Spring days in New Orleans

The rain has stopped for a while, and the warm sun and breezy days are very enjoyable.  The people here are so friendly and the architecture is stunning.  Walking down the end of Bourbon street was very charming. . . the ironwork and picturesque courtyards through gates are a pleasure to behold.  Federal style homes, colourful columns, quaint shops and happy-go-lucky attitudes from everyone just out to enjoy.  The birds today were singing their hearts out and the sweet jasmine hanging down from many brick walls and iron fences was almost too marvelous to breath in.

I caught a glimpse of a beautiful park the other day with the most gigantic big trees, some with branches so big and low that they were almost lying on the ground horizontally.  Dainty light green feathery spanish moss hung from the trees like ornate little shawls.  I think the trees were Virginia oaks.  They were BIG.  I am happy being in the company of trees, birds and sweet smelling flowers.

We went to a very small hole in the wall authentic Mexican food joint for dinner, and I had some of the best quesadillas pastor ever.  Later we went on a ghost tour which was a great oral history of the city with some stories to send shivers down spines.  I enjoyed imagining the stories unfolding right in the buildings in front of me,  where they occurred so long ago.  As the tour guide spoke, horse drawn carriages would pass by the quiet street, and the fabulous clip clop sound of the hooves on the stones was an added bonus to the ambience.

At a pirate bar drinking rum after the tour, I met two men who were so inspiring; one hollywood set designer who had just finished a 5 month stint on a feature film being shot on location in the city (I saw Selma Hayak at the Cafe du Monde the other day, who is staring in it) and another man who had just finished getting his first novel published after working on it for 20 years.  It was a wonderful creative discussion and so magical.

New Orleans is a very cool place.

Wet New Orleans

I arrived in New Orleans in the late morning and discovered the quaint Inn was surrounded by pink Oleander trees.  I was so awed by their beauty. Before the bags got out of the car, I had to take a picture of the blossoms.  So sweet.  This is the Inn, the yellow old home.  I like it because it has two cats and takes animals.  But sometimes the charm isn't enough.  Right now, I'm sitting in the rickety charming hotel, riding out a torrential rainstorm.  It's very southern; complete with crooked veranda, peeling paint, courtyard filled with night flowering jasmin and a little fish pond.  The room is two single beds with an air conditioner, and during Jazz Fest, it's as as good as it gets as the whole city is filled up.  To find the bathroom, you go outside, down the veranda a ways.  It's reminds me of Mexico, except the tile work is way nicer in Mexico.  But certainly, some of the parts we drove through on the way here, looked very third world.  An interesting mix of economic scales.  

Last night, Malcolm and Ginger, the managers of this tattered but charming inn, put together a crawfish boil for the guests, quiet the Southern spread.  I was instructed by a local New Orleans guy how to eat them.  Seems like a lot of work for such little meat.  Gime an atlantic lobster any day . . . something you can really get pay back on for all the work you put into it!

They boil the little crawfish all up in a pot with cobs of corn, potatoes, onions and serve it with pickles.  It's very spicy.  There was a live band and nice people, all for the guests and neighbours to celebrate the kick off of the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Later, we went to Frenchmen Street, to a club where there was a Cuban band and salsa dancing. Just my cup of tea.  Hot, hot, hot.  The streets were filled with people, the clubs were filled with music and everybody was happy.  I'm staying just on the edge of the French Quarter in a mostly gay neighbourhood, so I see a lot of men walking little dogs.  Earlier that day, after we all arrived, I went to Cafe du Monde, to have the famous little doughnuts called beignees in Cajun French.  A fabulous violinist and guitar player entertained us.  The stores are really cool and there are many interesting people to watch.

Today, we went to the fairgrounds to attend the Jazz Festival; a huge outdoor extravaganza. There were bands playing on different stages, food and beer stations, people dancing and then it started to rain.  It teased us at first for the first 2 hours, then just got heavier and heavier. We were looked on with envy because we had ponchos and umbrellas, but after a while, even with rain gear, wading through puddles with thousands of people stopped being fun.  An early departure was just in time, as the rain only got worse and worse.  The fellow we paid 15 bucks to, to park on his lawn, was so nice.  We couldn't get to the car because it was way at the front. His niece offered to drive us to the hotel so we didn't have to take a cab.  Later, we'll pick the car up when all the other cars will have left.  We talked about the hurricane, and how she just moved back into her house after two years.  There are many neighbourhoods where the homes are sitting, still boarded up.  A sad sight.

It's near 8pm and still raining.  Ever since I left Mexico and stopped all the walking and hill climbing, I notice my pants don't quite fit like they used to. I had planned on going on a diet soon, so being holed up in this room with only one can of blue diamond almonds to fight over might just be the beginning.   

I love the ocean!

And also the cool plants here, like the giant agave and prickly pear. Remember, you can click on the photo to make it bigger.  I'm only allowed 5 photos per blog.

Big Sur, more pics

Beautiful Women, Beautiful Place

A wonderfully serendipitous connection was made in Yelapa with a fabulous woman named Rose, pictured here.  While working for a conference on compassionate listening at Casa Isabel, I got to meet all the women participating in it.  A small group had come down to the Barracuda to enjoy sushi and I had the pleasure of dancing for them.  Rose and I were kindred spirits and when she asked me to come visit her in Big Sur, I had certainly never expected to ever be in California to take her up on the offer.  But lo and behold, things just worked out in that direction and in a little over a month,  here I was, her living room with a labrador mix named Red (pictured here) in her cute little cottage overlooking the sea and eating eggs benny at the Big Sur Inn, where she works.

She is so full of life and has many wonderful stories she shared with me, as we both sat like two teenagers on her bed surrounded by wooden framed window overlooking her gardens, sipping tea and blabbing our heads off.  I only hope I am as vivacious as she is when I am her age.  She embodies that young girl spirit.

Her garden was a gem, full of colour and texture where I got to sit and soak up the sunny afternoon, overlooking the biggest and most beautiful part of the rugged pacific coast I have yet to see.  I saw whales, amazing birds, including a condor, and also a skunk on the way to dinner along the path. Here, I felt so warm and welcomed.  Big Sur reminded me of Yelapa with respect to the amazing energy there and friendliness of the people. Lots of artists, open and relaxed people, a think-different kind of culture.  Rose showed me art galleries, gardens, and treated me like a queen.

One night at dinner, I sat beside David Crosby, the musician.  I didn't notice, but someone pointed it out.  One of the highlights of being in Big Sur was spending the day at this amazing place called Essalyn Institute, where I was fortunate to meet Cheryl, a wonderful woman (friend of a friend) who invited me to visit as a guest.  I had a two hour massage, soaked in the hot pools, had lunch and a tour, then read my book on the lawns, watched the amazing surf against the rocks, enjoyed the gardens and napped.  It was a fantastic day and I am so grateful for the magical connection made with Cheryl.  A stunningly beautiful, courageous and loving-hearted woman whom I will never forget.

Big Sur

Wow, this place is stunning.  It was a 5 hour drive from San Fran, but only 4 hours on the way back.  I guess I knew where I was going on the return trip!  The geographical variety was overwhelming, everything from dry grape growing regions to lush hilly country to flat black rich earth, freshly planted with lettuce and many mature crops.  This is where all the veggies in my part of the country come from, in winter especially.  As I was coming into a place called Sea Side (I think) the sand dunes started forming and the ocean became visible.  The sand was light and sculpted by the wind with a little vegetation on top.  Kids had climbed them and using some kind of culled sea vegetation, formed names in the sand.  It was a beautiful mounding frame work to the huge ocean behind it.  I was so excited I stopped to get a better look.  It only improved the further south I traveled; dunes morphing into cliffs etched by the sea, the sandy earth forming giant clay coloured fingers which once past the cut out highway, softened into rolling and gradually flatter green scrub, resembling lush park land.  Further south, the cliffs transformed off and on into high cliffs that most days I discovered, were surrounded by a thin misty veil.  How magical.

San Fran & Sonoma

More pics of this beautiful area.  I met an amazing woman named Charlotte, who is Jonathan's sister.  She graciously hosted us one night and day in Sonoma.  She has the most perfect house with the most gorgeous garden in a perfect setting and to top it all off, the sweetest dog named Poco.  It was nice to get some puppy snuffles.  Her guestroom had the softest sheets I've ever slept in.  I could have stayed there and fallen asleep into oblivion for quite some time.  The Sonoma film festival was on and Charlotte introduced me to a documetary film about a woman whose life changed after a one week vacation to Mexico.  It documents why so many north americans are leaving their lives behind and living in Mexico.  I could totally relate.  

Jonathan took me to the Haight one day also, and we had a blast (well at least I did) looking into all the cool shops and there are so many awesome thrift stores.  I got a hat for 5 bucks!

It was a beautiful sunny day and it was a feast for the eyes.  Jonathan lost his mind in a shoe store, so it wasn't all one-sided.  However, he is indeed quite patient and tolerated my doddling ways.  We found a cool Mexican place for an early dinner and then drove through the latin section of town on the way back.  Somehow I felt like I got a fix.

Some pics here are of Sonoma, San Fran and Charlotte's dog Poco.

More Sonoma/S.F. pics

Photos 1.  There was this cool olive grove in the courtyard of one of the wineries, where the boys and I played bocce ball.  It seemed like I'd walked into the south of France where time stands still.

2.  The Golden Gate Bridge is pretty stunning even when you're driving on it.  

3.  The Culinary Institute of America is in St. Helena, a place full of wonderful food and wine.

4. At the Institute of Food & Wine

5.  Apple blossoms in the gardens

A Day of Wine Touring

A sunny Saturday filled with scents of spring, the wildflowers alive and colourful in the hills, and birdsong abundant and bright.

We began with a wonderful breakfast in St. Helena, a picturesque and gorgeous town overflowing with vineyards and old stone walls, picture perfect little houses and some definitively kick ass wine.  We stopped at Ehlers Estate to sample the reds and my buddies Joe and Jonathan were amusing as usual.

Kyle, the stupendous host (pictured here) entertained us while simultaneously flirting with a gaggle of well dressed women on a bridal shower excursion.  After the tastings, we returned outside, where the fellas and I found a  bocci ball court beside a very mediterranean feeling olive grove courtyard.  I won the first 2 games and it was a very close draw at the end between Jonathan and I.   I felt like I was in Italy or France.  The smell of the olives  jasmin and roses, so intoxicating in the dry warmth of the sun.  The first really hot day of the season.

We then headed off to Trinchero,, another old winery where I got to flirt this time; with a bichon frise named Merlin.  I miss my Maddie a lot,  and he looked so much like her.  It was bittersweet.  I tried two extraordinary reds, and the notes are somewhere in my backpack.

At lunch we went to the city of Napa to COPIA, the American Center for Wine Food & the Arts, where there was Julia's Kitchen, a restaurant named in honour of Julia Childs.  We didn't eat there, but at the cool market across from it.  When we were walking with our ice cream cup, my plastic spoon dropped on the concrete floor.  I had picked it up and after a quick exam was about to start using it again, when Jonathan appeared behind me with a new one.  "You've been in Mexico too long", he stated.   I thought the cement floor of this brand new market was certainly clean enough to eat off, however I graciously accepted the new spoon as I laughed thinking I would have never done something like that a few months ago.  Before leaving, we all strolled through the fabulous gardens, all manicured and blossoming.  It was really hot out! 

To escape the heat, we finished the day sipping sparkling wine at the caves of Gloria Ferrer, on the shaded deck with a view of the whole valley.

Definitely, a princess kind of day . . . even if the princess did try to eat her ice cream with the dirty spoon.

Driving through Wine Country

Hm.  There's something about driving a low-to-the ground sports car through a practically empty and very curvy road that appeals to my masculine side. When the countryside is as stunning as it is here, in northern Cali and the sun is in the perfect spot, lighting up the grassy hills and newly budding trees, arching their branches over the road; when the ipod mix is just perfect and the stereo sound impeccable and all one has to do is drive -  it's pretty sweet.

Thank you Jonathan for the gift of luxury transportation while I'm here, and for this freeing and powerful experience.

I passed the Mondavi estate this day, plus dozens of other fabulous wineries, and also the Culinary Institute of America, housed in a gorgeous stone castle-like building.  Perhaps I got sprinkled on my way by with domestic goddess powder, because since I got here, all I can think of is food and cooking.  Okay and drinking and shopping.  It's all a mirage I know. The picturesque perfect little towns along highway 29 are too pretty to be real.  There's got to be a seedy side somewhere, but so far I haven't seen it, and I'm not going looking for it.

I woke up to bright warm sun today, thankfully.  I've been freezing here. There were white tailed deer laying in the grassy trees and under the big stand of oaks that I saw from the deck.  I ate my obscure French Camembert with my favourite tea while sitting there in the morning sun and thanked the gods. 

Spring in Sonoma

  Well I'm in Calfornia.  How did that happen you ask?

While in Yelapa,  I met the most amazing guys Jonathan and Joe, from San Francisco who had won a trip and were staying at a cool palapa called Casa Capomo.  I showed them around Yelapa and of course we had to go to the Yacht Club, where everyone dances to their own drummer.

Sensitive and sweet, they invited my girlfriend Donna, who had come to Yelapa for a couple of days from Vallarta -  to stay with them in their spacious palapa, since she couldn't find a room and I hadn't moved into my new place yet.  They are full of love for life and each other and we laughed for 2 days straight.  They came to opening night of Sushi Sundays and I was their guide to the top of the waterfall.  When they left, they invited us to visit them in S.F. and to come with them to the New Orleans Jazz Festival in April.   So I said yes.  Donna will be coming in a couple of weeks.

I have only been to S.F. once but never to the beautiful countryside. It's stunning.  I feel like a princess.  It's nice to see spring again and smell the freshness in the air, of blossoms, of tree buds, of lilacs (my favourite) and to see cool trees like oaks, acacia, and bay.  I'm in tree heaven.

I have a view of a pretty lake, my own room, and use of an awesome car with a gps.  Just what a directionless girl like me needs!

I've even been inspired to cook, and with the choice of amazing food in the markets (I lost my mind in the imported cheese section yesterday) it's a pleasure.  It helps to have a real kitchen. Somehow not having to lug purified water up a long hill nor boil it to get it warm, nor disinfect the produce first - has made life easier all of sudden.  But don't get me wrong; I miss Mexico terribly and leaving Yelapa was one of the strangest and difficult things I've done in a while.

Plus, there might be French cheese here, but there are no tostadas that even come close to those at the Bahia cafe in Yelapa, and I've not yet had chilaquiles that equal those at Cafe Olla in Vallarta.  Dont' even get me started about the tortilla soup at Celida's Eclipse Cafe in Yelapa. There is no equal.

All food aside, I miss the people and the connections I made in Yelapa.  I miss the energy and the love.  My love is being sent to Keradwyn, Paul, Dan, Felix, Linda and Eric, Pamela, Isaac, Alex, Shakti, Daniel, Veronica, Aurora, Rangel, Gavin, Elena, Hermelinda, Alejandro, Philipo, Jaime and to all those who have already left.  I'll be back, but right now, it's really cool to be in a different place for awhile, with more loving friends.  I am blessed to have loving friends in many places.

Pictures here are of the just coming into bud vineyards, and the beautiful orange poppy  (I think the county or state flower.)  Reminds me of the Okanagan, but greener and with the most amazing round and rolling hills. Those oak trees are stunning.  Last pic is Jonathan and Joe in their Yelapa palapa.

Beauty abounds. 

 

Photos of Botanical Gardens in Vallarta

The river was cool, the sun hot and the flora and fauna plentiful.  A gorgeous place.  .