How to Write a Travel Journal or Travelogue with French Learners
Travel journals help you to write and document about the experience you had in Paris, France. You can include the written description of the places you have visited, list down your itinerary, the photos that you took during your trip and even the short videos and voice recordings that you made during your time
Scenario
You and a friend participated in a competition organized by the Embassy of France 
and have won a round trip ticket on Air France to any French-speaking country served by the airline. You and your companion will explore a region of the French-speaking country of your choice for seven days including day of arrival and day of departure.
With this French language and culture project, students will be able to:
− Produce a travel information packet (flyer, brochure, power point, wiki, etc.) with useful information about a French-speaking region, country, city, or town of their choice.
− Focus on particular French grammatical structures based on their language proficiency.
− Present their travel information to the class in a 10-minute group presentation.
French Level Required
Intermediate, but the project can be adapted to beginning and advanced French learners
Materials
Encourage students for weeks prior to this lesson to bring in location specific items such as travel guides (in any language), maps, vacation brochures, souvenirs, photos, ethnic artifacts (clothing, pottery, etc.), and travel website URLS. Make sure the items are identified by the student’s name.
Time
This French class project can take several days, but it can also be spread out and worked on for a series of weeks.
Your Task
You and your travel companion have a combined budget of $1500.00. Depending on where you chose to go this can be much or not much money1. Each one of you has different interests and likes so you must plan your itinerary accordingly, incorporating activities that will be suitable for both. You will do all these fun things and visit all of these exciting places and bring back information and pictures for a multimedia travelog book and presentation. You want to have a great trip and bring back plenty of memories!
You and your friend will keep a daily travel journal of your week’s stay in the French-speaking region you chose and gather materials to help you remember this incredible trip and be able to share it with friends and family.
You will have 2 signed entries per day (1 per partner), and will need to record the time at which each entry was made. Each French travel journal entry should be about 100-word long (so about 200 words total) and include descriptions of the activities and places you saw (e.g.: hotel you stayed at, restaurants you dined at, sights you visited and weather on the day of your visit, street names. etc.), sketches of things, people, etc. you have seen.
You should also include how much you spent and on what per day. Make sure to stay within budget. Your entries should have a personal feel to them.
Make it seem as if you’re really there. Share your interests, your joys, your pains, etc.
Your daily entries should at least include the following:
1. An itinerary showing where you were the day before and where you are today.
2. The hotel/youth hostel/camping site, etc. where you are staying at.
3. The food you eat, the drinks you have, and where you consume these.
4. The sights and landmarks you visit, the museums you go to. You mention their history and significance, for the museum, the collections that you saw.
5. The recreational activities you do (walk at the beach, hiking, rock-climbing, wind-surfing, horse-riding, etc.). During your trip, you also go see one French movie and attend the concert of a French artist. You will insert photos, sketches, memorabilia, receipts, etc. as you go.
How Do You Organize your Project?
1. To simplify things, we will say that $1 =1 Euro (or the local currency)
2. Meet with your partner and decide on a destination. Then find a map of the region you chose to explore and decide on an itinerary for these 7 days. Decide on where you will land and take off from. Once you have an itinerary, find information on the various places you plan to visit. This includes: sights to see, things to do, hotels/camping sites to stay at, restaurants, etc.
3. Meet with your partner to look at your findings and decide how to present your trip’s information as a multimedia travelog.
4. Save all your information, text, pictures, etc. on a flash drive or web space. Write your French travelog as follows:
5. Date and time each entry. If your level is lower intermediate, write in the present tense or ‘future proche’ as if you were writing your entries in the moment.
6. Make extensive use of the vocabulary that you are learning.
7. Label your photos and memorabilia, insert a caption.
Conclusion
This French language and culture project has given you the opportunity to learn about a French-speaking region or country. You should now feel as if you have really been there and have a desire to return to it in reality rather than virtually.
