Really great trip!

This was a really fantastic trip and a great way to experience France, a country I'd been wanting to travel to for many years. All the French people we got to interact with, including our guides in the mountains, people we worked with on community service projects, and especially my homestay family, were incredible people. They were completely welcoming and, when applicable, very grateful for our help. My homestay family was really amazing -- the kids were super friendly and the parents did everything they could to make our stay as good as it could be, so that I really didn't want to leave by the end of it.

The four trip leaders were also consistently focused on making sure that everyone was enjoying the trip and getting what they wanted out of it. They had regular one-on-one talks with everyone on the trip to make sure there were no problems and to help people who were having any kind of trouble. I didn't have any real concerns but I'm sure this was very helpful for some people.

One complaint with this trip is that with regards to learning French, although I certainly made a lot of progress and built up a lot of confidence in conversational French, it was not really an immersion experience. All the kids spoke English so while the trip leaders spoke mostly in French to us, the vast majority of the interactions I had on the trip were in English with my tripmates. In addition, since there was such a wide spread of French proficiency and I was one of the more advanced French speakers, I didn't get as much out of the language learning activities as some of the other people did. In terms of visiting France, seeing the country and meeting wonderful French people, this trip is really excellent. However, it's not perfect for someone who really wants to get a French immersion experience and learn the language as fast as possible.