DAY 1: AUSTRALIA - PARIS

Depart Australia on your flight to Paris.

DAY 2: PARIS (D)

On your arrival you will be met by a local representative and escorted to your private coach to transfer to your accommodation at FIAP Jean Monnet for the next 2 nights. This highly sought-after accommodation is located in the city centre in the bustling 14th arrondissement and is perfect for school groups. It provides spacious rooms, private bathrooms and fantastic communal areas for groups to gather and discuss their upcoming plans for the day and includes breakfasts and dinners.

DAY 3: PARIS (BD)

After breakfast board your private coach for a city sights tour, introducing students to the major landmarks of this magnificent city. Some of the sites you will see include the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame Cathedral (no entrances included). The rest of the afternoon is under the guidance of your teachers to continue exploring these amazing sites.

DAY 4: PARIS - VERSAILLES - LOIRE VALLEY (BD)

After breakfast check out of your accommodation, board your private coach and begin your tour of the French countryside. Your first stop is Chateau de Versailles, one of the finest achievements of Louis XIV’s reign. After a visit to the palace, continue by private coach to Chartres where you will visit Chartres Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Continue on to your accommodation in Tours, the largest town in the Loire Valley. Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.

DAY 5: LOIRE VALLEY (BD)

After breakfast at your hotel meet your guide and board your private coach for a full-day tour of the Loire Valley castles. Visit Chenonceau Castle, Amboise Castle and Clos Lucé Castle, the last residence of Leonardo da Vinci. Return to your accommodation in Tours and enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.

DAY 6: LOIRE VALLEY – LYON (BD)

After breakfast check out of your accommodation and board your private to travel to Lyon. On arrival enjoy a guided walking city tour. Check in to your accommodation.

DAY 7: LYON (BD)

After breakfast participate in a guided tour of the Traboules and le Vieux district of Lyon. Winding their way through buildings, courtyards and up and down staircases, Lyon’s secret covered passageways, or traboules, are an ideal way of visiting the city’s hidden and colourful past. Every traboule is different, each has a unique pastel colour, a particular curve or spiral staircase, vaulted ceilings or Renaissance arches. You may even be able to participate in a Tresure Hunt. Later this afternoon participate in a French cooking class with Chef Lyon.

DAY 8: LYON - MONTPELLIER (BD)

After breakfast take the train to Montpellier where students will meet their host families and begin their homestay experience.

DAY 9: MONTPELLIER HOMESTAY (BLD)

After breakfast with your host family, make your way to the language school where you will enjoy a 3-hour French lesson. After lunch enjoy a guided walk of Montpellier. Students return to their host families.

DAY 10: MONTPELLIER HOMESTAY (BLD)

After breakfast with your host family, make your way to the language school for your second morning of French lessons. After lunch board your private coach to Nimes and Pont Du Gard for a half day excursion. Students return to their host famillies.

DAY 11: MONTPELLIER HOMESTAY (BLD)

After breakfast with your host family, make your way to the language school for your third morning of French lessons. After lunch enjoy free time with your teachers. Students return to their host families.

DAY 12: MONTPELLIER HOMESTAY (BLD)

After breakfast with your host family, make your way to the language school for your fourth morning of French lessons. After lunch enjoy an excursion from one of the following options:

Saint Guilhem Le Désert
Just one hour from Montpellier, discover Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, a typical Languedoc village and a stop on the Way of Saint James pilgrimage route (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Classified among “The Most Beautiful Villages of France,” it has only 300 inhabitants but welcomes over one million tourists each year. You’ll explore its prestigious religious past, including its thousand-year-old Romanesque church, which houses the relics of Saint Guilhem (a cousin of Charlemagne) and a fragment of the True Cross of Jesus Christ.

Aigues-Mortes
Visit the oldest French port on the Mediterranean (departure point of the last two Crusades of the Middle Ages), a fortified medieval town built in the 13th century, surrounded by nearly 2 km of intact ramparts. View the ramparts and the Constance Tower (a former 13th-century lighthouse later used as a Protestant prison and known for its famous prisoner Marie Durand). See panoramic views over the town, the Camargue lagoons, the salt mountains of the Salins du Midi, the pink flamingos, and the pink salt flats. You will also see panoramic views of a charming beach on the Languedoc coast.

Saintes Maries de la Mer (with possible boat trip)
Discover the Camargue and its unique wildlife - pink flamingos, bulls, and horses. The lagoons blend into the land (or perhaps the other way around). where humans cultivate rice, salt, and vines. One seaside town symbolizes this region, Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, with its fortified Romanesque church, a Christian pilgrimage site along the Way of Saint James. Pilgrims come to venerate the relics of the Saint Maries (Mary Jacobe, aunt of Jesus, and Mary Salome, mother of the apostles James and John). This village is considered one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in the Western world.

Sète (with possible boat trip)
Visit the peninsula nicknamed “Little Venice of Languedoc” with its many canals. Enjoy a stunning panoramic view from the top of Mont Saint-Clair, overlooking the city, the sea, the mountains, and the oyster and mussel farms of the Thau Lagoon. Visit the Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette and its surprising frescoes. Take a walk along the Canal du Midi and the largest fishing port on the French Mediterranean coast. Panoramic views of trawlers and tuna fishing boats. A city that has inspired many artists, including the famous singer Georges Brassens and the poet Paul Valéry. Return to Montpellier by private coach. Students return to their host families.

DAY 13: MONTPELLLIER HOMESTAY (BLD)

After breakfast with your host family, make your way to the language school for your last morning of French lessons. After lunch enjoy free time with your teachers. Additional cultural excursions to Avignon and Arles can be arranged upon request. Students return to their host families.

DAY 14: MONTPELLIER – CARCASSONE - MONTPELLIER HOMESTAY (BLD)

After breakfast with your host family, make your way to the language school where you will board your private coach to travel to Carcassonne, a town made famous by its impressive medieval fortress. Explore the town and enjoy a Cassoulet lunch. Board your private coach to return to Montpellier. Students return to their host families for their last evening together.

DAY 15: MONTPELLIER - PARIS (BD)

After breakfast with your host family say your goodbyes and make your way to the train station to return to Paris on the TGV high-speed train. On arrival board your private coach and transfer to your accommodation at FIAP Jean Monnet for your final night in Paris.

DAYS 16-17: PARIS - AUSTRALIA (B)

After breakfast, check out of your accommodation and board your private coach to transfer to the airport for your flight home.

SIGHTSEEING IN PARIS

Group reservations are subject to availability. If G.E.T Educational Tours is unable to secure a group reservation on your behalf, your next option is to visit and pay for the attraction on the spot.