marcy_

Want to brush up on your French? Do you enjoy French cooking? Would you like to spend a week in a 16th century chateau with a group of fascinating people from all over the world?

Then a week (or more) at the Ecole des Trois Ponts in Roanne, France might be just the thing for you!

My DH and I just got back from a wonderful week there, and I highly recommend the school.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in the school, and am not affiliated with it in any way

Background: We are a 50ish couple from the US who love France and travel there as often as we can. We’re dreaming about eventually buying property in France and spending a block of time there each year, and I enjoy learning languages, so I’ve been working on learning French for the past couple of years.

My husband, John, speaks very little French (mainly just what it takes to be polite and to survive in a restaurant), but he loves to cook, and loves taking cooking classes.

So anyway, I saw another trip report here on Fodors about the Ecole des 3 Ponts (by justretired), and thought it might be something we both would enjoy.

And did we ever enjoy it! My DH describes it as “summer camp for adults!”
The classes were great, the staff were wonderful, we made new friends with people from all over the world with whom we hope to get together again, and yes, we did learn French and cooking!

The school is in an old chateau in Roanne- about an hour or so west of Lyon. It is situated on several acres of beautful grounds, and has a pool, a boules court, and bicycles you can use.

The fees include your room with ensuite bath, all your meals (which are excellent) and your classes.

I took Intensive French, which meant that I had a group class each morning (Monday through Friday), and then 2 afternoons of private instruction.

John took beginning French each morning, and then cooking class four afternoons.

We also took an optional wine-tasting class one evening, which was excellent.

The meals are served in the big dining room: buffet breakfast of bread and jam, cereals, yoghurt, and fruit; buffet lunch of salads, quiches, vegetables, and other light fare, and a big, seated, multi-course dinner with plenty of wine.

Students are encouraged to speak French as much as possible, and at dinner it’s required that everyone but the beginning students speak French. This wasn’t as hard as it might sound, and there were always instructors there to help. It did lead to some pretty funny conversations, sometimes, with our limited vocabularies! And after a glass of wine or two, somehow it got a little easier!

As far as our French classes, the atmosphere was totally non-threatening--really fun and relaxed, but we learned a lot!

John’s group was for beginners, with only 3 students in the class. John is not someone who learns languages easily, being more of a math/science/techie type, but by the end of the week he was really beginning to be able to communicate, and more importantly, to believe that he could learn another language! I was impressed!

My group was the advanced group, and had six students, which was the maximum number. We were all very similar as far as our level, so it worked out great. Since we all wanted to work primarily on conversation, that is what we did, but the instructors are very flexible, and will tailor the classes to your interests.

We played word games in French, we each gave a little presentation, we listened to music and tried to decipher the lyrics, our instructor answered any questions that we had, and there was never a dull moment. Our instructor was always positive and enthusiastic, and was able to explain things so clearly-- he was really wonderful.

I will say that by the end of the week, I was mentally exhausted-- It’s really hard work trying to think in another language!

I mentioned that the students were from all over the world: Our week the countries represented were England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, the US (DH and I were the only Americans), Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, and Ecuador. The age range was from 18 to mid 60’s, with most being probably 40’s and 50’s.

I can’t tell you too much about the cooking class, since I didn’t take it myself, but John loved it. It was given in English, although the chef is happy to do it in French if everybody wants him to. It was very much hands-on, and at the end they all got to sample what they had made, along with the appropriate wine, bien sûr!

Anyway, it was a fabulous week, and we will undoubtably go back again, and I’d like to stay for two weeks next time.

I’d be happy to answer anyone’s questions about it, if you have any.

Marcy

cparris

It sounds like a wonderful week. I have been looking at their website for a year and hopefully will someday get to take the classes.

marcy_

Argh! I can't believe I forgot to mention the website! Here it is:

http://www.3ponts.edu/

justretired

I am so happy that you loved Trois Ponts as much as I did. (I'm Margret from "justretired&quot When my husband and I went there a year and a half ago, my level was perhaps advanced beginner. After my experience at 3 Ponts, something "clicked" and I have moved more rapidly than before. Being at the chateau and becoming less timid speaking and listening to French was wonderful. As Marcy says, the staff is professional and supportive. The atmosphere was perfect for intensive learning in a safe and friendly environment.

My husband and I did not take cooking classes- instead, we explored the surrounding area in the afternoons. I am an artist and one afternoon, Rene, the director, arranged for my husabnd and I to visit the studio of a local painter and sculptor. It was one of the highlights of the week. This is an example of the staff trying amd succeeding in meeting the needs of each student. We loved it there and recommend it enthusiastically.

loisco

This sounds interesting...we don't do cars anymore. Is this place accessible by train..?

marcy_

Hi Margret!
Thanks for responding. I told René that I had found out about the school from your report, and he was pleased.

The downside of John having cooking class in the afternoons was that we didn't have as much time to explore, although we fit in quite a bit just in the break between lunch and the start of the cooking class. It <b>is</b> a beautiful area.

marcy_

loisco,
Sorry, I didn't see your post until now. Yes, it is accessible by train. You can take the TGV form Paris to Lyon, and then the local train to Roanne.

justretired

The school is located a few miles ourside of Roanne. We had a car, but most of the others did not. In the afternoon, they took walks or bike rides on the canal, walked into town, and took taxis to various places. All meals are included at the chateau, but those of you going should know that Trois Gros (a famous 2*- maybe 3*- Michelin restaurant) is in Roanne. We had thought we would go, but were deterred by the very steep price and the fact that we wanted to stay at the chateau for the full language experience.

Marcy, glad you mentioned us to Rene. My teacher was Valerie, whom I adored and Larry's teacher( he's qite an advanced student) was Pascale. Both were excellent. We really loved our time there.

-Margret

marcy_

Margret,
Thanks for mentioning Troisgros.(It is a Michelin 3* restaurant, by the way)
We, too, thought about going there, but decided to postpone it until our next visit. It is supposed to be incredible, but very expensive.

Pascal was my teacher, and I thought he was fabulous. And Val&eacute;rie was John's, and also wonderful.

They're going to start having private lessons by webcam this year, and I'm considering giving it a try.

justretired

Hi, marcy,

I'm glad you enjoyed <i>l'Ecole des Trois Ponts</i>, and happy to hear you found out about it from our Fodor's posting. In case anyone wants more information, I've provided links to my threads at the bottom of this entry.

I see Margret has already replied to you, but I thought I'd add my two cents. You can see photos from our trip on my web site, at:

http://lkrakauer.home.comcast.net/france04/

I'd like to stand up for us engineers! I'm a math/science/techie type, but I'm good with foreign languages, which are sort of a hobby of mine. I do think your notion that this is unusual has some merit, though. I don't know many other engineers who are good with languages. In another violation of the stereotype, although I'm good at math, I'm not particularly interested in music.

These are my <i>Trois Ponts</i> threads on Fodor's, which also touch on our subsequent week in nearby Provence:

FRANCE, SEPT. - OCT. 2004:

&quot;On the road in Lyon, Ecole des Trois Ponts, and Provence&quot;:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34529009

&quot;Trip Report, France: Lyon, Roanne, Ecole des Trois Ponts, Provence (Luberon &amp; Vaucluse)&quot;:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34533499

&quot;The Friendly French&quot;:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34533993

&quot;Driving in France: some tips&quot;:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34533995

&quot;Deciphering French menus (the Patricia Wells glossary)&quot;:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34534230

- Larry

marcy_

Hi Larry,
Wow! Your website is so thorough-- and great pictures!

I think we had the same room as you, too. Was is &quot;A&quot;?
We found it quite comfortable, and we definitely did not regret paying a little more for the larger room.

We loved the view of the grounds from our window. It was almost like a wildlife sanctuary. The first morning there were two deer just under our window, and there were always all sorts of birds, including a beautiful heron.

justretired

&quot;<i>Allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est arriv&eacute;!</i>&quot; Happy Bastille Day!

Yes, we were in Room A. In addition to being quite large, it had another feature I liked: when you turned the hot water tap, the hot water arrived almost instantly. It was much faster than in my own house, where in some rooms I have to run the water for 15 seconds before it turns hot. The effect in Room A was so striking that I looked around a bit, and found that the utility room with the hot water heater was right next to Room A, and the water heater was only a few centimeters from our tap (we engineers have a need to understand these things).

I don't know why engineers should have more trouble with foreign languages than others (if this is indeed the case, and not just a stereotype). Margie, who's an artist, has a harder time than I do, and we've guessed that it's because she's more visual than auditory in her thinking. Indeed, I think many engineers and mathematicians are similarly visual thinkers, whereas I'm more auditory. To memorize something, I repeat it in my head, in words, and I sometimes add to my foreign language vocabularies by learning poetry. As a child, I used to listen to a Broadway musical album just a couple of times, after which I would pretty much know all the words (I called that my &quot;phonographic memory&quot;, but I'm not quite so good at it any more).

Lucky you - although we saw (and heard) a lot of birds, we never saw a heron, nor any deer, from our window. The only large animals we spotted in the area were the cows pictured on my web site, which we saw while walking along the canal. They were large, but I don't think they qualify as &quot;wild&quot;.

Regards,

- Larry

marcy_

You're probably right, Larry, about learning languages- maybe it's not that engineer types necessarily have more difficulty, but that some people are just less verbally oriented than others.

I actually have a math/science background myself, and a music background , and languages come pretty easily to me.

I have heard before, and maybe it's true, that math, music, and language learning are all inter-related in that they all involve the use of symbols, and that many people who are good at one are good at all three. It sounds plausible to me.

But the bottom line is that with some effort anyone can learn a language.

mermaid_

I can tell that the Francophile in you probably thought she'd died and gone to heaven. What a wonderful combination of things for a vacation--good food, good company, and a little bit of cultural education so easily and effortlessly slipped in. I bet you're already planning a return trip, if I know you!

murphy89

Wow sounds like a great trip marcy - food and France always a beautiful combination

Cheers,

Murphy

letour

I will have to look this one up. Sounds interesting! I have attended two different French schools in the last two summers, each for a week's time. One of them, Parlons en Provence, is beginning to introduce cooking into their curriculum. I do think that the saturation in speaking the language daily does give one a boost in language acquisition, although, with sleep deprivation/decalage horaire, I tend to operate in sub-par fashion, and I think that it affects my learning a bit! What's hard is returning and having little opportunity to speak French. I find myself stating my own thoughts in French as I walk down the street and I notice the occasional passersby in their cars chuckling at my behavior!

marcy_

Hi letour,
I read your trip reports about your language school experience, and thought yours sounded interesting, too.

My trouble is, we enjoyed this one so much that I'm afraid I might be disappointed anywhere else.

I know what you mean about talking to yourself in French! I do that, too, especially in the car. When we're stopped at a stoplight and other drivers see me sitting there talking to myself I'm sure they think I'm crazy!

letour

Hi, Marcy.
My guess would be that each of these programs offers something valuable and of course different. In the first program, Parlons en Provence, we studied less but chatted more informally, so there was some real benefit from the language acquisition and familiarity perspectives. I actually felt a little guilty attending a different program! The second one was more serious, but still really quite fun in terms of the comraderie and repartee among teachers and students. It was a larger group, which probably offered a bit more diversity in terms of conversational/relational opportunities. Did you find l'ecole des 3 ponts to be very rigorous, in terms of the French study? I very much enjoyed the friendliness and humor in my two programs, but I also think that for me, a certain level of rigor helped me to get the most out of it. I can't decide if I would do it again, but I do think that the immersion aspect, along with the instruction, afford MUCH more opportunity to develop my French, than merely being a tourist. It was fun pedalling about and making contacts with people in la vie quotidienne, but I found that you have to seek out those opportunities to speak the language for any length of time. It's fun but certainly a bit hit or miss. I guess that I like studying on site and roaming about!

Kate_W

Hi Marcy and letour:

I'm not sure if anyone is thinking about anything other than how to survive long flights without their own water supplies and books, but I would love to hear more from both of you about your experiences at Millefeuille Provence and Ecole des Trois Ponts, respectively. I'm planning a last minute one-week immersion course and I'm trying to choose between these two schools. In particular, I'd be interested in finding out more about the following:

a) Marcy, I'm interested in your opinion about letour's question about the rigour of the programme at Ecole des Trois Ponts. I live in France and need French for professional reasons. My written and oral comprehension levels are relatively high, but I need to work on oral and written communication. Was the school very rigorous in this regard? Millefeuille seems to come across somehow on its website as more rigorous, but that could be just marketing.

b) Quality/comfort at the chateaux. How would you rate your rooms and the WC/shower facilities, in comparison with a hotel? Basic, charming but modest, comfortable/well-kept, luxurious, etc?

c) Silly question, but what's the &quot;bug factor&quot; like? I am a mosquito-phobe, but unfortunately they love me. I cannot sit still or think straight if there are mosquitoes (or other flying, biting bugs) around. What were the schools and accommodation like?

Thanks for your input.

letour

Bonjour, Kate.
Great questions!
I would rate the room that I had at MF as being pretty nice, perhaps comparable to some smaller, modest hotels where I have stayed in southern France. I paid a bit more for a small TV and AC. My mattress was very firm, but it was fine. I had a large armoire and a writing desk. Bathroom ensuite with old tiles that were a bit loose in places in the flooring, but the bathroom was fine. It was once a hotel, I believe, but it wasn't probably terribly fancy. Compared to Parlons en Provence, where you were really living in someone's house, this is more like a simple, rural hotel. The owners do not live on the premises. There are cleaners who do your room. The grounds, with the pool are nice--not meticulously kept, but certainly acceptable.

As for bugs, I know about les mustiques (sp), but I didn't notice any of those tiny little biters in July. I also closed my windows evenings and turned on the AC, and that probably protected me from them. My recollection is that they can be annoying night times in the summer there.

I would say that I think that you would find yourself well-suited with the other students, if you are thinking of going for professional reasons. You would find yourself amidst other students with similar intentions, and I think that gave the program a bit more gravity than my previous &quot;school.&quot;

If you go, please write back and let me know what you think!