Housing & Meals

The Office of Study Abroad at Holy Cross views home-stays as an important element of any language-immersion program. Staying with a local French family will give you important insight into every day life in Dijon for local residents. It will also help your language acquisition as host families are an opportunity to practice your French outside the classroom. 

You will be placed with host families in both Tours and Dijon. Again, this is an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself and become a member of your host community! It’s important to go into the experience of living with a host family with an open mind. All families are different, and your experience may very well differ from that of your peers. Avoid making snap judgments in the beginning and give yourself and your host family some time to get to know each other. Make a point of being available. Don’t get in the habit of staying in your room- it’s a hard one to kick and it won’t help you feel at home. 

Please note that you may not be housed in the city center. Welcome to everyday life in Europe! Most people do not live right in the center, and while there are a few families who do, you may be housed outside the center (still in the city) and need to use public transportation to go to school and to other locations. Part of studying abroad is learning to live like a local in another country, and most French people routinely use public transportation to travel to school, work, etc. There are buses and trams in Tours and Strasbourg are very easy to use! 

You’ll learn to love your time on buses and trains when living in Europe. You’ll get to see areas of the city you wouldn't have otherwise seen, you get to people watch, you get to chat with strangers who will give you so many insights into your new home and host culture, and you’ll get to read a lot more (something we Americans driving in cars don't have the opportunity to do as much – I spent a week in France this spring and was busy with work, but thanks to trains I ended up reading three books). 

DON’T FORGET PHOTOS!  Your host families will be interested in where you come from: your family, town, friends, and school. Take pictures that help explain parts of your life in the U.S. These are great conversation starters when you don’t know yet what you have in common.

*It can be nice to bring a small gift for you host family that represents where you come from: handicrafts, chocolates/sweets/magnets/etc.

In your study abroad portal at sa.holycross.edu, there are many post-decision documents you need to fill out. One of those documents in a Housing Questionnaire. Make sure you take your time filling out the questionnaire honestly since this is what we send to our on-site housing director to "match" you with a host family!

You can expect to recieve information about your homestay placement sometime in July. You will have an opportunity to connect over email before meeting in person upon your arrival in Tours, and subsequently Dijon. 

Your host family will provide you breakfast and dinner Monday to Friday and all three meals on weekends. You are on your own for lunch Monday-Friday! This is a great opportunity to explore French cuisine. There are plenty of food options on & off campus. 

You will be charged 3/4 board (mealplan) on your Holy Cross tuition bill(s) for your semester or year away. You should plan to set aside the 1/4 board that you are saving to cover lunches Monday-Friday while you're away. How much you'll spend will depend on your preferences and habits. You can pick up grab & go sandwiches from local cafes for a few euros, or spend a little more on fancier "sit-down" lunches. It's a good idea to do some googling before you go to Dijon to get an idea about the average costs of your favorite food items. 

TBA