Hello one and all from Naomi Baker!

I am just finishing up my week here in Dijon before heading to Corsica tomorrow morning for an 8 day backpacking excursion. I am extraordinarily excited as everyone has told me how amazing the island is. I'll be basking in the Mediterranean sunshine in a matter of
hours...

Skiing was amazing. The Alps are beautiful, vast and well, beyond my vocabulary bank. Granted there are mountains equally beautiful in the states, I found the Alps to be a great change of pace from Bourgogne who, though very beautiful, is quite flat. Sadly I think the ski season has ended, not a great snow year.

A couple of weekends ago the UPS group headed to Alsace for a visit to Strasbourg and then a drive down through the vineyards, stopping to visit an amazing chateau and some charming smaller villages. Strasbourg is a great little city with a small river running through it and lots of impressive architecture. We visited the Conseil d'Europe (European Council), ate true Alsatian food (not as good as bourguignon), and had time to soak in the impressive cathedral. After Strasbourg we went to le Chateau du Haut-Koeninsbourg; it was my lego castle dream come true (little draw bridge and all, surrounded by forest)!!! The chateau has a really amazing history. It was pillaged and burned in the 16th century, restored at the very beginning of the 20th century by Guillaume II to demonstrate his political power. Much, much more but I won't bore you too much. I will add though that the castle is on a big hill, almost a small mountain and you can look out into the Black Forest. During our visit, there was a heavy fog down below...a never-ending sea of clouds broken by the tops of the mountains.

Last weekend I stuck around here to rest a bit. Saturday I got to go rock-climb with Kim and her host-brother, very fun and beautiful. I got a bit banged up but it was well worth it.

Nathalie Choplain (our Dijon director, friend and temporary mom) bought a bike so I've been taking care of it thus far. Yesterday I just headed out into the countryside and ended up finding a network of trails in one of the forests of Bourgogne. It was really beautiful and nice to know that I can get away from it all in a half an hour without a car. So that's that all. I hope to have interesting stories to tell when I return from the island. Take care one and all, until next time... All my love, Naomi.