Celebrating my 70th birthday during my French immersion in Provence
Updated: Sep 21
Today, I’m 70 years old.
Writing those words feels a little strange. Time goes by so quickly, of course. But that morning in Provence, I didn’t really feel like counting the years. I felt more like looking at everything I was still able to experience.
At 70, I was in France, far from home. I was learning French. I was discovering Provence. I had dared to try something completely different.
And that day, I was going to celebrate my birthday in Aix-en-Provence with Virginie.
Looking back, I think that’s what I remember most about that day: I didn’t feel old. I felt alive.
Being 70 and still having new adventures
I’m quite proud that I dared to come to Provence for this immersion.
Learning a language already means stepping outside your comfort zone. You have to accept searching for words, not understanding everything and sometimes making mistakes.
But coming to France to actually live the language every day is something else entirely. During my stay with Virginie, French wasn’t just a language I was studying. It was part of my days, our conversations, our outings and all the little situations I encountered.
For my birthday, that immersion was going to take a slightly different form.
We were heading to Aix-en-Provence for the evening.
Going to the movies in French in Aix-en-Provence
Our evening began at the movies.
The movie theater was small and charming, with a different atmosphere from what I was used to. But most importantly, the movie was in French. Without subtitles.
I’m not going to pretend I understood everything. That wouldn’t be true. In fact, I understood very little of the dialogue. And yet, I followed the movie in a different way.
I watched the images. I listened to the voices and their intonations. I observed facial expressions and body language. Even when the words escaped me, I could understand some of the emotions and guess part of what was happening.
It was quite an experience.
When you’re learning a language, you often think you need to understand every single word. That evening, I discovered that you can also accept not understanding everything and simply keep listening.
After the movie, Virginie and I talked about how we had felt. In French, of course.
And in a way, the movie continued outside the theater: it simply gave us another opportunity to talk.
Learning French differently during an immersion
That was one of the things I loved about my stay.
French didn’t stop when the lesson ended.
A trip to the movies could become a listening exercise. A conversation afterwards gave me the chance to search for words and express an opinion. Dinner became another opportunity to listen and speak.
I didn’t necessarily feel as though I was “studying French.”
I was living it.
And when you spend several days in that environment, all those little moments begin to add up.
Continuing my birthday with dinner in Aix
After the movie, we went for dinner at a little restaurant in Aix-en-Provence.
And there was a surprise waiting for us.
An adorable puppy was wandering between the tables.
I had never seen anything like it before: a dog casually walking from one table to another in a restaurant!
Of course, he came over to see us, and this unexpected little encounter added something wonderfully lighthearted to the evening.
We drank champagne and ate seafood and snails.
And we continued speaking French.
We talked about our adventures, shared stories and laughed a lot. It was my birthday, but it was also exactly what I had come to Provence for: experiencing ordinary moments of French life while practicing the language.
Speaking French around the table
Meals have a special place in an immersion experience.
You sit down, take your time, and conversation comes naturally.
You talk about what you’ve just done, what you’re eating, what you like or what surprises you.
That evening, we had plenty to talk about after the movie.
And there I was, sitting in a restaurant in Aix-en-Provence, celebrating my 70th birthday and chatting in French.
A few months earlier, that scene might have seemed very far away.
That evening, it was simply part of my life.
Ending the evening singing Bruno Mars
The drive home could have been a quiet end to the evening.
But apparently, that wasn’t our plan. In the car, Virginie and I started singing Bruno Mars songs at the top of our lungs. Bruno Mars had been the first concert I had ever attended, and we sang Locked Out of Heaven, among other songs.
After a movie in French, champagne, snails and the puppy at the restaurant, I was ending my 70th birthday singing in a car on the roads of Provence. The song stayed in my head all night.
And it still makes me smile.
A birthday I’ll remember for a long time
When we got home, I had one last glass of wine, brushed my teeth and went to bed smiling. My day was over.
It wasn’t a spectacular birthday. It didn’t need to be.
There had been a movie I had barely understood but had managed to follow in a different way. There had been conversations in French. Dinner. Champagne. Snails. A puppy wandering between the tables. Lots of laughter. And Bruno Mars sung far too loudly in the car.
Most of all, there was that feeling of being exactly where I wanted to be.
At 70, I was in Provence learning French and living a new adventure.
And I was proud that I had dared to come.
Can you learn French after 60 or 70?
Of course.
I don’t think you need to wait until you speak perfect French before coming to France. My experience at the movies is probably the best example: I understood only a small part of the dialogue, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the moment.
An immersion gives you the opportunity to use what you already know, hear plenty of French and continue learning through real-life situations.
Perhaps the most important thing is simply accepting that you won’t understand everything.
And daring to do it anyway.
FAQ – Experiencing a French immersion in Provence
Do I need to speak French fluently to do an immersion?
No. The purpose of an immersion is precisely to practice French in real-life situations and make progress throughout your stay. You don’t need to understand every word to take part in activities and conversations.
Can I do a French immersion at 70?
Yes. Learning a language and discovering a new culture aren’t reserved for any particular age. My stay in Provence and this birthday in Aix-en-Provence are a wonderful example.
Do you speak French outside the lessons?
Yes. That’s an important part of the experience. Outings, meals, visits and everyday conversations give you more opportunities to listen to and use French in a natural context.
Can going to the movies help me learn French?
Yes, even when you don’t understand all the dialogue. Images, intonation, facial expressions and context can help you follow the story. Talking about the movie afterwards is also a great way to practice listening comprehension and speaking.
Learning French by living Provence
When I think back to my 70th birthday, I don’t remember one particular French lesson.
I remember a day.
I remember Aix-en-Provence, the movie, the restaurant, our conversations and our musical drive home.
Perhaps that sums up my immersion better than anything else: French was everywhere, but it was simply part of what I was living.
And if my story can inspire someone who is hesitating to learn French, travel alone or experience an immersion because they think they are “too old,” there is one thing I would like to tell them:
At 70, there are still so many firsts left to experience.
Would you also like to learn French by living it every day? Discover French immersion stays with Virginie in Provence and imagine your own experience in the heart of Provence.
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