Bonjour de Paris! I am here in Paris with the Sweet Briar Junior Year in France program, and I am writing you from home base in the 14th arrondisement, an area known for artistic creation and literary genius. The 14th, Montparnasse as it’s referred to, was once home to Picasso, Léger, Soutine, Chagall and Zadkine, as well as famous Americans Man Ray, Henry Miller, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and now Allie Dalglish, thanks to The Student jumpstarting my writing career. I am living in a beautiful house with a French family. My host family has two adorable, hilarious girls and a French bulldog puppy who escaped from the house this morning in the pouring rain, causing me to be late (and sopping wet) to my first class at the Sorbonne.

Let me give you a little overview of what I’ve been up to for the past five weeks here in France. My study abroad program has a great two-week orientation period in Tours, a smaller, more provincial city just south of Paris. Tours is situated right in the middle of the Loire Valley, a region famous for its chateaux and wine. Aside from an intensive language class, we spent our two weeks in Tours reaping the benefits of the Loire Valley, visiting as many chateaux as possible and drinking as much wine as possible. My favorite chateau was Chambord, the most famous chateau of the Loire Valley. A Renaissance masterpiece, Chambord was commissioned under the order of King Francois I and is famous for its size, architectural symmetry and an innovative staircase, which is shaped like a double helix. As the legend goes (a legend confirmed neither by tourist pamphlets nor guide books), Francois I designed the staircase so that the queen could use the stairs on one side and his mistress on the other, and they would never cross paths. Sneaky dog, that Francois I.

My friends and I got another “taste” of French culture when we walked 9 kilometers to the neighboring town of Vouvray for some lessons on wine. Vouvray is famous for its white wines and “pétillants” (sparkling wines). We went to a vineyard and toured a wine cave that boasted tunnels totaling 11 kilometers in length and finished our tour by tasting the wines about which we had learned.

In Tours I lived with another French family who had a son my age. I had so much fun meeting his friends and asking them what impressions they had of Americans. To my obvious dismay, their answers were often, “Oh like ooh like I am blonde and looove zee beach. And bikiniiiz and partieez and Miami!” or, “Give me a [insert English expletive of choice] cheeseburger!” From that point on, I decided one of my goals here in France was to ameliorate the French opinion of Americans…

The past three weeks I have spent my time in Paris, going to class, seeing art exhibits, visiting monuments, acclimating myself to a new city and new culture, improving my French and often embarrassing myself in public. I have managed to ask for a plate when I wanted a napkin, to ask for plastic cotton instead of a plastic knife, and to say that I wanted face cream so as to avoid getting curtains when I am older. Nonetheless, I have made French friends, and I am successfully taking four classes in French without being completely lost. I am letting myself be absorbed by French culture, style, attitude and esprit, and I love it.

Before I left, I told myself that I didn’t want to waste a single moment while abroad. I wanted to have experiences: little, big, bizarre, intellectual, anything. Here is a short list of some of the experiences I’ve had thus far: I have eaten goose liver, I have gone to a 12-hour long techno parade, I have had my photo taken by a paparazzo (who he thought I was, I have no idea), I have spent countless hours café sitting, I have seen a quartet perform Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” inside Saint Chapelle at dusk, I have tried to slip past the bouncer at a fashion show during fashion week just to be caught and brutally rebuffed, I saw Rihanna at said fashion show after being brutally rebuffed, I have gone to cooking classes and made a delicious Tarte Tatin, I have gone to a church service in Sacré Coeur, I have danced the night away on the Champs-Elysees and I have made friends with two girls from Williams College. Oh the crazy things Paris makes you do!

As much as I want to be a true “Parisienne,” I haven’t forgotten the fairest college. Two weeks ago I got a visit from the lovely Robyn Lightner ’11, who came all the way from Prague to see me. Last weekend, I went to Munich for the world-famous Oktoberfest, where I met up with Carolina Alegria ’11, Danielle Erb ’11, Liz Foye ’11, Marion Read ’11 and Tom Rapisarda ’11. I have already planned trips to visit various Amherst juniors in Madrid, Florence, Rome and Prague and am anxiously awaiting Caitlin Demkin ’11, who is coming from Rome to visit me for the weekend. Last but surely not least, I look forward to seeing President Marx tomorrow at an Amherst Association of France event.

I’m missing Amherst but having the time of my life here. If you have the chance to study abroad, take it! It is an unforgettable experience that really should not be missed.

Bon automne et à Janvier!