Eté 2024: Dijon Tour Schedule
(This tour is in French language only)
mercredi 10 juillet: Bienvenue à Dijon!
Apéritif d’accueil in our new surroundings and welcome dinner in one of Dijon’s inviting restaurants in the heart of town. DÎNER
jeudi 11 juillet: La ville [l’esthétique: le patrimoine]
We’ll start today’s activities a bit later to help ease the jet lag. In our morning seminar, we’ll learn about the importance of the role Dijon played in the history of France, particularly its four powerful Ducs de Bourgogne. Afternoon balade will help us discover the delightful coins et recoins de cette belle ville. Take the remainder of the afternoon to explore the city or rest. DÉJEUNER
vendredi 12 juillet: Les problématiques autour de l’école [l’éducation et l’enseignement]
After we start the day bright and early with a congenial visite gourmande at the dynamic marché dijonnais, where we’ll mingle and meet with various producteurs locaux, we’ll have a look at the range of problems confronting the Education Nationale today. Les atteintes à la laïcité, l’uniforme, la mixité, le wokisme, le genre, etc : France is encountering a multitude of dilemmas with which teachers and principals are faced daily. We’ll start our mini-braderie d’idées today as well. DÉJEUNER
samedi 13 juillet: La francophonie dans le monde [la famille et la communauté]
Soft power, présence militaire, langue, influence mondiale : we’ll have a look at how France is faring on the international stage, something dear to all of us. Mini-braderie. Afternoon visit to the strikingly beautiful Musée des Beaux-Arts, a jewel of a museum in the heart of town. DÉJEUNER
dimanche 14 juillet* Journée libre ou la campagne bourguignonne: [l’esthétique: le patrimoine]
Take the day for yourself or join us for an outing to some of Buirgundy’s historic villages and cultural sites. We’ll visit the stunning 12th c. Abbaye de Fontenay, followed by a tour of the elegant Château de Bussy-Rabutin, surnommé le château aux mille portraits. After lunch in an unusual ferme-auberge in the town of Flavigny Ozerain—”une escale gourmande conviviale pour déguster les produits des fermes locales”–we’ll pass by Semur-en-Auxois to see its beautifully preserved cité médiévale on the return trip back to Dijon. DÉJEUNER INCLUS
lundi 15 juillet: L’immigration & l’intégration: les questions sociales [le pluriculturalisme]
France is undergoing several dramatic upheaveals on the social scene. The questions of immigration and integration—has it worked?—as well as le féminisme, la question du travail, etc. remain prevalent in French thought today. Mini-braderie Visit this afternoon to the dynamic new Cité de la Gastronomie…. REPAS LIBRES
mardi 16 juillet Travaillons notre français et la braderie d’idées [l’esthétique: le patrimoine]
Spend the morning at leisure or join an optional cooking course* to prepare (and consume!) a delicious plat bourguignon to impress your friends with at your next dinner party. Then, this afternoon, come prepared to show off your best classroom ideas and work on a few of our own language mistakes. Tonight, you’ll spend an optional evening dining with a French family chez eux, a rare treat for foreigners, in which case you’ll be paired off two by two. DÎNER
mercredi 18 juillet*: Journée libre ou Leçons de vie d’un vigneron [l’esthétique, le patrimoine]
Touring the Burgundy region is really not complete without a visit to a viticulteur in the area. We’ll venture down to the small, prestigious wine region of Puligny-Montrachet for a morning seminar by a local vigneron who specializes in oeno-tourisme, followed by a wine-pairing lunch in a village restaurant and then une balade dans les vignes to see for ourselves the way les climats are grown and tended in la Bourgogne. A marvelous mystery tour of discovery, enjoyment, and stimulation of the senses for those who choose to come along. DEJEUNER INCLUS
jeudi 18 juillet* Journée libre ou Beaune [l’esthétique: le patrimoine]
Although we’ll miss the extraordinary wine auction that takes place every year in November in Beaune, we’ll get to visit this magical capital of wine with its cultural center of the Hospices de Beaune and its historical mustard factory. On the way there, we’ll visit a unique fruit farm where cassis is grown, and on the way home we’ll visit the renowned Clos de Vougeot. Une journée au cœur de la Côte de Beaune. REPAS LIBRES
vendredi 19 juillet: Journée libre, entièrement [l’esthétique: le patrimoine]
Spend your final day in Dijon buying those last-minute purchases you’ve been intending to make or visiting the museums or bookstores we didn’t have time to see. We’ll say goodbye to our seminar leader this evening at our final dinner. DÎNER DE CLÔTURE
samedi 20 juillet
Departure if you must, is always bittersweet, and we encourage you to stay longer in France if you can. There are so many options Burgundy, as its towns are full of history and authenticity, to say nothing of its sheer beauty and natural wonders.
samedi 20 juillet: One-day extension to Besançon
If you’re not ready to leave France yet, then come along with us for another day in the nearby medieval town of Besancon, the capital of Franche-Comté. An ancient and attractive grey-stone town at the northern edge of the Jura mountains, Besançon is enclosed in a loop of the Doubs River whose meanders define the layout of the town. We’ll travel by train today and visit the city itself, the charming medieval streets of the cité and the citadelle, have lunch in town, and then take some free time or explore the Musée de la Déportation et la Résistance, a superbe aid to understanding France’s political conscientiousness during and after the war. We’ll travel back to Dijon for one last night, so you won’t need to pack up for good until tomorrow morning. A final goodbye cocktail together at our hotel this evening will signal la vraie fin de notre stage. [Read The Guardian article here about Besançon.]
* extra cost
Watch this quick video about the wonders of Burgundy
Phrases in brackets = Themes relative to the curriculum of advance testing
* = meals at leisure; ♥ = additional cos
But don’t take our word for it! Listen to what your colleagues have to say below: