Mon addresse

A few people have asked for my address, so incase ALL of you want to send me mail, here it is:

Danielle Weesjes

Fondation Marjolin

Ap. 503, rue Eugène Carrière

75018 Paris

France

And as incentive for sending me mail, I promise that for any letters received, in return you will get a personalized, hand-written AND signed postcard from the one and only, me. :o)

So I’m in apartment 503. It’s on the top floor, at the corner of the building…lots of stairs! Although I can’t see the road because of a small roof overhang underneath my window, I get more sunlight than most rooms, which I definitely appreciate! Unfortunately, I don’t see the Eiffel Tower from my room…just the tops of other apartments. It’s kinda cool though, and so not me! If you know me, I’m sure you know how much I love Aylmer, and living on the edge of a small town, where I can see a field and forest out my bedroom window. So this is definitely an adjustment, but I’m starting to like it. I love opening my window in January and letting the breeze blow through my curtains. And the rain sounds really neat on the metal roof. I don’t even mind the sound of the traffic in the street, although we live right next to the Fire Station, which can get a bit annoying.

Yesterday was my favourite excursion yet, as Nate and I went halfway up the Eiffel Tower (the top was closed for renos). We managed to get up just as the sun was setting, and all the white stone buildings of the city reflected the pink and purple hues of the sky. It made for some nice pictures! (below). And then, as we were about to take the elevator down, the entire tower started flashing its strobe lights! It does it every nite for only 10 minutes, so as soon as we got off the elevator we booked it to the gardens to try get a few pictures. You can see that we made it just in time! (below). That was so neat though, to see the entire building glittering like sparkler. Definitely wanna go back to see that again!

Dr. Rusthoven is here now for a week, and on Thursday she’s taking us for a two day trip to Normandy. We’re hoping to see Dieppe and if I’m lucky, Mont St. Michel. It’s a city on an island that you can walk to when the tide goes out. At the top of the island is a cathedral and the rest of the city circles it on the hills below. From the pictures I’ve seen it looks beautiful! And I’m so excited to see the ocean! Another big first for me! I think I may have seen it from the airplane, but it was nite when we crossed, so really everything just looked like a giant black nothingness. So I’ll definitely have more pictures for you all after this coming weekend!

Today’s French lesson includes the use of possessive pronouns:

Jordan est le mien, et je suis la sienne [Jordan is mine, and I am his]

Yeah, now every one utter an “awwwww.” There ya go, that felt good, didn’t it?

Have a fantabulous week everyone! Hope you’re not freezing your butts off yet (although I’ve heard you are…haha, suckers!)

Much love to ya!

Proof that I'm actually here

Here's a few pictures for y'all! Enjoy!

La Tour Eiffel--all lit up at nite

Paris behind me, from the 2nd level of La Tour Eiffel

Nate and Steph

In front of L'Arc de Triomphe...and the 12 lane traffic circle

C'est moi!

Treated ourselves to dinner on the Champs-Eleysées

Two beauties in front of Notre Dame

First week of firsts

Hey everyone! Well I've officially survived my first week of life in Paris! I'm excited to be settling in and getting the hang of things, buecause it's been a crazy week of touring, adjusting and experiencing a lot of firsts. I had my first ride on the metro to go to Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge, and have since ridden the metro a lot...like a pro. Just avoid eye contact and hold on to something tightly at all times! I also had my first taxi ride coming from the airport to the Fondation. I know, that's just loserish of me...but I'm from Aylmer where you're more likely to find a horse-and-buggy than a taxi. I was worried about how to hail a taxi in French if I haven't even done it in English, but apparently taxi translates quite easily to...."taxi". Phewf! This week we also walked from La Tour Eiffel all the way across Paris (it felt like it!) to Notre Dame and the Quartier Latin. There's so much to see along the Seine! Museums, palaces, obelisques, memorials, and rows and rows of huge, intricately carved stone buildings. I can't wait until we go into some of them, espeically the museums. I'm especially excited for the Musée d'Orsay, the Impressionist/Romantic art museum in an old train station. Tomorrow is registration day, and then a week later we start classes. I'll have been on vacation for almost 2 months before I start school again! Suckas!!! :o) just kidding, I hope all of you, where ever you are in the world, are having a great time in school or working. I miss you all, and can't wait to share more of my adventures with you!