Conversation partner/s in France
 

I have the opportunity to visit France in June for the sole purpose of immersing myself in the language. I do not want to take any classes at a language school as they are very expensive and I am done with the grammar. I need to speak it to improve it. Is there a website like craigslist in France to post an announcement? Maybe a tutor? So that we can meet for a meal or a visit to a museum and talk about and trade experiences. I am open to any cities as I am just starting the planning. Any other ideas to engage in conversation in France?

Thank you for your responses.

$$$ is on me.
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There is the French Craigslist:

http://paris.en.craigslist.org/

Suggestions:

(a) Do it yourself if that suits you. In general the French are more aloof than residents of the US. You can invent some conversation-building scenarios by forcing yourself upon a "victim". Clerks, cashiers, and the like are obligated to respond to you. Passers-by are not. You could have a lot of creatice fun by engaging French clerks in commerce-related conversation. "What other colors do you have? Is this machine-washable?"

(b) Network all your contacts to find a connection to someone who speaks French as their first language. Didn't your neighbor's son marry a French gal and move to Lyon?

(c) Try another travel forum site to get other ideas and solutions. In my opinion Fodor's attracts those without much budget sensitivity. Readers here may be wondering why you don't just reach into those deep pockets and spring for a language school program.

(d) Avoid CraigList. Too risky as far as personal safety is concerned.

(e) Contact Language Departments of colleges in France. Find a student willing to meet you in France and exchange language skills. You can help them with their English. They can help you with your French.

(f) Don't give up.

All language classes in France are not about grammar, I've taken conversation classes. They weren't that expensive, either IMO, but that's relative.

I find plenty of people to talk to by going to parks, sitting in cafes, etc. I've never had a problem. Last Fall I was there and spent one day in Montsouris park, for example (really only a couple hours) and just sat near an older woman, and it was very easy to start starting about the weather, how Paris had changed, safety, crime, etc. (she was actually concerned about that so she brought it up, as she was living alone and talked about having been pickpocketed twice or something). Another time I spoke with a man in Luxembourg gardens for an hour (you do have to be careful on that one, of course, but once we started talking I could figure out where he was coming from -- also, he was sitting there first, beware of men who come up to you when you are sitting there). I've had plenty of conversations with people in cafes.

So it isn't difficult if you can speak the language, I find.

I've had a converation class at L'INstitut Parisien in Paris, for example, and that was nice as it was a way to meet some expats and other nationalities who were in Paris for a while, and we were about the same speaking level.

However, there are tons of people with adds in the paper who want to hire themselves out as tutors. You have no idea how good they are, of course, and tutors are always more expensive than classes, at least the ones I've seen ads for, because they are one-to-one. They have a lot of ads in papers for ex-pats or the Anglophone community, for example (such as those free ones you get in McDonalds, FUSAC is the one I'm thinking of).

thank you for your responses. i will check into these ideas.