Bonjour!

---

Hello Everyone!

Sorry it has been a while since I have been able to get to a computer. I only brought my Iphone with me instead of my computer and I don't think typing a blog on my Iphone sounds like much fun. Anyways, we had an exciting adventure in Paris over the weekend and now we are in Liege, Belgium. Tomorrow we travel to Luxemburg and then on to Brussels. The trip ends there for the study abroad program but Emily and I are off to Rome on Saturday (YESS!)

We left on a 4 hour bus ride to Paris on Thursday morning and arrived in the city around 3:00 pm. We walked along the Louvre area and the shopping center there. Friday we went to the eiffel tower and were there for a total of 4 hours...it is definitely high tourist time right now. We were told the city receives 25 million tourists per year...wow! That afternoon we toured Notre Dame, so beautiful. They were actually having a church service when we were there that was a once in a life-time experience. It was so interesting. That night we had a bus ride with a tour guide around the city. We ended at the Eiffel Tower look-over point to see the tower light up at night with its millenium lights. It was awesome and we got some really cool pictures. Saturday we went to the Arce De Triomphe and then inside the Lourve. Emily used to be an Art History major so she really enjoyed the Lourve and I had my own personal guide of all the artwork. The mona lisa is so small! It seems much bigger when you hear about it but really it is not. There was also a beautiful statue at the top of the stairs with angel wings..not sure what it was called but it definitely was my favorite. Sunday we visited Sacre Coer (the famous church up on a hill that over looks the city). It was the best church we have seen so far...gorgeous..but sadly we werent able to take pictures. While in Paris we expeienced some not so nice French people (we were not given very good service). But, it was a learning experience and lets just say we wont ever eat there again! We headed back on the bus for another 4 hour ride to Liege.

Monday we had class in the morning and then had a welcoming event that afternoon, just burgers and fries in the courtyard. We then took the rest of the day off to relax and rest after the long weekend in Paris. Tuesday we traveled to Brussels by train to visit the European Parliament and European Commision. It was quite interesting to see how things work politicaly speaking over here. We had this morning off, so for the first time on the trip we got to sleep past 8:00am, yay!! We had class this afternoon about NATO and we are having a reception with the governor of Liege tonight. We feel pretty special to be having a reception with a Governor!

As I said, we are headed to Luxemburg tomorrow to visit the Investment Bank and then on to Brussels for our final stop. Our test will be taken Friday morning and then we have our last night. Saturday morning Emily and I are headed to Rome by ourselves...We are very excited to see everthing in the City, but are also ready to be home and used to a routine. Living out of a suitcase is not fun! We will head home next Wednesday, the 15th.

If any of you have me on facebook, there are a few pictures uploaded on there. I will upload some on here after I return to the states because I am not able to do it here.

I hope everyone is having a great summer and I've heard the weather is pretty hot over there! Miss you all!

Love,
Ashley

---