French language Q&A Forum

Does anyone have any recommendations of how to get a full on immersive french experience in France? I am trying to get ready for DALF C1 exam and want to improve fluency quickly. I am looking for 2–3 weeks in France ideally with 3-4hours of structured learning. Ideally staying with someone who speaks only french. Institute Francais seems to have something but it is very expensive and probably too intense. 

1. My dictionary suggested "roman d'amour" for romance novel, but the accepted answers only included "roman à l'eau de rose," "roman sentimental," etc. Is there a difference?

2. I used "réussite" instead of "succès" just because it seemed to be repeated too often, but it seems like it wasn't an accepted answers some of the time; is there a difference between the two?

Si seulement c'était si facile de rendormir les enfants :-)

qui est pierrot?

Hello,

I'd like to know why the C1 quizzes focus so extensively on the Passé Simple. The tense is never used in speaking, (except perhaps in a stilted academic discourse), and is encountered primarily when reading. 

For example, on a recent C1 quiz, seven of the ten questions were on the Passé Simple. I'd rather have my quizzes focus more on idiomatic expressions. Instead, the passé simple questions come up over and over again, even when I score a perfect "10" on a given quiz.

Thanks,

Greg