French Immersion Homestay At Teacher’s Near Carcassone

We enjoyed our stay with Eliane and her family very much, everyone was very welcoming. The accommodations were comfortable and spacious with privacy for two friends traveling together but not wanting to share private spaces.   We chose to do the more limited excursion option and thus did some of our own sight-seeing. If you choose to do this, we recommend having your own transportation. The village of Pezans, nearby Carcassonne, and the surrounding area offered a wealth of activities – there wasn’t enough time in one visit to see it all! We were given many great tips for our own excursions during the week, as well as the couple of days we tacked on for some travel after we departed. Our language learning focused on conversation and listening comprehension, with less work on exercises. Eliane, Benjamin, and William are all good conversationalists (and Elena too!), so conversations felt natural and unforced. We enjoyed the time interacting and speaking with Elena, their young daughter, because speaking to a child in French is not something either of us have the opportunity to do and it unlocks a new skill – it’s just different than speaking with an adult.  The breakfast and lunch provided were wonderful, Eliane prepared excellent food for us at lunch each day and seemed very willing to accommodate special dietary needs (but we weren’t in need of this).  In summary, a good skill-building stay in an area with many things to do and see!

I spent a week in Pézens on a French immersion homestay, and it was honestly exactly what I was hoping for. From the start, Eliane asked me what kind of experience I wanted – and really listened. I was looking for something relaxed and low-pressure. We chatted back and forth in English and French, and I was able to ask questions in English when I needed to. I always felt comfortable making my attempts at speaking French.

I was welcomed into their lovely young family: her husband Benjamin, their two delightful little girls, and her charming brother-in-law William, who took me on different excursions to nearby sites – all of them beautiful and interesting. One in particular is a must-see: the Limousis Caves – absolutely incredible.

Most of the learning happened through everyday chats, whether it was over meals, on a walk, or while doing something around the village. It felt super easy and personal, and I never felt self-conscious or overwhelmed.

The setting was beautiful – a quiet little village not far from Carcassonne – and I had a great mix of practice time and downtime to explore, read, or just enjoy the slower pace. The food was amazing too (home-cooked and so French). Eliane is a very good cook!

If you’re looking for a gentle, flexible way to improve your French in a real-life setting – especially if you’re not after a full-on classroom vibe – this is such a great option. That said, if you want a more intense, structured learning experience, Eliane is very capable of providing that too. I left feeling much more confident and really grateful for such a personalised and enjoyable week.

I thoroughly enjoyed my week with Éliane and her wonderful family. I have to begin with explaining that after leaving, I had to resist the temptation to text multiple times a day as if we were old friends. Éliane and Benjamin and William are all so open and welcoming.

I bicycled in from Toulouse along the Canal du Midi (92km) and stopped along the way for a bowl of famous Cassoulet in Castelnaudary; its town of origin according to Wiki. And her house is just a mile from the canal for easy access to Carcassonne.

Éliane is a wonderful teacher and very accommodating, however I think I hampered our week by trying to focus entirely on conversation for the first couple of days. While that was my hope for the trip, that may be just a bridge too far with my age and hearing impairment. After my giving up the reins, we had some more productive instruction to end the week.

Éliane and I had a wonderful visit to Chateau de Pennautier with Éliane even helping out our new tour guide at times and Éliane getting a special bottle to taste that I was interested in (and purchased).

Her house and the guest accommodations are nonpareil and very private for the students, with a morning walk along the Chemin de Pech Donnât a must. And Pizza Occitane a block away is outstanding. I had some fun snippets of conversation with the owners as we were about equals in each other’s language.

This was my first French immersion and could not imagine a better choice. Allez-y !

This is my second immersion stay with Eliane and won’t be my last. :-)

Eliane, Benjamin and William are all excellent teachers. They’re patient yet keep the conversation interesting and I very much appreciated that they gently corrected my grammar or sentence construction when I responded. It is so helpful to have a patient, kind teacher. 

The cultural experience near Pezens is really exceptional. We visited The Brousses Paper Mill, an ancient mill set in beautiful nature. My French is probably at a level slightly higher than B1 (but definitely not B2 level yet) and I could understand the context of the guide. During the entire tour, William is there to explain a concept or translate a word. The tours are interesting and such a wonderful way to learn!

We also visited the town of Montolieu with its lovely book stores. As a book nerd, it was so fun to be in an entire town that adores books! There are artists and lovely, quaint streets. 

We spent a day in Narbonne near the sea to get a taste of a bigger city. It is such a beautiful place. We spent a day in Lagrasse, which is a sweet town that attracts French tourists but is quite unknown to other tourists, which means it was lovely. The tour of the vinegar distillery and the tasting is beyond words. You must do it if you stay with Eliane. Again, the tour guide was very kind and would translate a word if I didn’t understand it, but the context was easy to understand. And the vinegar tasting is absolutely fabulous!

Finally, the week topped off with a lovely lunch and wine tasting with Eliane… another highlight of the week. The food at the winery is so good and our wine guide was Yann, the boss, so we had an excellent tasting (and basically just sat and drank fabulous wine and chatted.) It was superb. 

They are such a kind family (with Elena and new little Lily!) that I can’t imagine learning French anywhere else . Thank you Eliane, William and Benjamin for another great immersion stay. 

With love, Kim

It was such a pleasure to spend one week with you and the family. We looked forward to coffee & croissant every morning. Sometimes we gathered in the nook near the window & other times it was at the table on the deck with nature on full display. No matter where we took petit déjeuner we would speak French from that moment until we took a pause before lunch (3 hours or so).  Lunch was delicious and we appreciate that you catered to our preferences. Sometimes Benjamin or William would join in and it was fascinating  for my husband Elliot and me to converse about subjects that would come up. Each of you was patient and would repeat or clarify if we didn’t follow along at first. Sometimes we would write a phrase or word to study it more in detail. We even got to discuss William’s interest in football (soccer)! 

My comprehension and speaking ability is more advanced than Elliot’s and somehow you were able to guide both of us as needed to make substantial progress.  For me, French has been a constant with frequent classes at Alliance Française & university. Elliot is an adult learner. I think my speed in thinking in French improved along with a greater percentage of comprehension. With the daily discipline Elliot spoke more often and with greater fluency. I must say, staying in the small apartment in your home made coming to class and meals a convenient treat. We had a car and enjoyed exploring Carcassonne and Narbonne in the afternoons and evenings. Thank you for taking us on an afternoon of cave exploration nearby. We also enjoyed meeting your darling daughters who filled your home with charm. Is Elena still dancing ?

À bientôt et merci mille fois. 

I spent a very delightful week with Eliane and her lovely young family. We would start the day together with breakfast, sometimes with Elena her husband Benjamin and brother in law William and of course baby Lili –Ann.

Eliane tailored by learning experience to suit my level and I had a small amount of homework to do each night to reinforce the day’s lesson. Our class consisted mostly of grammar, which I needed but with lots of conversation mainly in French but with some English when needed. Eliane made me feel very comfortable and as I lacked confidence in speaking, encouraged me to have a go and not worry too much about the mistakes.

Eliane is a great cook and she prepared lovely lunches and as I had selected the fully catered option Eliane would deliver a delicious meal each evening to my separate self contained accommodation in their lovely home.

Afternoons were spent discovering the area with William.

I hope to be able to return again, maybe next year.

As English retirees now living in Normandie we really needed to start improving our French past the “getting by” standard that we were at. Exploring options, we  discovered Eliane’s immersion programme and decided to book a two week stay with her.

Her location in the south was perfect for us, meaning we could combine our principal objective with a wonderful holiday in a part of France that we hadn’t explored before.

It was everything that we had hoped for. Whilst being welcomed into her lovely family to share meals and conversation, after our daily lessonswe then had time to ourselves in the spacious self-contained apartment, and had plenty of opportunity to explore this beautiful and interesting part of the country.

We had already told Eliane that we wanted to focus on conversational French, and we were given plenty of opportunities to do this, with the bonus of additional help from family members when they joined us for the delicious meals that Eliane prepared for us.

The lessons were tailored for us specifically, and we learnt new things every day. We really liked Eliane’s approach, mixing conversation with some really interesting and worthwhile exercises. We especially appreciated her letting us talk without unnecessary stops for corrections, and then just picking out the important elements afterwards.

Eliane didn’t have ‘une baguette magique’ she could wave over us, so we didn’t come home suddenly fluent of course, but we are definitely understanding French and speaking it with much more confidence now.

My daughter and I felt so graciously welcomed during the 2-week immersion course with Eliane in Pezens.

What a sweet family! I really enjoyed or conversation over croissants and coffee during breakfast while my teenager slept late!

Eliane adapted her schedule to accommodate our differing French levels and my daughter’s sleep needs . This made the lessons much more effective for both of us. She is a very patient and fun teacher.

The whole family switched between English and French easily to help include both of us in all conversations. We really enjoyed some lengthy discussions about the differences and similarities between our 2 cultures.

Our afternoon outings with William were so FUN! What a fantastic area of the country to explore! We used the drive time to practice conversation, and he patiently answered all our questions about life in France. He also made some great recommendations for future visits. I feel like speaking the new language is becoming easier now after spending the time with Eliane. We both wish we could have stayed longer! Highly recommended!

I will stay in touch! Thank you for everything.

I have just spent a delightful week with Eliane and family in Pezens on option 2.

I am 80 and was traveling alone so was very pleased to be met at Carcassone station 4 hours later than planned by a smiling Eliane who made sure I had something to eat and drink before I collapsed into my comfortable bed. The following morning I was introduced to the rest of the family over breakfast Benjamin, William, gorgeous Elena and Lili and of course Okami. At that point I felt not so much a student trying to improve my french as a distant relative who was being welcomed into the family he had never met before. That morning and over the rest of the week it was clear that my French language skills were worse than I thought but Eliane and the others very kindly and patiently repeated any questions and spoke English as necessary. Eliane quickly adapted her lessons to my needs and was happy to speak in English to clarify things and allow me to express myself. We discussed many topics including politics and current affairs and I gained insights into current French language usage and culture and I explained the English equivalent. The trips out every afternoon were varied and always fascinating and I found William to be an engaging and sympathetic guide and a good and careful driver with very good English. Eliane’s cooking was always good and varied. I was lucky to be there for Eliane’s birthday and was delighted to be invited to join them for a meal in one of their favourite restaurants. I could not have asked for kinder or friendlier hosts and I would recommend them to anyone.

My friend and I stayed with Eliane and her family for two weeks.

My friend opted to do activities without French, as I am the one who is learning.

Eliane was patient and helpful and offered very usefull “tricks” for French. They seem to help but I have some work to do!

The whole visit was lovely. When we weren’t practicing French, Eliane conversed in English proficiently and made my friend’s stay that much better.

Eliane was not able to take us around Carcassonne due to a little upcoming wee human, but her brother-in-law William took on the role and was sweet and kind. His English was also good. He was happy to take us to all the places he’d been before and shared that it never gets old.

Some of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen are here in Carcassonne.

Oh, and the dog. Okami is a beautiful, sweet boy who loves his cookies!

And the food! OMG! Eliane, I am convinced, is secretly a chef because everything she made was fantastic!

Overall, this French immersion at Eliane’s was absolutely wonderful and I recommend it highly to anyone considering an immersion stay.

I loved, loved, LOVED it!

I have had a lovely time at Eliane’s. I came here from Seattle with certain goals in mind to improve my French pronunciation, grammar, etc. I also of course wanted to see the area, my First time in the south of France.

Briefly, the accomodations are great, the food is excellent, the company very engaging and pleasant. Most important for me was to be able to discuss the proposed activities with Eliane. She was very flexible and really helped me achieve my goals of visiting the local villages and tour of Carcassonne of course.

In both cases, I couldn’t be happier with my language learning ans my tours of the area. Eliane is fantastic !

I recommand Eliane very highly – a great experience with great people!

Second stay with Eliane.

Looking forward to the next one

Third stay with Eliane. Looking forward to the next one

Merci encore pour ce bon moment avec toi et ta famille!

This week with Eliane has flown by. I expected to have a wonderful time because of all the positive reviews but I didn’t know it would be this fabulous.

Eliane, her husband Benjamin, and little daughter, Elena, made me feel so welcome and comfortable.

Eliane was patient with my attempts to speak French and I never hesitated to talk about anything. I never felt embarrassed even though I made so many mistakes, some of which were quite amusing!

Her teaching was flexible and tailored to my specific level and goals.

It was fun to discover we had so many things in common and we never ran out of interesting things to talk about.

I enjoyed our excursions together as well as the amazing fresh gourmet meals she made.

If you are considering a home immersion program, you can have confidence in this one with Eliane.

I’ve just had a lovely week with Eliane. Our lessons were excellent. Eliane was very responsive to my requests and aims. I wanted to revise the main tenses and practise them in conversation. Eliane has a pleasant friendly manner and corrected my errors in a light way without detracting from the conversation. She suggested and interesting book that was accessible for my level. I read in my free time and we looked closely at some passages during our lessons. I also wanted to work on pronunciation and Eliane has suitable exercises for that. I’m a language teacher myself and found Eliane’s methods to be professional and effective. I feel I made progress in a week.

The excursions to the caves at Limousis and the “Book village” of Montolieu were great. The caves are spectacular, like nothing I’ve seen before. Montolieu was charming. On both occasions it was good to continue chatting un French. Breakfast and lunch were excellent and sociable, again in French. Eliane provided good vegetarian meals for me.

I envoyed a swim every morning before breakfast and cycled along the Canal du Midi on two of our free afternoons. WE also visited the château of Carcassonne which is stunning.

I came with a friend and we had our lessons separately as we’re at different levels. We didn’t need a car. All together it was a most enjoyable and productive week. It was a pleasure to meet Eliane and her family. Her husband Benjamin and her brother in law William also helped us with our French and were very friendly.

De bonnes vacances !