuisine of Bordeaux. Now, let’s not forget about the wine … with visits to Saint-Émilion, Médoc, and Pauillac regions. With many of us traveling for the first time after a COVID shutdown and with France just opening back up, our guide, Caroline did a great job. She took extra time to meet people one on one if need be. She had a great knowledge of the wine industry and of street art. I highly recommend participating in a living and learning program with Road Scholar.
— Review left October 21, 2021
Although we were only able to complete the first week of this six week adventure in Bordeaux due to impending Covid-19 travel restrictions, I am sure that the remaining weeks would have been just as enjoyable as the first. Our hotel location was perfect. The Road Scholar France Director Amale Bowtam who spent time with us was delightful and enthusiastic . Our guide, Caroline Calvet was extremely knowledgeable about the city. We were well oriented to the city by the end of our week. Anna Lisa from Road Scholar France had done a wonderful job selecting restaurants for the meals that were included in the program. I especially appreciated that food options usually included fish and fresh salads. My instructor at France Langue, Héloïse Gagnon was excellent. I look forward to returning to Bordeaux on the same trip once it is safe to travel again. Two constructive comments: Program participants need a roster of one another’s cell phone numbers by the second day of the program in case someone becomes separated from the group . Changes in the daily schedule should be communicated to all participants by email.
— Review left May 26, 2020