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Northern California Scenes

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Miles and I made a day trip to Santa Rosa to visit friends, my aunt and uncle as well as see some of the aftermath of the North Bay fires in October which killed 43 people, burned more than 100,000 acres and destroyed nearly 7000 structures.  Although we had seen many pictures on the internet, they don't compare to seeing the area in person.  It was really surreal. Talk about contrasts:  We then drove into "uncharred" San Francisco and walked along Chrissy Field to Fort Point (beneath the Golden Gate Bridge).    View from Chrissy Field  Alcatraz   Place where joggers "tap" before turning around on their run  Even dogs get to "tap" their paws--how very San Francisco!  The beautiful bridge at dusk Sometimes the most beautiful places are right in your back yard (well, almost).  The Pacific Ocean is a mere 15-minute drive from my parents' home in San Mateo.  Miles and I just zipped over ...
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California Dreamin'

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I don't normally write blogs about our visits to California since most of my time is spent doing everyday kinds of things with my parents, family and friends.  I'm not a tourist.  HOWEVER, there are plenty of very interesting and beautiful things to see and do in the area. Miles and I visited my brother and sister-in-law for the weekend in Aptos and we stopped in  Santa Cruz, a coastal city that has a very proud surfing history which dates back to the 1880's. Proud surfer  Info stations in the shape of waves Dusk Those teeny black specks on the right are surfers There's also a beach boardwalk which boasts that it's California's oldest surviving amusement park dating from 1907. It's very quiet (but still partially open) in Dec., and Miles and I strolled the boardwalk.  Going to the Santa Cruz boardwalk is one of my fondest childhood memories and the scene of Miles' and my 2nd date way back in 1981.  Hasn't changed much (a...
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Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte

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We spent most of the month in Paris itself and felt we had to venture out somewhere within Ile-de-France ( also known as the région parisienne and within our 5-zone metro pass), so we took the train for an hour ride to Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte.  I can't say it any better than Wikipedia:   Constructed from 1658 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Ile, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV, the château was an influential work of architecture in mid-17th-century Europe. At Vaux-le-Vicomte, the architect Louis Le Vau, the landscape architect Andre le Notre and the painter-decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large-scale project for the first time. Their collaboration marked the beginning of the "Louis XIV style" combining architecture, interior design and landscape design. The garden's pronounced visual axis is an example of this style (more about this later in the blog).    Coming up the main pat...
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