Extracurricular classes on your year abroad in France

1. General Courses and Classes

Art stages
Here, you can pick courses by region, allowing you to see if there may be something up your street just a few hours away, for weekends. Sculpture, drawing, painting and more are on offer across the country, at reasonable prices.

Cours théâtre
If you want to explore the world of theatre, make sure you take a gander at this wonderful site, with information about theatres, workshops and short courses around the Hexagon. The one stop shop if you fancy walking the planks and a great way to improve your confidence in another language, too.

L’atelier des chefs
Now, if you’re after something that means you get to try out the fruits of your labour just after your masterclass, this is the site for you. From chocolateries to 3 course meals, learn from the best across France. After all, you are in one of the finest countries for gastronomy so make the most of it!

2. Paris

Being the capital of France, you can find all sorts of classes and courses to fill your spare time. For clearly laid-out art courses, from welding to glass painting, check out Paris ateliers. If you fancy making a bit of a (welcome) mess in the kitchen, have a look at atelier des sens for cooking lessons from across the globe, with a special menu for Christmas too. Of course, the mairie de Paris also has a page dedicated to short courses, find out more information on their site here. If you’re into jewellery making, knitting or even carpentry, check out Cours des créateurs for more info.

3. Aix-en-Provence

As Aix en Provence is known for its artists, it would be silly not to get involved in one of the city’s atelier, spotted across town. A good place to get a head start in finding your ideal class in the Atelier indigo. For the thespians amongst you, check out the Théâtre au douze for short courses. If you can make your way slightly out of the city, why not take a trip to Rousset for some pottery lessons? Get more info here at the Atelier Recréation.

4. Bordeaux

If you’ve picked Bordeaux for your year abroad, you would be missing out on much of the gastronomy and great wineries on offer. Check out the Bordeaux tourisme website for more info. You can also get to grips with becoming a clown (!) in Bordeaux, thanks to the clown theatre - a great way to get your inner funny man out, make yourself tragic or better still, improve your confidence and social behaviour. Of course, just as in any city, you can partake in art classes. A good place to start is at the poetically named Atelier citrouille, offering just about every form of drawing possible. If singing is your bag, why not take a look at the Psycho chant website.

5. Lyon

Cours et stages is a brilliant website to find out what’s on offer in Lyon - from painting, calligraphy, creative writing and photography classes, to name but a few, you will be sure to find something to suit you. As Lyon is also famed for its culinary delicacies, there are various cookery schools on offer. We recommend Marie’s site. If you like shaking your booty and have an eye for choreography, why not enrol at a dance class here with the Ecole de danse et yoga.  Ecole de danse et yoga is the place to come to if you’re looking for theatre workshops.

6. Lille

In Lille, you can take out extensive photography classes, from beginner to more advanced levels at the Stage Photo Nord. If you’re into using your hands and like moulding things, you can take out sculpture classes (pottery, bronze and more) at the Quaz’arts study. Learn to draw in manga (Japanese cartoon) style, sculpt, draw, engrave and more at the Atelier terre et feu in Lille. Why not try their cours découverte, where you can mix and match classes to see what you’re more into?

7. Nice

Having many cookery schools to its name, perhaps the best known place to learn about real Mediterranean cooking remains La Capelina d’Or. Nice tourisme offers more choices if you fancy picking up a pan and whisk during your year abroad. The Atelier Giorgio provides many classes for the artistically inclined, such as painting and drawing. To get a full list of what sort of clubs and societies are on offer in Nice, you should check out Nice rendez-vous. Finally, if you’re looking to improve your French and add a bit of fun to traditional grammar textbooks, why not learn with the IDIOM centre, mixing the language and cookery, wine tasting and much more.