Guided Travels to France

Immerse yourself in France with your professor as your trusted (part-time) guide. You'll feel like a local on these weeklong journeys tailored to a group of 6 (max!) who've gotten to know each other during our online courses. You book and pay for your airfare and your preferred accommodation in the neighborhood (with help from your prof).

Photo of Jeff Kratz, standing in a garden

Upcoming Trips

Octobre 2024: Paris Saint-Germain

Arrivée: samedi 5 octobre 2024

Départ: samedi 12 octobre 2024

Join me in Paris’ glittering Left Bank district, for a full week of discoveries as trees turn full color and chestnuts fall. We’ll step off with an early Sunday morning river walk, past the restored Notre-Dame cathedral and into the Luxembourg Gardens through farmers markets en route to a fantastic lunch and neighborhood orientation. Monday will blend offbeat museums and select shopping as we widen our circle to include the Marais quarter. We keep our eyes on the skies for the best possible weather days for side trips to Monet’s Giverny gardens, exploding with dahlias and nasturtium, and Fontainebleau Palace, gilded by eight centuries of French history. We’ll catch buses, trains, even a few bike rides, while balancing an elegant Paris whirl of activity: a chef’s private dining room, unique bakeries and pastry shops, aperitifs with a local author talk, a night at the theater, a morning of flea market finds, plus visits to some of the best current exhibits at Paris museums.

Indicate your interest with a quick email to receive details and full itinerary.

Janvier 2025: Paris Marais

A full week of insider travel, shopping and savoring. More details to come.

Indicate your interest with a quick email to receive details and full itinerary.

Avril 2025: Paris Provence

Take the train to explore inspiring places of France’s sunny south, from your base in Aix-en-Provence. More details to come.

Indicate your interest with a quick email to receive details and full itinerary.

All séjours are seven days in duration, kick off on Sundays, and will be anchored in one neighborhood you’ll call home.

Travel Info Sessions

Want to learn more in a live Zoom info session with me?

Reserve a Free Travel Info Session

Info sessions are completely free, and there’s no commitment whatsoever to sign up if you attend.

How Trips Work

Here are the three steps for how each journey works:

  1. I pick travel dates, the Paris neighborhood where everyone will stay, and set an overall itinerary based on what will be happening in the city during our time there.

  2. You book and pay for your flights and accommodations, with an assist from me to ensure you’re within a 15-minute walk of my home base.

    Then you participate in more fun reading and online discussions as mini-courses adapted from the French culture and language classes I teach college students.

  3. After getting to know one another online, we then meet up for a week of living and exploring, together and independently, in a fascinating place.

    I always start by orienting you to our neighborhood, so you feel as if you live there. Then we meet up most days and explore. Avoiding cookie-cutter tour stops. Not in an exhausting way. (Think garden walks, flea markets, fun detours, great meals, insider shopping, nights at the theatre. Taking buses and subways like locals. Plus time on your own to explore, work out, sleep in, sip, savor.)

Every journey will be unique, and designed to inspire and illuminate. And you won’t feel as if you’re part of a crowd: each travel ‘cohort’ will be no larger than 6 people.

You’ll also have time to explore on your own: we’ll work toward a 50/50 balance of planned vs. free time, with an itinerary tailored to each group’s interests as well as what’s going on about town in the time period we’ll be visiting.

$3500 pp includes:

You save by booking your own airfare and accommodations. On the ground, you’ll also buy most meals and your local travel.

LitLifeFrance lets you cultivate your love of and in-depth knowledge of all things French. With a trusted guide and a community to support you. And without having to speak the language—unless you want to!