Bienvenue a Narbonne! !

This year's French language course took place in Narbonne, a charming town in the south of France.

This was not only an opportunity to learn the nuances of the language, but also to get to know the rich history, culture and regional cuisine.

The interesting social programme offered plenty of opportunities to put the new vocabulary into practice.

The following report is also intended as a suggestion for participation in the French language course in Lille in 2025.

French language course Narbonne

from 01 - 06 September 2024

Sunday
Although it was raining, we visited the beautiful city of Narbonne. We took the opportunity to stroll through the market halls, which are the ideal place to indulge in the flavours of the many different quality products offered by butchers, fishmongers and cheesemakers.
We then visited the Cathedral of Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur de Narbonne, the city's most prestigious building. Its particularity is that it is unfinished (only the choir exists) and that its vault height makes it the fourth highest in France (41 metres high, after Beauvais with a height of 48 metres and Amiens and Metz at 42 metres).

It is impossible to leave Narbonne without seeing the only surviving Roman monument ‘L'Horreum’ in the centre of the city. Its underground passages, which date back to the 1st century BC, were intended to form the foundations of a building, probably a market or warehouse.

A small group completed the visit with the famous NARBO VIA museum, which houses the particularly rich archaeological collections of the Roman period in Narbonne.

Monday

We started our French course. We got to know the participants through an exercise called “a ball of wool” and then learnt some expressions from the French language.

In the afternoon, we travelled to the Canal du Midi and learnt how a lock is operated. Along the canal, the hundred-year-old plane trees that shaded the canal unfortunately had to be felled due to disease and were replaced by young, hairy oaks that adapt perfectly to the changing climate. We made a stopover at a wine cellar ‘Château de Ventenac’ for a tour that ended with a tasting that was appreciated by all! Back at the embarkation point in the village of Le Somail, we admired the stone bridge over the canal and the old bookshop, which houses over 50,000 books!

Corinna Bertram/Jacques Reynier

Tuesday

This day started with a beautiful sunrise.

After breakfast, lessons and lunch, we were picked up by the coach and taken to Gruissan, a small medieval village with around 5000 inhabitants. It was built in a spiral shape in a circle and is dominated by the Barbarossa Tower.
We climbed up through small, narrow alleyways to the castle, which in its day served as a defence fortress. Narbonne could be warned of attackers from here. Today, only half of one of the three towers still stands. The castle was demolished and the stones used to build the village.

On the way down from the castle, we visited the ‘Église Notre Dame de l'assomption’, which probably also served as a defence post at the time.

We then went on to visit the salt works on the island of Saint-Martin. Around 400 hectares of salt are extracted here, including the famous fleur de sel. Oysters are also cultivated on the site.

After the tour and an opportunity to shop in the speciality shop, we returned to our accommodation.

We drove through an area of houses on stilts on the beach in Gruissan and arrived back in time for dinner.

Wednesday

After breakfast, lessons and lunch, the afternoon was free.
Some of us went on an excursion to ‘Les cabanes de fleury’, others went to the beach or spent time at the pool.

The highlight of the day was dinner: seafood as a starter and loup de mer as a main course. Grandiose!

The day ended with a musical evening. Bertrand sang live to background music, others danced to his performances. Some actually dared to perform a little karaoke too.

A lovely evening among friends!

Gabriele Becker/Gabriele Schmidtberger

Thursday

During our stay in Narbonne, a total of 7 people took the beginners' French course. Most of us were beginners without any basic knowledge. Anne, our teacher, put a lot of effort and dedication into teaching us the beautiful French language. Our first lesson began musically with the well-known chanson: ‘Oh Champs Elysées’.
The focus of the lesson was not on learning grammar, but on the linguistic level. We practised pronunciation and lots and lots of vocabulary in a very short space of time. On the last day, we mastered very short French dialogues and also understood a short story that we read together. Here too, Anne supported our understanding of the language with visualisations and other aids.
I can say with conviction that as a group of ‘Débutants’ we had a lot of fun, learnt a lot and were very grateful for Anne's patience. We certainly hope that she enjoyed teaching us as much as we enjoyed being taught by her.

On Thursday afternoon, we travelled by bus to visit Fontfroide Abbey.

Fontfroide was built during the 12th and 13th centuries.
We admired the cloister with a fountain in the centre, the refectory of the lay brothers (those who work) and the church.
We then strolled through the garden. There were lots of rose bushes, lavender, sage, amaranth and other plants.
We walked back to the bus, after visiting the shop, where we strolled around.
It was a lovely trip!

 
Anna Nebel-Klüh/Elke Leitsch

Friday

After the lessons, all participants ate lunch together. All language course participants received a information and a recommendation to participate in the 2025 language course which will be held in Lille.

Last but not least: In addition to the language course, we also must mention the good food, the excursions and the good company with students from France, Spain, England and Germany. Altogether a fantastic week.

Thank you dear Marie-Helene and your team, you were an excellent organizer and entertainer and made all our wishes come true.