Dear Family and Friends,
This past week, Julie and the kids enjoyed a well-deserved respite from school. Though they weren't completely free from learning, they did have the opportunity to spend more time playing with each other and with friends. Unfortunately, Joe's week was busier than usual because of a semi-annual meeting of the member coutries of the ITER Project. While such meetings are very interesting because of their UN flavor, the discussions meant that Joe had to make signficant changes to some of his submitted papers.
On Saturday, we all got in the car for a short trip. This time, our travels took us north-east towards the French Alps towards the ski village of Ancelle. On the way, we stopped in the mideval town of Tallard and walked around the 14th century Chateau.
One of the nicest features of this tiny community is the wooded area that abuts the chateau on one side. With the leaves changing, a myriad of trails, and crisp weather, it was a kids (and parents) paradise.
Tallard has many interesting buildings that date to around 700 years ago. This includes an old home with ancient shuttes and a painted facade.
After leaving Tallard, we continued up the mountains and into a national forest. There, we found a nice spot for a picnic of cookies, leftover waffles from the morning's breakfast, and a few granola bars. We finally reached the summit and began our decent into Ancelle.
In the evening, the kids dressed up and went trick or treating. Though this U.S. tradition is not well known here in France, our avant-garde next-door neighbor had talked to all of the homes on our block so they were prepared when the kids came demanding "Des bonbons ou un mauvais sort (some treats or a bad spell)!"
Finally, we went to some friends' home for a Halloween party that consisted of lots of food, games, and prizes for the kids.
We hope you all had a good Halloween. If not, here's a scary video of Nathaniel portraying a dementor to put you in the mood!
Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel
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