The first days

Paris has always had the capacity to mean many things to many people, and the Sarah Lawrence program reflects that personal quality. Soon after your arrival in Paris, you will meet with the program director and her staff to answer any initial academic and practical questions you might have. After taking an exam to place you at the appropriate level in your intensive French language course, you’ll join the other students on the program for a four-day excursion into the French countryside, traveling to Provence and the Côte d’Azur. Here you will begin to live and breathe en francais, gain a sense of life outside Paris, and get to know your fellow students as you sample the region’s culture.

Orientation

Upon returning from the introductory excursion, you’ll meet with program administrators, who will help you settle into whichever independent living option you have chosen: apartment, student foyer, university dorm or homestay. In further talks with the program director, you’ll discuss your academic interests and the potential directions your course of study might take. And over the next two weeks, as you attend lectures on French culture, politics and art, gather insights on French teaching and learning methods, take guided trips in and around the city and pursue intensive language study, you’ll acquire a sense of how best to match your interests with the program’s extensive offerings.

"My studio was in a great location…everything was right there: movie theatres, the Louvre, the Pont Neuf. I did my own cooking and shopped at the street markets every weekend for fresh fruits, vegetables." — Participant, Harvard University

A feel for the city

From the program’s office in Reid Hall, a beautiful 18th century house in the student center of Paris, the city is at your fingertips, awaiting contact with your senses, a seat in your awareness. Stroll through the geometric pathways and the nearby Luxembourg Gardens on a mid-afternoon, or down the boulevard du Montparnasse as clouds rush over rooftops, and you will begin to feel it. Walk along the Seine in the early morning hours, absorbing the many shades of gray as they sharpen into daylight gracing Petit Pont, Pont Neuf, Pont St-Michel. Watch the older generation playing boules or chess in the public parks, the children playing in the sand or sailing small bateaux in shallow ponds. Sit at a Left Bank terrace café with the Sunday paper watching the people go by: you will feel it. In such wanderings you will make Paris your own, encountering Parisians as you shop at the produce markets, browse the booksellers’ stalls along the quays, pause to listen to a street musician’s haunting solo. And as your interests carry you along—from casual conversations to friendships, from an evening, perhaps, at one of the many university-sponsored activities to regular participation in their activities, or from a moderate interest in film to a fascination with French cinema—your involvement in the life of the city will deepen your experience and enhance your studies.