As if on cue, snow began to fall minutes before Roger Pizot, the mayor of Saint-Paul-lez-Durance and Osamu Motojima, Director-General of the ITER Organization, proceeded to light the ITER Christmas tree last Friday.

The large tree was a gift from the municipality of Saint-Paul (pop. 800), which hosts the ITER installation. At its last meeting in November, the ITER Council resolved that when referring to the location of the ITER project, official correspondence would from now on bear the name "Saint-Paul-lez-Durance" instead of "Cadarache," which is not a village but a mere lieu-dit (locality).

This, of course, made Mayor Pizot very happy. Back in 2001, he was instrumental in mobilizing local governments to commit financial support to the project to the tune of EUR 467 million.

Last Friday, he assured the assembled ITER staff that the village of Saint-Paul will "continue to support the project, which has brought substantial economic benefits to the whole Provence region."

As the snow continued to fall, traditional vin chaud (mulled wine) was served.