SKYWATCH FRIDAY--Blimp over Palos Verdes

Here I am in Palos Verdes, California, where I'm being graciously hosted by Tash of Palos Verdes Daily Photo. Tash took me for dinner last night at Admiral Risty's by the ocean. What a view....and meal....and a blimp to boot.

See other skies, and perhaps a blimp or two, at

SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

The Mystery Spot

Moving right along on my California visit route. On the way to a friend who lives in San Luis Obispo, I stopped at the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. A fun place, even though it's really based on an optical illusion rather than 'strange gravitational or magnetic forces'. Waters flow uphill, balls roll upward, tall people become shorter while short ones appear taller...

And when the tour's over you get a free bumper sticker....

ABC WEDNESDAY -R is for Road Trip

Sniff, sniff...leaving Napa and my friends....it was wonderful. Now on to see other friends!

See other R's on ABC WEDNESDAY.

The effects of wine...

Like my friend Isobel, I am a thrift shop junkie. They pull me in like a magnet... I bought a few things in a Napa store, but Isobel lucked out with these wild, wild sandals....

Not Italy....

Not Italy, not even Europe, but close. This is El Castillo, a winery in Saint Helena, California, where our merry group tasted and bought wine.

Wine tasting, of course!

Napa is wine country, so our happy group of ten 'Aix' friends set off in pursuit of a good glass of wine...of course we found several.

Don't you just love the shirts we had made? "Aix" friends=forever friends.
Well-aged, too.

You're in good hands.

A little sun, a little champagne, and lots of friends. Arrived in Napa for a 43-year reunion with friends I studied with in Aix-en-Provence in '68-69. And our director and his wife made it, too! A votre sante!

SKYWATCH--Oh, those clouds!

Oh, I'd forgotten how beautiful California is....and those puffy white clouds....

I took this while whizzing down I-5...quickly...

Check out other skies on SKYWATCH.

Kicking my heels

California, here I come. I hope I have as much fun as these sheep.

ABC WEDNESDAY--Q is for Quest

Somewhere in the foothills above San Francisco a knight is on a quest, perhaps for this dragon I 'shot' while driving....oh.

See other Q's and perhaps dragons on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Avec Louis Chez Fanny

Today I had the pleasure of finally meeting "Louis La Vache" of Bay Photo! Louis has been a faithful commenter almost since I began my blog three and some years ago, and it was nice for both of us to put a face (other than a cow and a dog) to our blogs.

We had lunch at Chez Fanny in Berkeley. Both of us had a croque-monsieur, cafe au lait, and shared a slice of rhubarb-strawberry pie with creme fraiche.

Merci, Louis, and a la prochaine! (Sorry--don't know how to add accents on some of the French words I've used!)