The Onstotts: Hiking on Sainte Victoire

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was the second week of vacation for the kids. Unfortunately, Joe did not get a vacation!

Throughout the vacation the kids enjoyed sleeping in most mornings, although I often found them in their beds playing Mario Kart or Super Mario Brothers on their DS Consoles. We went on a few short trips to meet some of their friends to go sledding, to the lake, or just to play with trains and stuff! One day we all worked together to help Nicolas get caught up on his scout activities. We had little rewards like m&m's or playing a game, or sundaes at McDonalds, to keep us going that day. We also took advantage to schedule a few playdates with friends. Elyse enjoyed playing with her American girl dolls. Her little friend Lyra is a living doll, and so she dressed her up in doll clothes last week! Nathaniel proudly began taking piano lessons from his Mom. But the vacation wasn't all fun and games. Each of the children had homework to do (hope it's all done). Julie took a test in Marseille for her online course. We also had to deal with a stove that stopped working and later, our heater that stopped working. Good thing it's March! Most of all, the kids enjoyed just staying at home and building creations together.

St. Victoire by Cezzane

On Saturday, we all took a drive down to Aix en Provence to do some hiking on Sainte Victoire, a mountain made famous by painter Paul Cezanne. The front of the mountain is a rocky cliff and gives it is distinctive look. However, the back side is more gradual and covered in a pine forest making it perfecct for hiking.

Nicolas gave the hike three out of five stars because it started from a village and was very hard in some places. Nevertheless, each of the kids did very well. Even though we weren't able to reach the top due to time constraints, we felt satisfied with having accomplished the steepest part of the trail.