French Immersion Homestay At Teacher’s near Vannes, Brittany

I just returned from my immersion week Chez Flo.  It was an exceptional experience from beginning to end.  Flo’s lessons are incredibly well-planned, engaging and fun.  I always felt challenged (exactly what I asked for) and encouraged – so I learned a lot. Flo and Dawson are so welcoming and kind;  it was a pleasure to stay in their modern, comfy “Gîte” for the week.  I was totally spoiled by their home-grown produce and delicious meals.  Our excursions could not have been better – everything from sandy beaches to medieval castles, exploring quaint villages and gathering mushrooms in the forest!  Even more fun, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with some of the locals during my free time.  I’ve already reserved to come back next year, it will be my third immersion Chez flo. I can’t wait!!

It’s hard to describe how much fun it was to spend a week with Flo! She’s a delightful, energetic teacher with a passion for Breton history, culture and cuisine. I enjoyed meeting her family and dog Maia (the cat was asleep elsewhere), and the crepe-making lesson was wonderful! Her parents, who live very close, were also welcoming. The gite next door, where I stayed, was beautiful and comfortable.

Flo is a very organized teacher, who gave me a mix of grammar exercises (in class and for homework), reading from books, watching videos and exposure to cultural landmarks. I feel so much more competent in French and confident in my speaking abilities. I am also more tuned in to exploring cultural aspects of the country I am visiting.

For immersion lessons, I cannot recommend her highly enough. Merci, Flo!

Florence was on point. For us, this week at Chez Flo became a lot more than strengthening our French.

La Professeur

Florence worked out our level of French well, in advance, and managed the difference in our levels and we both came out feeling like we’d learned a significant amount. Some things that/which/who we had struggled with for years, she resolved in minutes. Brilliant. She had a great sense of humour in class and on many occasions we found ourselves in French stitches we laughed so hard.

L’Hôte

Florence provided excellent accommodation both in Le Gîte, in the dining room and upstairs in the classroom, outdoor cooking and eating.

La Cuisinière et Le Cuisinier

Vegetables which came from the garden were absolutely delicious and indeed the courgettes we took with us survived a miraculous 2 weeks, as fresh as the day they were picked. All dishes, whether the simplicity of le petit dej, le dej having exhausted our brains in class or le dîner were très très très délicieux. Dawson’s galette lessons were both very tasty and a delight to participate in; thank you.

La Guide Touristique

As a tour guide, it was like going with a friend but Florence never dropped her guard, insisting we spoke French all the time. We visited Carnac where not only did we see the sites but she made it educational. We visited Rochefort-en-Terre and also Vannes, the latter giving us a wonderful entree for our following two week stay.

Florence and family including Maya and chickens were simply delightful and Le Gîte was much more than one could hope for. A very comfortable and memorable week. Send our regards to the local farmer Gilbert.

We spent a delightful week in Brittany Chez Flo. Our daily lessons improved our French in such a fun way that we never forgot that we were on vacation. Florence designed our program to match our skill level, devising grammatical lessons to strengthen our weak points. She included books, pamphlets and videos to help us learn more about French government, culture and history. A brilliant daily assignment was for each of us to chose an article from the local newspaper, prepare a presentation, and then discuss the article.

Florence led us on three excursions (prehistoric stones of Carnac, boat tour of Gulf of Morbihan and exploration of the old city of Vannes on market day) that extended the classes into Brittany itself. Along the way she explained the history of the places we visited, and occasionally reminded us of a point of grammar we had worked on that morning.

The refurbished traditional stone house is set amid rolling fields of corn and wheat. The gite,– the part of the refurbished long house where we stayed – was comfortable and spacious. Views across the fields toward the river encourage deep breaths! Fruit trees, full of plums, apples, and pears, dot the garden. Chickens in their pen, and a lusty rooster, started our day with energy. Flowers were everywhere.

Meals were wonderful. Flo is a great cook; she makes her own confiture from the fruits in the garden, and she delighted us our first evening with vegetable lasagne and plum clafoutis. For breakfast we enjoyed amazing breads and croissants from the local boulangerie; lunch featured fruit and vegetables from the garden, and we shared three delicious dinners, the finale a lesson in making galettes from Dawson.

We felt very much en famille. The household included Flo’s irrepressible Australian husband Dawson, who was generous with much-needed IT advice, shopped for bread each morning, gathered the eggs and vegetables, and generally kept us laughing;their large friendly rescue dog named Maïa who kept us company during the lessons and under the table at dinner; lovely daughter Leyla who had a summer job in town, and, nearby, Florence’s parents, who live just across the fields, with their magnificent garden.

Florence is full of energy and exudes pride in her language, her region and her village. She loves to share these enthusiasms, and we recommend her to anyone who wants to learn more about the language and culture of France.

It has been a great pleasure to take a 2-week immersion course with Florence. The 2-storey self-contained gîte is very clean and proper, with everything necessary for a comfortable stay. It is connected to Florence’s and therefore easily accessible for meals and lessons.

Florence is very cheerful and energetic. She manages to cook tasty meals, bring us out for half a day, and then still gives us very good one-on-one lessons. In the first lesson, she asked us to do a quick test to find out areas for improvement, explained the grammar and usage, and then gave us exercises to practise what we learned.

We enjoy the outings with Florence because we can learn more about the history and culture of Brittany. During the half-day trips, we practise our oral French and have many of our questions about the daily life of the French people answered.

Florence’s family members are also very welcoming. Her husband Dawson showed us his hen den, the well in garden and the farmland. Her parents Guy and Annick enthusiastically shared their passion for gardening with us. We are honoured to have a ride in Leyla’s (Flo’s daughter) first car the very day it was bought. And we were so lucky to have attended Annick’s 80th birthday party with all her children’s families and some good friends.

My husband, who has only learned French through Duolingo, joined me on this stay and also took lessons from Flo. He finds Flo’a lessons very useful and he thoroughly enjoyed the stay.

All in all, our stay in chez Flo is very enjoyable and the unique experience is certainly unforgettable.

Our stay at Chez Flo surpassed our expectations! Flo is a perceptive teacher and an engaging host. As a teacher, she quickly identified ways we could build on our basic French conversation skills. We asked for grammar homework and we got it, which helped us review principles we’d discussed with her earlier in the day. But Flo has so much more to offer as a teacher than mere homework assignments! She uses a variety of teaching strategies, like doing targeted exercises together and reading short passages aloud then discussing them. Even outside of the formal lessons, Flo is always in teaching mode. She emphasizes developing conversational fluency, and she gave us plenty of opportunities to practice. We interacted with her family and friends throughout the week, who generously spoke with us clearly and simply so we could participate in the conversations. Flo brings the grammar lessons into these conversations, occasionally correcting us to reinforce what we’ve studied during lessons. During outings, Flo gave us a deeper understanding of French culture than we could have gotten on our own. Flo puts her all into every aspect of this language and culture learning experience, and we are deeply appreciative!

We spent 2 wonderful weeks at Chez Flo & would do it all over again in an instant. As the weakest of my French immersion group of three, I was able to engage fully in the daily lessons & improve my French fluency & comprehension. From Day 1 the lessons were tailored to meet each of our specific learning needs but also to appeal to each of our individual interests. You will notice that Flo observes & takes notes of conversations/discussions outside of lesson times & incorporates them into the next lesson, personalizing your learning experience & making it meaningful.

We loved the cooking lessons (in French, of course), eating/sharing the delicious things we made, the field trips around the beautiful département of Morbihan, & learning about the history of the region & its significance during WWII, all coordinated and delivered by Flo!

Flo & her family are warm, welcoming & full of fun. They made learning the French language fun & we truly felt like part of their family. We would also note that they went above & beyond the call of duty in more ways than one to make it a very memorable experience. It was really one of the very best holidays we have had.

Florence is a wonderful French professor – she is thorough yet relaxed, fun and focused on where the improvements will come and flexible in her style. I felt my confidence to speak French improved during our week together. She also encouraged me to meet her friends and family, which is a great way to practise in real situations. Both Florence and Dawson are fantastic hosts and we had some great chats and laughs together. I cannot praise Chez Florence enough!

Chère Florence,

Merci pour cette semaine fantastique! C’était merveilleux de découvrir Carnac, le centre historique de Vannes, et l’émouvant musée de la résistance.

Votre enseignement dynamique et votre passion pour partager l’histoire et la culture bretonne nous ont offert une expérience inoubliable.

C’était un privilège de partager votre vie de famille, les discussions animées avec Dawson et la rencontre avec vos parents, sans oublier votre cuisine fabuleuse!

Merci beaucoup!

Fran et David.

Dear Flo,

Waouh! Quelle semaine inoubliable! En plus de m’apprendre à améliorer mon français, tu m’as tout appris sur la Bretagne! Merci pour tes excellentes compétences pédagogiques, pour ta patience, pour ton humour et pour ta nature positive. Merci de m’avoir laissé passer du temps avec ton chien parfait. J’adorerais vous accueillir (et ta famille) aux États-Unis, comme tu m’as accueillie. Avec toute ma gratitude, Jane.

Chère Flo,

Je suis d’accord avec Jane! Je n’ai pas les mots en français ni en anglais pour décrire combien j’ai apprécié tout ce que tu as partagé avec nous ces deux dernières semaines. Tu es vraiment spéciale, “one in a million”.

Merci du fond du cœur pour une expérience en Bretagne que je n’oublierai jamais!

Janine.

If you want to live like a local in gorgeous Brittany with a delightful friend/teacher/guide, all while improving your fluency in French, contact Florence now and hope that she has availability! She welcomed my friend Ann and me as treasured guests and more than achieved her intent of giving us the best possible French immersion homestay experience at her exquisite Breton home. Florence is a talented teacher, gracious host, tour guide extraordinaire and is so kind, patient, and fun to be with. Our private gite accommodation was roomy and lovely with modern kitchen/bathroom(s), and views overlooking the countryside.All of our home-cooked meals with Florence (and in the evenings, also with husband, Dawson, their son, Luca, and also a cousin one night) were incredible and made with locally sourced ingredients, including vegetables from their garden and eggs from their chickens. These meals were also accompanied by fun French conversation with her and her supportive family. Also under Florence’s tutelage, we learned how to make galettes and crepes (and flan), and Dawson oversaw our cooking them. To expertly flip them as he does is a goal, but thankfully simply folding them over was also an option!

We started our days with breakfast and conversation with Florence. Then we sat together at the table in her sunny office/classroom upstairs, with their sweet dog, Maia, lying down nearby, and had our organized morning lessons and exercises. Florence expertly tailored our lessons to include exactly what we wanted to cover and helped us each to move forward in our comprehension and spoken French. But ALL times with Florence were learning opportunities. She would discreetly write on a small pad during our meals and adventures and would re-visit her notes later and let us know where we needed to make corrections. She would also occasionally gently correct us at the time. At the end of our amazing week, I understood French conversation better and was more confident in speaking it.

For our three excursions, we loved seeing and learning about the ancient, mystical stones at Carnac; exploring by ferry the Golfe de Morbihan (with 42 islands!), and by foot, the magical Ile-aux-Moines with its beautiful harbors and streets lined by quaint, flower-adorned homes; and, finally, wandering in historic, picturesque Vannes including buying fresh fruit and vegetables at the market and enjoying “moules frites” at an outdoor café on the harbor.

We were also kindly invited to visit Florence’s charming parents who live across the “valley” from them. Her talented mother gave us a tour of her exquisite garden and cut stunning flowers for us along the way for bouquets to take “home.” Then her gracious father insisted that we stay for an aperitif which we enjoyed with them and Dawson, too. On another afternoon, Florence asked me to join her in walking Maia in the beautiful countryside and through the small village where her grandparents lived, meeting neighbors and friends along the way.

Ann and I had two afternoons/evenings “on our own.” On the first evening, we had a relaxing dinner at our gite after stocking up at the local supermarket under Florence’s guidance. On the other night, we had a delicious meal at a charming, beamed-ceiling restaurant in the neighboring town of Saint-Jean-Brevelay where we were also entertained by local villagers doing expert karaoke. Florence dropped us off, and Dawson kindly retrieved us.

And, finally, getting to Florence’s home is so easy. Vannes is a direct 2hr30min TGV ride from Paris. Florence picked us up at the station on Sunday, and drove us to her home. She and Dawson drove us back to the station the next Saturday. After such a fun, fabulous, and informative week where we learned about and experienced French culture in Brittany as well as improving our working knowledge of the French language, we didn’t want to leave. Merci mille fois to Florence and her gracious family for everything! LAURA

Flo,

Thank you for all you did for Laura and me during our stay earlier this month.  Really, it could not have been better—it was both fun and a great learning experience for both of us.  We particularly appreciated all you did to accommodate our several special requests, from arranging a wonderful garden tour to a briefing on France’s government to learning to cook galettes, crepes and even galettes des rois.  You and Dawson were such gracious hosts and made us feel welcome every day in your lovely home; I meant it when I said to let us know if you visit Texas as we’d enjoy seeing both of you again. 

From creating grammar lessons specially directed to our numerous weaknesses to keeping a running note on vocabulary during casual conversation, you used every minute to best effect, helping us to be a great deal more comfortable in French.  The combination of an excellent French teacher and an engaging tour guide is hard to beat!  We loved seeing Vannes and the Gulf of Morbihan especially, and your own knowledge and love of the area made everything more fun.

I can heartily recommend a week with you to anyone interested in gaining fluency in French.   Again, so many thanks! ANN

Chère Flo, Ça fait un bail et je suis désolé de te remercier si tard. J’ai passé beaucoup de bons moments avec toi. Trop nombreux pour être énumérés. Mais tu le sais. Ce sont deux semaines dont je me souviendrai toujours. Tes leçons, tes repas, tes conversations, ta patience, et les visites autour de la Bretagne. Je ne peux pas citer le meilleur moment. Tout était merveilleux et tu l’as rendu ainsi.

Bayeux et Paris étaient tous deux formidables, mais très différents. Bayeux est jolie et très touristique. L’hôtel était parfait. Paris, dans le vingtième arrondissement, n’était pas touristique. C’était vivant et intéressant. Nous avons adoré nos promenades au Père Lachaise et au Parc des Buttes Chaumont.

Quoi qu’il en soit, le voyage a été superbe (à l’exception des vols), mais la meilleure partie a été Chez Flo et c’est vous qui avez fait en sorte que cela se produise.

Je feuillette encore toutes mes photos et mes souvenirs. J’ai l’intention de compiler certaines de ces photos et commentaires dans un petit livre.

Enfin et encore une fois, merci beaucoup.

En septembre, avec mon mari (qui ne parle pas de français), je suis restée pendant deux semaines pour faire une immersion française près du village Saint-Jean-Brevelay. Le dimanche, nous avons rencontré Flo et son mari australien Dawson à la gare de Vannes et après, nous avons partagé un apéro de Kir avant le dîner – une introduction très sympa à « Chez Flo ».
Pendant les 15 jours, nous étions très confortables dans le gîte et tout s’est très bien passé – des repas délicieux, des excursions diverses, quelques réunions avec la famille et des locaux, et des conversations fascinantes en français et en anglais. Et la météo, aussi ! Bravo, Flo!
Flo est professeur très dédiée et organisée, et le cours était variés et détaillés exactement pour moi. Le premier jour, on a commencé avec l’organisation nécessaire pour le séjour – une discussion générale du programme, la vie quotidienne de la famille, des excursions dans ce coin de Bretagne et des infos sur le petit village de Saint-Jean-Brévelay plus une carte locale. J’ai aussi fait des tests d’évaluation oraux et écrits. Grâce à ces tests et ces conversations, Flo a organisé des activités quotidiennes avec assez d’exercices et de révisions pour développer ma connaissance et pour faire les pratiques orales et écrites pendant les deux semaines. 
Je voudrais absolument recommander une ou deux ou plus (!) semaines « chez Flo » et sa famille pour améliorer le français, bien sûr, mais aussi pour faire des vraies expériences Bretonnes . 

We so enjoyed our week with Florence and Dawson in August! They made us feel like family. The mornings instructions were excellent and perfectly pitched to our level of French. And the afternoon excursions were as enjoyable as they were educational. Also, we left with quite a few of Florence’s recipes and have been cooking them at home. We highly recommend “Chez Flo” and hope to return! Tanya and Stewart

We heartily recommend an immersion with Flo, whose basic approach was to pay close attention to areas where each of us struggled in conversation, and then select exercises to work on those areas. Emphasis was placed on the kinds of errors that are most likely to lead to misunderstanding, with a good mix of written and oral exercises. There were several excursions to choose from, and they often provided opportunities to practice. Meals were lovely, with lots of home-grown produce and terrific support from the family in speaking. Finally, the accommodations are particularly nice. You can’t go wrong here!