France doesn't need an introduction. But the France most people experience — a few days in Paris, a photo at the Eiffel Tower — is not the France you'll discover with IPSL. This program takes you to the cities where French people actually live: cities with their own food, their own accents, their own reasons to stay longer than you planned.

Aix-en-Provence is the city that inspired Cézanne — warm, unhurried, full of fountains and markets and the particular golden light of Provence. It's a university town with a long memory and excellent rosé.

Annecy sits at the edge of a glacier-fed Alpine lake so clear it's been called the Venice of the Alps. Surrounded by mountains, it's one of the most beautiful small cities in Europe — and almost no one outside France knows it.

Bordeaux reinvented itself in the 2000s into one of France's most elegant and livable cities, while remaining the undisputed capital of the wine world. The architecture along the Garonne is among the finest in the country.

Lyon is where serious food people go. Ranked the gastronomic capital of France — a country that takes that title seriously — it's also a city of silk-trade history, Roman ruins, and an underground network of traboules that locals still use as shortcuts.

Montpellier is young, Mediterranean, and sun-drenched, with one of Europe's oldest universities still running. It's close enough to the sea and the Languedoc wine country to make every weekend an adventure.

Toulouse is the pink city — its buildings glow terracotta at sunset — and the aerospace capital of Europe. It has the energy of a student city and the pride of a place that knows it's underrated.

Learn French the way it was meant to be learned. IPSL's partner schools — all pre-vetted to the highest available credentials — offer beginner to advanced instruction in small group or private sessions. Weekly cultural activities get you out of the classroom and into the region: local markets, tastings, visits to surrounding towns, games, conversations with people who live there. You practice what you learned that morning over lunch.

Programs run from one week to a full year. Lodging is flexible — and IPSL builds everything around your schedule, your goals, and your budget.

Go further with service learning. Select locations offer ethical service learning placements that connect you with local communities in a more meaningful way than tourism ever could. It's the difference between visiting France and understanding it.

You'll leave with an official transcript and certification of your achieved proficiency level — credentials that hold up in academic and professional settings.

Financial aid is available for eligible students. IPSL also accepts the AmeriCorps Segal Education Award.