French Immersion Homestay At Teacher’s Near Carcassone

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 !

Je peux pas conseiller cette expérience assez! Eliane et sa famille sont vraiment merveilleuses, je me suis trouvé en souriant tout le temps simplement quand j’ai regardé les petites interactions entre eux. J’ai appris beaucoup de français, grâce à elle et grâce au reste de sa famille. Son beau-frère, William, qui la aide avec des activités durant les après midis, était aussi super sympa. Mon but pour cette expérience était d’améliorer mon français parlant et compréhension, et je l’ai trouvé parfait pour ça. Simplement avec des conversations durant les repas ou durant les activités de l’après midi, j’ai amélioré mon français du quotidien.

I genuinely had the time of my life with the week flying by. If you have a chance to do a language immersion program, I highly recommend that you do it here! N’hésitez pas à faire cette expérience, vous ne la regretterez pas!

Second stay. Looking forward to the next one !

So, I just finished French Immersion with Eliane in Carcassonne in early July 2024. My wife tagged along with me but not taking lessons but relaxed and did painting. Carcassonne is one of my bucket lists and did’t dissapoint us. All and all, this was a wonderful trip. Eliane’s husband Benjamin greeted us at the Toulouse Airport then drove us to their house in Pezens, small village 10 min from Carcassonne. We stayed at their lower level, with cozy two bed rooms with shower and own toilette. As we had to fly in from US, we were heavily jet lagged but able to sleep ok after quick stroll around this cute little town and had a pizza near by that was recommended by Eliane. It turns out not many places are open on Sunday, so this was very helpful and the owners of this pizzeria was very nice.

After nice French breakfast, lessons began, as I am a beginner French learner, it was not easy with conversations. I could not recognize simple words that I learned because I am not used to French pronunciation. Eliane was very patient and able to get me going. She interject some explanations in English, so I understand which was very helpful. Some morning were pretty rough with jet lag but she seems to sense that and adjust accordingly. Sometimes, she went over some grammar and also pointed out where English speakers make mistakes which is also very helpful. Another thing is that Eliane seems to try to simplify things well and that helps a lot.

Afternoons are the sightseeing time. She has bikes that we can ride on for mini Le Tour de France of ourselves along the Canal Midi bike trail. This is a nice way to get over jet lag and keep active. There is even a cafe for ice cream or coffee. Then, our pick of tour-Cite de Carcassonne and Cite de Saisac. As Carcassonne is famous tourist destination, there are lots of tourists and not easy in a hot summer day but still great place to visit and self guided tour was nice. But, the best part was Eliane’s guide in both French and English. The legend of Dame Carcas!!! I wish I understood better in French though. Next day was for Ssissac Castle/Ruin with William her brother in law, nice kid reminding us of our son. After driving through two cute little town, the Ruin shows up on the little mountain. Not many people, relaxed tour with William!

Then ,wine tasting at the local winery with dinner, another nice dinner with French practice!

All and all, wonderful experience with learning not just language but culture of France with nice balance! Highly recommended to anybody!!!

We have just completed a most enjoyable stay with Eliane and her family in a truly delightful part of France. We are grandparents from Australia who travelled with our sixteen year old granddaughter. Eliane did a fantastic job creating interesting and engaging lessons for the three of us who are all at different levels in our study of French. 

We were glad we chose Option 2 and William was a gracious and knowledgeable guide on our afternoon excursions. Eliane’s catering was excellent and we were very comfortable in the apartment. 

Angela, John and Maggie Patterson 

I have had such a lovely week improving my French with Eliane in Pezens. She was so patient with me during our lessons – gently encouraging me to choose the right vocabulary and verbs! All of her family welcomed me so generously into their home. The location of Pezens is lovely- so close to some really interesting historical sites and I loved having the opportunity to borrow one of Eliane’s bikes and cycle along the Canal du Midi into Carcassonne. I highly recommend improving your French with Eliane!

Connie :

I had the fabulous experience of doing the immersion program with Eliane for a week in June.  Everything I say will be good because, for me, it was 5 star in every category.  I love the way Eliane teaches French.  I am not very advanced and she was so patient and encouraging with me.  I appreciated that so very much.  I loved our own little “apartment” downstairs with a comfortable bed, plenty of juice and water and fruit.  I love her routine.  We chose option #2 and it was the right one for us.  We didn’t have to worry about anything.  At 9 and 1 we ate a fabulous breakfast and lunch with the family.  Between breakfast and lunch we had our lessons.  After lunch William took us on a guided tour each day (we did pay extra for these but well worth it).  I loved how at dinner time she had private time with her family and brought us our dinner on a beautiful tray with gourmet food that she had cooked.  We ate outside on our own patio.  At night we walked and walked and walked and saw something different each time.  Elaine’s family are the kindest and nicest family.  The whole experience was rich, indeed, and I wish for everyone to love it as much as I did. Another thing I loved was that their house was in the country, but still close to neighbors.  It was enchanting.

Lauren :

My husband, my friend, and I just finished an amazing week with Eliane, Benjamin, William, and Elena. This was our first visit to the southern region of France and we wanted a stress free visit with time to enjoy the area without being rushed from here to there. Eliane was the perfect host. After sleeping late each morning in our very comfortable private floor of their home, we enjoyed breakfast followed by our French lessons. Eliane is patient, encouraging, and very enjoyable to talk with. She made learning easy.

After lunch, we were lucky to have Eliane or William take us on our daily excursions. Each place we visited was so enjoyable! It was so nice not to have to worry about where to go, where to park, etc. William is fluent in English so he was able to translate for us when needed and he kept my husband entertained while my friend and I practiced our French.

My summary of our week would not be complete without letting everyone how absolutely incredible Elaine’s cooking is. I am the type who gets a little stressed in foreign restaurants because I am not sure what everything is.

The great part about our stay was that EVERYTHING Eliane made was so delicious! We felt like we were eating an expensive restaurant while relaxing on the terrace enjoying the view from their home. Each evening we took long walks in the countryside before going to bed.

I can honestly say this is one of the best, stress free trips I have ever taken. I highly recommend option 2 for your stay because of how easy everything was from the time Benjamin picked us up at the airport to the moment Eliane dropped us off.

Thank you Eliane and your family for a trip we will always remember.

Dave second stay with Eliane. First time with Donna. Looking forward to the next one!!!!

I had an amazing stay at Eliane’s! As a beginner, I was slightly apprehensive about an immersion holiday, but Eliane and her family made me feel very welcome and were incredibly patient with my very basic level of French.

The student apartment is well-equipped and comfortable, but the best part of my stay was feeling like a part of a French family. A close second was Eliane’s excellent cooking!

The lessons were enjoyable and informative. Eliane is a fantastic teacher – very patient and able to explain things in an easy-to-understand way. I also really enjoyed the visits with Eliane and William. Not only were they excellent company, but there were so many interesting things to see and do, and I got so much more out of the trip because of their local knowledge.

Overall, I can’t recommend a homestay with Eliane highly enough. I’d love to come back!

Éliane was the perfect host. With Benjamin, the gorgeous Elena, William,and of course Okami, from day one they welcomed me and made me feel like part of the family.

I thoroughly enjoyed the lessons with Eliane. She was so patient and understanding with me and catered the lessons for my level/needs. I had many challenging but rewarding times.

The accommodation was excellent , very private and more than suited the needs of me and my companion.

What an amazing cook! The meals were superb and everyday a delight for me.

Thoroughly enjoyed our excursion also.

I can highly recommend Éliane, who I now consider a friend, for a wonderful French immersion.

Thank you Éliane to you and your lovely family for a delightful time. One week with you was not enough.!!!!

Bisous à tous.