From Occitanie to the Eiffel Tower: Canterbury Students Embark on an Unforgettable Spring Break

April 9, 2025

Canterbury High School teacher Kimberly Summers has been leading the High School upper-level French students on international trips since 1999. This year she was joined by Lower School French teacher Ali Darley '05, and six students: Brooke Lawson '26, Zanaiya Limzerwala '26, Harper Straka-Kitch '26, Ashley Choi '25, Maria Tan '25, and Kenny Wang '25.

The trip to Paris includes a nine-day homestay with French families.

"The students are completely immersed in French from the moment we get there," Summers says.

Each French family has a teenager, or "correspondant" who hosts the students. Canterbury students attend school with their "correspondent" and live the life of a French teenager. Summers also attends school for a few days and helps in the English classrooms. 

"It is always fascinating to see how the French learn English because their methods and materials are different from ours, plus most of the teachers in France speak English with a British accent," she says.

This year the Canterbury group stayed in the south of France, in the region called Occitanie, near the city of Montpellier. This was Summers' first time in the area, and she says it was beautiful. This particular part of Occitanie is close to the Camargue, a marshy area on the Mediterranean in the Rhone Delta known for its wild white horses, pink flamingos, and black bulls. 

After teary goodbyes to their host families, the group returned to Paris and toured the city for three days. Major highlights were: the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame, la Sainte-Chappelle,  the Catacombs, a climb up the Eiffel Tower, a river boat tour on the Seine, plus plenty of walking around the City of Lights.