Family Day and Ganagobie

Dear Family and Friends,

The past couple of weeks have been very busy at school and work. We have been thankful for the short breaks we have had the past couple of weekends to spend some more time as a family. While our plans haven't been too adventuresome, the kids have been able to get caught up on play time and we've had a few small excursions that have allowed us to get out of the house.



Last Saturday, it was Family day at ITER and CEA (French Atomic Engergy Agency). Joe thought it would be fun to show the kids where he worked so they could have an idea where he spends so much time. For some reason, free soda and candy, the ability to spin on Joe's chairs, and new ITER nametags made Joe cool in the eyes of the kids for a few hours.



AFter leaving Joe's office, we took a tour of the ITER platform, the future site of the experimental fusion reactor, tritium plant, and other buildings. While the science was lost of the kids, they did enjoy the bus ride around the site and over the platform. Julie was also able to make a new friend from Ireland and spent most of the time updating her on the pecularities of the International School.



Yesterday, we followed our Branch up to a small plateau overlooking the Durance Valley for a picnic. The location is also home to a eleventh century monestary and church.



Over the entrance, there are carvings in the mideval style of the twelve apostles, angels, winged dragons, and Jesus holding a book.



The inside of the church is rather plain. However, there are some Romanesque mosaics that made the visit worthwhile. Unlike the decorations usually found in such churches, these mosaics featured knights, monsters, centaurs, unicorns, and magical symbols. These unusual themes originate from a mixture of paganism and the crusades (Photo courtesy of French-Voyage; Joe was too afraid to take pictures inside).



The kids' favorite part of the day was climbing the oak trees. In typical Nathaniel fashion, at home we found that he had some rather painful looking scrapes on his side from falling out of a tree that he hadn't bothered to tell anyone about.



During the day, our suspicions that Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel have dominant monkey genes were confirmed. When it was finally time to leave, the call of the wild was too much for Nicolas, who broke down in tears and did not want to leave his true home.



After a very rainy week, we are glad that we were able to spend such a beautiful fall day in the hills overlooking the Durance Valley and distant French Alps.

Bonne Courage!

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel