French course for Teenagers, Antibes

Suitability

Teenager courses in Antibes are suitable for students of any nationality aged 12 - 17 and are available to students of all levels.

If you want to have fun, improve your French language skills, and experience French culture in a lovely coastal location, this is the course for you!

School

Students study and stay on one of two fully equipped campuses. Both campuses boast lots of amenities including on-site classrooms, cafeterias, television lounges, and extensive sports grounds and equipment. Both campuses also have their own residential buildings with shared dormitories (up to 4 students per room); bathrooms may be ensuites or shared per floor, depending on the location. Coin-operated laundry facilities are available on both campuses, and all pupils will have their bed linen provided and changed weekly. Please note that towels are not provided in any type of accommodation, so students should bring their own. The campuses benefit from Wi-Fi access, heating, and air-conditioning. If they prefer, teenagers can choose to stay with a local host instead of being on-site.

All locations are ideally placed to provide a culturally immersive experience for young students looking to improve their French language skills. Given Antibes’ medium size and its calm coastal atmosphere, students can enjoy a peaceful learning environment during their stay.

NOTE: Placement in a particular campus depends on accommodation availability at the time of booking; we cannot guarantee which campus your child will be allocated to.

Antibes

A southern French resort town on the famous Côte d’Azur, Antibes is renowned for its beaches - it has a whopping 48 of them across 16 miles (25 km) of coastline! Not quite as well-known as its nearby sisters Nice and Cannes, Antibes is a top destination of choice for French holidaymakers, so international visitors are highly likely to be able to practice their language skills with native speakers. It’s also popular with international travellers, allowing students attending courses here to have a fun and dynamic experience that introduces them to peers from around the world.

Settlement in the area dates back to at least the 4th century BC, when Greek sailors arrived from Anatolia and created a bustling port along the coast. This port - today’s Port Vauban - is now the largest yachting harbour in Europe, boasting over 2,000 moorings! Port Vauban was hugely important during the Middle Ages, since it’s was France’s westernmost outpost; Fort Carré, a striking, star-shaped stronghold guarding the harbour, is evidence of this. In later years, Antibes was a relatively quiet fishing village - until, that is, it was discovered by the rest of Europe. Favoured by the English aristocracy in 19th century - and, in the early 20th century, American elites - the small town transformed into a popular seaside resort for the landed gentry and successful creatives alike. Pablo Picasso famously lived in the castle for a few months in 1946. Upon his return home, Picasso left a selection of paintings, sculptures, and ceramics behind which now make up the collection of the Pablo Picasso Museum, housed in the castle that was so briefly his home. Other notable visitors included Jules Verne - who is said to have penned Around the World in Eighty Days here - Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Today Antibes is a favourite of Roman Abramovich, who has 2 of his luxury yachts anchored in Port Vauban.

The charming old part of the town is full of narrow tree-lined streets, tiled courtyards, and buildings with traditional shuttered windows, which all give the irresistible feeling of being transported back in time. Home of artists’ studios, unique boutiques, and a variety of cafés and restaurants, it’s a lovely area to spend an afternoon. The pace of life here is generally very calm and peaceful - except for during summer, of course, when visitors flock in their droves to see Antibes’ best attractions. These include the various green spaces in or around the town, such as Exflora Park, with its 12 acres of public gardens, and Marineland, one of the largest oceanariums in the world that welcomes over 1.2 million visitors every year. Another popular attraction is the Festival of Saint Peter in June, three days of festivities honouring the patron saint of fishermen. The celebrations feature a procession of boats along the coast, each decorated with paper lanterns, French flags, and coloured cloths, which truly embodies the town’s intrinsic relationship with the sea.

The nearby resort of Juan-les-Pins, where many of our homestay hosts live, is a more modern area with a palm-lined promenade and wide, popular beaches. The seafront is full of eateries, souvenir shops, and sports enthusiasts getting ready to surf or sail. This area of the peninsula is most famous for its annual jazz festival, which has hosted such greats as Ray Charles, B. B. King, Fats Waller, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Every time a star plays or sings, their handprints and signature are preserved on clay tiles much like those on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - these impressions line the central boulevard that hosts the festival and are well worth a visit.

How to get there

Transfers on arrival and departure are included in the programme price and are available at either Antibes train station or Nice airport.

Students will be collected on arrival at their selected location as per their travel details and will be taken to one of the campuses. If juniors have booked homestay lodging, their host(s) will collect them from the campus in time for dinner that evening. As these are shared transfers, students may need to wait up to 2 hours after landing; during this time, they will be supervised by school staff members and will have the chance to meet their fellow pupils. On their last day, students will be collected from their accommodation and taken back to the appropriate destination in time for their departing flight/train.

Pupils should plan to arrive in Antibes on the Sunday before their lessons are due to start and leave on the Saturday after their lessons have finished. We may be able to arrange additional nights on arrival and/or departure to fit in with students’ travel plans.

Teenagers attending this programme alone may need to arrange an Unaccompanied Minors’ service with their airline. If this is the case, please contact us prior to making your booking.

Location of our school in Antibes