The Onstotts

Bonjour Famille et amis,

A couple of weeks have gone by since our last post, so we thought it was time to update you on our happenings here in France. We are experiencing our first Christmas season away from home and family. We have found many similarities with the holidays in the States, such as the hustle and bustle of shopping, Christmas lights, cards, and carols. But other things have been different, like fireworks in old-town Manosque, paying exorbitant fees to ship toys from the UK, and huddling together to watch Christmas shows over the Internet on our tiny laptop screen. Nevertheless, we are grateful for this experience and are sure it will be memorable.

Joe continues to work hard to get systems and processes set up at ITER. He has moved from his office at the French Atomic Energy Agency to a new building located at the Tokamak construction site. While he now has to travel back and forth for meetings, at least he has an office with a phone so Julie can contact him without sending an email. Joe has also found friends from China, Russia, and England with whom he can chat on his daily bus rides.

Julie has been a bit overwhelmed these past couple of weeks. Nicolas got sick on Friday, which forced Julie to stay home and get caught up. Otherwise, she has had fun working with our Finnish neighbor to prepare for an upcoming school event and going to a Lutien, or French string instrument maker, in Aix en Provence to pick up Elyse’s new violin.

Not to bore you with the weather, but it’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas. Most mornings, the temperature dips down below zero, but warms up during the day. That is, at least, when it’s not raining torrents as it has six out of the past seven days. Oddly enough, we can drive just five minutes away to the top of the hill and find snow. When we wouldn’t let him out to play because of his recent illness, Nicolas exclaimed “I can’t take this winter wonderland!”

We took another giant leap into the unknown this week when we signed a lease for a house in Pierrevert. Unlike the current house, this one is much larger and mostly unfurnished and has allowed us to ship some of our things from Utah to make our stay in France a little more comfortable.

The kids refer to the house as a castle, probably because there are porticoes in the living room, candelabras for light fixtures, an electric gate, and a giant, four-inch-thick wood table in dining room with room for twenty or so.

Well, we will miss seeing you all during the holidays. Please eat some cinnamon rolls for us.

Joyeux Noel and Bonne Annee (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year) from the Onstotts!

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel