Cultural Trips
Cultural Trips
While there’s plenty to do here at Château Beaumont – French children come here for a colonie de vacances en anglais or for séjours linguistiques – we also provide a range of cultural experiences and activities to nearby areas of interest within the French countryside.
These trips include destinations like Laval Market, Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët Market, the Cider Farm, the Oyster Farm, The Goat Cheese Farm & the local Animal Refuge – Refuge De L’Arche.
The Chateau is perfectly situated on the border between Normandy, Brittany and the Loire Valley. Each day trip offers a unique glimpse into French life and provides an opportunity for students to test their language skills as well as learn more about French culture and indeed, themselves.
Read all about the most popular French day trip activities below.
Laval Market
Situated only 20km from our Château, the Laval Market is held every Tuesday and Saturday morning and is somehow yet to be spoilt by tourism. A visit to the market provides a typically French experience and the streets are lined with stalls selling local produce and sometimes even animals, much to the enjoyment of our students!
The local residents and market traders welcome our UK guests and thoroughly enjoy interacting with the children. This helps the students learn about the French language in a natural yet unimposing environment, putting them at ease and encouraging them to test their foreign language speaking abilities with native French speakers.
With freshly baked artisan bread, amazing oysters, roasted chickens and much more, the Laval Market is not only brilliant for food, but is also situated in the magnificent Place de la Trémoille, a beauty spot in its own right that is surrounded by incredible French architecture.
The market visit has become a central part of the Château experience and is one of the most popular trips for UK students.
Find out more by getting in touch below!
Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët Market
The picturesque town of St Hilaire holds a large and diverse market every Wednesday and is home to some of the finest and most interesting local products found in the region.
Clothes, accessories and the legendary “galette-saucisse” are just some of the delights on offer at this authentic French market, with lots of eco-friendly products and fresh food and vegetables also available for school students to purchase.
Visiting St Hilaire market en route to le Mont St Michel works brilliantly as a full day excursion for students. This option is another opportunity to explore typical French culture first-hand, as well as visiting one of the most fascinating landmarks and pieces of architecture in the world in the form of le Mont St Michel.
Find out more about these truly unforgettable experiences by getting in touch below.
Cider Farm
A visit to the cider farm is a fascinating insight into a famous regional export. Apple farms are part and parcel of life in North Western France, and it’s no secret that some of the best cider in Europe comes from this part of the world.
This tour explores expert cider-making techniques and machinery that has been used for hundreds of years all the way up to the present day. Here, students are given the chance to learn about this classic French industry as well as the methods used for cultivating and producing apple juice, cider and calvados.
What’s more, when the tour is finished, you are able to sample the produce! Although for obvious reasons, this would be limited to apple juice for the students.
Please note that the guided tour of the Cider Farm and museum is in French, which our group leaders can translate to English if required. Find out more about these activities by getting in touch today.
Oyster Farm
France is famous for its cuisine and this excursion offers students the chance to see how oysters are cultivated and provides the opportunity to explore the coastal traditions of northern Brittany.
This visit is best combined with a trip to the ancient, walled city of Saint Malo which features tall, French buildings and cobbled streets to provide one of the most quintessentially quaint French experiences.
The tour is delivered entirely in French and is therefore an excellent opportunity for some intense exposure to the French language for UK students.
You can book a visit to the oyster farm and the walled city of Saint Malo with Château Beaumont, get in touch for more details.
The Goat Cheese Farm
Deep in the Normandy countryside, a trip to the goat cheese farm is a brilliant chance to discover the process behind how some of the country’s finest cheese is made.
Most of the products from the farm are sold in the local markets, so this is a perfect opportunity to find out more about the process that goes into making one of France’s finest delicacies first-hand from the experts who make it.
At the goat cheese farm, students can not only learn about the process of cheese making, meet and interact with the goats, but of course, there are also samples to try at the end of each visit!
Get in touch and book your place today.
Animal Refuge
The Refuge De L’Arche has a huge variety of animals rescued by various agencies across the globe.
It’s important to note that this is NOT a zoo, and all animals that reside in the refuge have been rescued from Europe and elsewhere around the world for their own safety and preservation.
A visit to the refuge is a real eye-opener, and the expert, guided tours that offer tales of how each animal came to be a resident are absolutely fascinating.
This trip not only provides new learning experiences about at-risk groups of rare animals, but also offers great opportunities to practise French language, vocabulary and translation, engaging younger children in the French language in a fun, interactive way.
Find out more here: