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Amboise has 12,000 inhabitants and is located in the heart of Touraine, in the land of chateaux. It is a town both traditional and modern, lively and quiet. For centuries, Amboise, where the French Revolution had its roots, has been able to maintain its charm and offers above all else: French quality of living with its measured rhythm, its culinary specialities and the spontaneity of its residents.
The facades and towers of some of the most beautiful castles in the world reach for the sky from a splendid green river landscape, and from close up, they are even more monumental than first realized. In Amboise, there is a royal castle set above the Loire Valley and is a strong point extensively embellished during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Tour des Minimes, with its spiral staircase enabling riders to enter without dismounting, is the only one that has survived the ravages of time. The St. Hubert chapel is delightful and quite close to the country house of Clos-Luce where Leonardo da Vinci died and was buried. The medieval Town Hall and St. Florentin church, with its fluted pillars, are in the town while St. Denis stands above it. These world-famous Loire castles are an essential part of the culture program.
Average temperature about 4°C/40°F in January and about 20°C/70°F in July.
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The NRCSA center in Amboise is small and intimate, with 8 classrooms, a lecture room, multimedia learning center, piano, ping-pong table, and a courtyard. The building is located in the centre of town, on a tree-lined square 5 minutes by foot from the commercial hub with its small shops, street cafés and bistros. The school and Amboise offer a calm and culturally rich environment, which is ideal for an intensive study of French.