PARIS

French students are discovering that the best way to improve their exam grades is to shut themselves away with monks.

As the distractions of everyday life become harder to resist, a stay in an isolated monastery forces even the laziest to bury their heads in a textbook. The settings of many of France's old monasteries are superb, and they are cheap to stay in, with guests paying whatever amount they wish.

Francois Breteau, 21, spent a week at the Monast re de Prouilhe, run by Dominican nuns near Toulouse. "At home I have the TV, my computer, my hi-fi, but at the monastery there was nothing to distract me so I simply had to work. I put in ten hours' study a day," he said.

The experience helped him win an engineering place at the Ecole Superieure de Geometrie et Topographie in Le Mans.

ÍøÆØÃÅ

Sister Genevi ve Emmanuel, who runs the monastery's guest house, said there had been a marked increase in the number of students coming to stay, especially those preparing to sit tough entrance exams for the grandes ecoles, the handful of top colleges that train France's future political and business leaders. The monastery also receives lots of baccalaureat candidates.

"We've noticed a big rise in demand. There is a lot of stress in the outside world and the students need to withdraw from it for a while. When they come here they work very hard," said Sister Genevive.

ÍøÆØÃÅ

Students wondering where they might stay often refer to one of the guide books that appraise the hundreds of monasteries in France in much the same way as they would a hotel. The experience can vary widely depending on which religious order the chosen monastery belongs to.

For instance, the Abbaye de la Trappe in Soligny-la-Trappe, south of Paris, is run by Trappist monks. They observe silence at all times, talking to each other only when absolutely necessary, and they expect a fair amount of discretion from their guests as well. The doors are locked at 9pm.

Father Robert said most of the students who stayed at the abbey were well behaved, most of the time: "Sometimes they talk a bit too much when they are in their rooms in the evening and we have to tell them to pipe down. And, obviously, they are not supposed to go out for a drink every night. But they tend to appreciate that it's nice and peaceful here so they try not to break the rules."

But even Mr Breteau admitted that, happy though he was with his stay at the Monast re de Prouilhe, the silence got a bit much at times. "I was completely alone, and by the end of the week the absence of any noise started to seem a bit bizarre. I think some people probably wouldn't be able to stand it unless they sneaked in a mobile phone."

ÍøÆØÃÅ