I have longed to visit the Île de Ré for many years. When I learned that a French immersion program was available on the island, it felt tailor-made for me.

From the very first moment when I contacted Clarisse Normand, she showed herself to be a wonderful communicator, a tireless advocate for the French language, and a passionate inhabitant of the Île de Ré.

Clarisse arranged a Zoom session with me to assess my language capabilities and to discuss my goals for my immersion. We settled on a week that dovetailed nicely with other travel I had planned in France during the month of June.

Nothing throws Clarisse. She was endlessly kind and patient when I had significant troubles arranging payment of my deposit via my bank. I received numerous texts from her via What’sApp with advice and wise counsel, often at times that were late at night for her (the time difference for me was 9 hours). She was extremely helpful with making train arrangements for travel from Paris to La Rochelle, the city closest to Île de Ré.

When I arrived on the appointed day, I felt like my immersion week was off and running from the moment when I stepped off the train. Clarisse picked me up at the train station and oriented me to La Rochelle and the immediate environment. Clarisse naturally speaks quickly, but adjusts her pace as necessary for her students. Every grammatical fault or mistake I made in conversation was gently and immediately corrected. (I marveled at her patience; I made some mistakes over and over again, and each time was gently corrected until it finally began to sink in!)

Our first dinner together was in lovely La Flotte. Clarisse took me to one of her favorite dinner places, and that was followed by decadent ice cream desserts. She accompanied me to the apartment that she keeps for students, and made sure that I was comfortably installed before we parted for the evening.

My five days of classes, meals, and excursions with Clarisse were a delight. She is an extremely organized teacher and is an excellent tour guide. She used games, visual aids, “la lecture” (reading) and homework exercises to ensure that I made progress every single day. Clarisse is endlessly patient, and has that special quality of making her students feel like they can succeed! She paces herself according to her students’ capabilities. She assigns as much or as little homework as one is inclined to do. I came home with internet links to various subjects we had explored, and this gave me the opportunity to continue to benefit from my course even after I had left the island.

Our island tours and visits to different villages exceeded my expectations. Meals were celebratory. I met friends of Clarisse and was welcomed as a valued guest everywhere. There is no better way to experience the history and the physical beauty of the Île de Ré than to have your own personal tour guide who is elevating your French while taking you to beaches, markets, villages, marshes, an ancient book restoration Atelier, shops and restaurants.

A very special part of my stay was the opportunity to meet Clarisse’s parents, to visit them in their home, and to have dinner with her extended family in her home in La Flotte. Clarisse doesn’t miss any opportunity to make her students feel special and welcome. For example, she picked up on the fact that I love chocolate. Dinner at her house included a marvelous chocolate cake for dessert. This immersion felt like a true introduction to French family life. It was the “real deal.”

On my last day, Clarisse and her youngest daughter accompanied me to La Rochelle, where we shopped and explored that beautiful city. Clarisse made sure that I was well oriented and acclimated before we all said goodbye. It was only six days after meeting Clarisse, and yet I felt like I was saying goodbye to a valued friend