Opal Parle is our most flexible and accessible language immersion trip and gives students the chance to practise their French while enjoying a mix of fun excursions led by native-speaking staff at our own centre near Boulogne.
Just a short hop across the Channel from Dover, the Opal Coast features historic towns, vast sandy beaches, chocolate factories, goat’s cheese farms and everything in between making it very popular with French learners and first-time visitors to France. Our experienced French-native animateurs will guide your school tour and provide a full evening programme to create an immersive French experience. They'll build your students' confidence and encourage them to speak French at every opportunity. But perhaps above all else, they are here to make sure it's fun!
A brilliant optional extra to our programme is the opportunity to spend a morning or day at a local French school. Using our local knowledge, we will pair you with a French partner school that matches the age and level of your children, giving your group the unparalleled opportunity to practise their language skills with their French peers.
For a more personal and in-depth language experience, check out our winter camp programme. Available between November and February, the Moulin's winter camp offers more on-site activities and games such as breadmaking and science experiments, all led by our brilliant lead-animateur, Justine.
New since your last visit! The Moulin aux Draps centre is under new management, with a team from our centre of excellence, Château de la Baudonnière, taking the helm. Bring your students in 2023 to interact with French school students at the centre, practise conversational language and experience a real cultural exchange that’s certain to inspire a love for learning French. We’re also introducing new on-site activities including beach volleyball and pétanque, all set against the centre’s 22 acres of wildlife. Read more about what's new at the Moulin aux Draps centre.
All activities, excursions and evening entertainment is conducted in French by our experienced animateurs.
Located less than an hour from Calais and within very easy reach of the stunning Opal Coastline, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Le Touquet, Arras and the WWI battlefields, our Moulin aux Draps centre is the perfect destination for schools looking for an affordable/short French language immersion school trip. The language centre is exclusively for the use of school groups meaning there are few distractions for students.
Our local French staff have considerable experience in looking after British school trips and catering for the needs of British teachers and pupils. The centre is contained within 22 acres of car-free French countryside, giving students plenty of space to run around and let off steam. Supervision is easy as the grounds are within view of the main building and teachers can relax in the evenings as the Voyager team will deliver a programme of evening entertainment for your students.
Click here for more information about this residential centre owned by Voyager School Travel.
© Monica Arellano-Ongpin
At a local boulangerie, a baker will perform a baking demonstration for your group in French. Students will walk away with a croissant and a pain au chocolat each!
Maximise your group's language learning with this fun animateur-led challenge—designed to give students opportunities to improve their French comprehension & speaking skills in situ.
The largest marine life centre in Europe is home to 1,600 species and promotes sustainability and marine management. This is a fun and educational cross-curricular visit for groups.
Visit a local market with your animateur where teams of students will be given money to buy food for lunch. Students will be tasked with ordering in French, creating a great opportunity to interact with the friendly stall owners in their native language. Students will also have free time to pick up some souvenirs.
© Damian Entwistle
This huge concrete dome amongst the hills was built in 1944 to house jet-propelled rockets. It is now an exceptional war museum and interactive planetarium. La Coupole is a great choice for groups studying WWI and WWII.
© Alec Brown
The seaside town of Le Touquet has miles of white sandy beaches for school groups to enjoy some down time on. In the centre of the town, you will find quaint cafés and confectionery shops.
Immerse yourselves in the French countryside as you pedal your way along a 10 km-long disused railway track in a 4-person kart! This fun outdoor activity is sure to be a hit among your students, especially if you’re travelling in the summer.
© David Nicholls
This massive war memorial is a moving tribute to the 72,000+ servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme in WWI. By visiting the memorial, students can get a very visual understanding of the scale of loss in the war through the inscribed names and white crosses on the lawns.
The massive carter was created by the explosion of a mine during the WWI Battle of the Somme. The site has since been preserved to act as a war memorial dedicated to the fallen soldiers.
© Timothy Shawn Hack
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is dedicated to the memory of the Canadian servicemen who lost their lives in WWI, particularly in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The towering limestone memorial is a very striking sight for students.
Set within 7-hectares of forest surrounded by sand dunes, Opalaventure is an exciting treetop adventure in the heart of the Opal Coast. Tackle ziplines, high ropes, rope ladders and more!
Desvres has a thriving ceramics industry thanks to the area's raw materials. Enjoy a guided tour & partake in a workshop where students will learn about the production and craft their own souvenir.
We can arrange for this workshop tour, where your group will learn how a local French chocolaterie produces their chocolate, to be led in either English or French. Students will even get a chance to taste the chocolates too!
Visit a local goat's cheese farm to meet the goats, find out how cheese is made and try some for yourself!
The bunker of Eperlecques is the biggest bunker of the north of France, as a witness of this dark period, from 1939 to 1945. It was opened to the public in 1974 and classified "ancient memorials" in 1985.
Our Opal Parle French language immersion programme includes:
Extras to budget for
These ready-made trip resources are designed to reduce your admin and help speed up the process of planning, promoting and getting approval for your trip:
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