Two Americans in Paris

My sister Julie came to visit this past week. We had a grand time, while she also helped me with apartment set up, helped get my back straightened out and shared some university orientation sessions with me. I really enjoyed her visit - and for a week, I wasn't the newest kid on the block.

A highlight of her visit was our trip to Paris. We walked to the Leuven Train Station at dawn to catch a commuter train to Brussels, then it was an hour and a half on the high speed train to Paris. We were there before 9am. We got all day passes to the Paris Metro/RER/Bus/Tram. That helped us get around and save our feet a bit.

Our first stop was Notre Dame. It was magnificent. We both have lots of pictures. In fact I was noticing how much photographic equiment people had there. It was amazing. Earliest parts were built in the 12th century. It has certainly seen a lot of history.

We then took the train to the Eifel Tower. Again, wow! It is just like the pictures show it, but it is amazing to be up close and personal. We got a crepe and coffee from a shop there. This shot is taken on the bridge over the Seine. We crossed that bridge to another monument, then grabbed a train up to the Arc de Triomphe.

Again it was just like in the photos. But there were thousands of Parisians trying to get on with life as usual, while thousands of tourists took in the sites and took lots of pictures. Julie and I stopped along the Champs de Elysee for lunch in a sidewalk cafe - a great lunch I might add.

Our last stop was the Louvre. That was amazing as well. You would practically have to live at the museum for a year to do justice to all that is there. It was incredibly amazing. And the place was packed with people from around the globe. I would have loved to have spent time looking at paintings and sculptures. But there was so much there that all I could do was just marvel at it all.

We then headed back to the train station and caught our train for Brussels, then Leuven. The whole day was amazing and just a grand time. We had some other great days seeing the sights here in Leuven - this town is overflowing with charm. We also spent another lovely afternoon in Brussels.

Next week formal classes begin. They have finally posted our schedule. They said they always try to have classes only on Tues, Wed and Thursday. That will be nice. But I'll have to get into the academic routine here. It is different from what I'm used to. However, in my program, it will be new for most of the students, so hopefully we'll figure it out together.

I haven't met any canon law students, but there are lots of internationals here for theology programs.

Peace,
Amy