We're in New Orleans now, our first time since 1993, when were newly engaged.
On the way from Shreveport, we saw a LOT of roadkill along the way, including 2 armadillos. Obviously, the armadillo's armor can't protect them against an automobile.
The weather has been very hot & steamy, which is not the weather we're used to, having lived in the Bay Area for so many years. In many ways it adds to the feeling of the Big Easy, but it is very draining & uncomfortable for us.
It's good to see so many tourists here again after Katrina & the oil spill. Let's hope they continue to come. The French Quarter is fairly crowded, especially around Jackson Square. The St. Louis Cathedral is beautiful, & the parishioners have been praying for the 97-year-old former Archbishop, who passed away today.
We're staying in a great B&B (The Burgundy Inn) in a neighborhood called the Marigny. The Marigny has been gentrified fairly recently, & has a feel all its own. The houses are beautifully restored & the people in the Marigny are amazingly friendlly. Everyone says hello when you walk by.
There is one fairly big disappointment here, though....Where has all the good food gone? New Orleans has always been a city of wonderful food, but we have had a hard time finding it. It seems that every menu has mostly fried food...very little blackened fish or simple buckets of boiled seafood, or raw oysters. When you do see them, the prices are sky-high. Could the lack of good seafood be a result of Hurricane Katrina & the oil spill? We will go in search of a good dinner for our last night here.
Spent 3 days in Santa Fe which is a beautiful city. The downtown area is done completely in the colonial adobe style. There are lots of high-end shops, but with the economy the way it is, we didn't see too many people buying things. There is a strong native American presence, & they sell their silver/turquoise jewelry, which is very well designed & made. The only thing we didn't like about Santa Fe is New Mexico cuisine. It's very heavy & not very good. Maybe if we weren't suffering from the altitude (It takes a while to adjust to 7,000 feet), we would have enjoyed the food more.
We saw the oldest church in the US, as well as a beautiful cathedral/basilica and a chapel with a "miraculous staircase (above). There is a very interesting story of how it was built; modern-day engineers & architects cannot figure out how it was made. Here is a photo of the altar in the San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the US:
As we've been traveling we have noticed that small towns in the US & small towns in France have absolutely nothing in common except that they are small. Here are some things we have seen....
Frito Pies. Well, this "gourmet" treat is a small bag of Fritos, cut open & topped with chili, cheese product (we're sure it's not real cheese) & maybe onions, hot sauce, etc. You actually eat it out of the bag. We didn't have the guts (or desire) to try this New Mexico specialty.
Texans are fiercely proud of being Texans, though having driven across 600 or so miles of it, the reason is a mystery. We saw countless small towns that appeared dead. There are empty, derelict buildings and hardly any people in sight. One interesting thing was the breakfast waffles in the shape of the state of Texas. It didn't occur to us until several hours later that a photo of the Texas-shaped waffle would have been interesting to add here. Of course, it's not as interesting or newsworthy as an image of the Blessed Mother in a grilled cheese sandwich, but we were impressed.
Another difference is that the food in small towns in France is generally delicious; not so here. After spending the afternoon at Ft Worth's Kimbell Museum (see more below), we arrived in Terrell, TX. Well, there aren't too many choices for food, especially on a Sunday evening, so we opted to get takeout pizza & salad. We really didn't think it was possible for "pizza" to be that bad. Yes, the quote marks around the word pizza are intentional, because what we got was not pizza -- nor was it edible. At least it was inexpensive.
The Kimbell Museum, on the other hand is a delight. It's not a large museum, but the collection is superb. Free admission & free audio guides made it even better. They have a small collection, but what they have is choice & covers a wide range of periods & styles. They have a recently discovered first painting by the 13-year-old Michaelangelo, "The Temptation of St. Anthony." Wow!
The only downside is that much of the permanent collection has been de-installed while they prepare for an upcoming special exhibit. The food in the cafe was the best we've eaten in ages.
We finally drove all the way across Texas (saw a lot of nothing along the way) & are now in Shreveport, LA where it is hot & humid. Our hotel is also a casino & we are busily trying not to notice the people who are here to gamble; tacky doesn't even begin to describe it. Our room is pretty luxurious, has a beautiful view of the Red River, & only costs $60/night. There isn't really much to do here, so we're relaxing a bit.
First, a note: Some of you might be wondering why a blog about life in Languedoc seems to be about a trip across the United States. That's because we are taking the time to see some of the US before we settle permanently in Languedoc. So, for the next few weeks, we will be writing about our cross-country trip.
We drove out of San Diego along the route outlined in Google maps. It might have been the most direct, but it certainly wasn't the most scenic. There was one rather dramatic stretch through the mountains, but the next several hours were through rather boring and hot desert, until we headed north from Phoenix, where the elevation rose and the landscape was more alpine.
Arrived in Flagstaff (actually, the outskirts of Flagstaff) tired after an 8-hour drive. Picked the closest restaurant to get some food to take back to the room. We'll spare you the details, but it wasn't gourmet food. We started feeling some of the effects of being at 7,000 ft. elevation.
Drove out the next morning & headed to the Petrified Forest & Painted Desert, which are both pretty amazing. It's hard to believe that what is now desert was once a swamp, but the change left some incredible remains. The petrified wood is so beautiful -- there is no wood left, & it's been replaced by agates, amethysts & other types of quartz, still in the shape & design of wood, bark & all. The colors & shapes in the Painted Desert are beautiful, & the altitude made the air crystal clear & the cloud shapes are different at that altitude.
From there we drove to Albuquerque & stayed at an old-fashioned, kind of funky motel a few blocks from Old Town. Loved the neon signs for our motel & the one on the same street, so had to take pix.
Had New Mexican food for dinner, which was so-so, but came in enormous portions. There is no reason to serve so much food. We were still trying to adjust to the altitude, which gave us headaches.
Walked around Old Town the next morning & although the shops are cute, there was not really anything we wanted to buy.
Next stop is Santa Fe, & we're glad to be in one place for 3 days. Santa Fe is a beautiful city with a lot of history. It's the 2nd oldest city in the US (after St. Augustine, FL) & recently celebrated its 400th anniversary. The downtown area is well preserved & maintains the feeling of the old city. Nearly every building in downtown is built in the adobe style, which really maintains the continuity & feeling of Old Santa Fe. There are no chain stores allowed along the plaza, & even those a few blocks away maintain the architectural style. There are many upscale shops & galleries, but we didn't see many people buying things.
One reason so many artists are drawn to Santa Fe is the light. It IS different in Santa Fe, much the same way the light in Paris is different from the light in other places.
Took a walking tour that focused on the history of Santa Fe, & it was a good way to put things in perspective. We're starting to adjust to the altitude, but it isn't as easy as we'd hoped it would be.
Drove from LA to San Diego on Saturday. Luckily it was a weekend, so the traffic wasn't too bad. Arrived at the motel late afternoon. Although the room isn't bad, it's certainly a letdown after our Westwood hotel.
Decided to go to the Del Coronado for drinks. The main dining room/bar was closed for private parties, so finding a place for a drink was challenging. Finally found a place & though we were seated 15 minutes before the end of happy hour, we were charged regular price. This is NOT an inexpensive place to drink, but the view is wonderful.
Speaking of views, sitting there was a great spot to people watch. What an assortment of people we saw...all sizes, shapes, classes, tastes in clothing, etc. The Del used to attract a high class clientele, but like everything else, it's not what it used to be.
Had what we thought was going to be a light dinner at a Mexican restaurant across the street. We each ordered an appetizer & couldn't come close to finishing them. I can't imagine what size a full dinner or entree would have been.
Spent today in La Jolla, which was lovely, but would have been even better if we weren't fogged in. Went to a gallery owned by a woman from Sarajevo (Bosnia) & got a 30 minute talk about the Sarajevo Hagaddah & the Jewish community there. Quite fascinating.
We head for Arizona in the morning, & once we cross from CA into AZ, we will leave California, for possibly the last time ever, which is hard to believe after living here for so many years. Kind of sad that the last thing in CA we'll see is Needles.
We drove through Topanga Canyon from Woodland HIlls to the Getty Villa in Malibu. The road was twisty, & the view would have been specatcular if we weren't in the middle of fog. After a couple of wrong turns, we arrived at the Villa. A while ago we read an article criticizing the renovations that were made a few years ago, so we didn't know what to expect. As with the other Getty Museum site, this one definitely did not disappoint.
Everything was well laid out, from the parking to the exhibitions. We have seen antiquties in some of the major museums of the world (Louvre, British Museum, Berlin, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Athens, etc.) but have never seen anything quite like the Getty's collection. Each & every piece was a wonderful example of its type, better than anything we'd seen before. The groupings & layout were well designed and lit.
Not only is the collection superb, but the setting and architecture are both beautiful. People complain about the $15 parking fee, but museum entry is free, so if you have at least 2 in your party, it's quite reasonable. We had lunch in the cafe, and although the menu is limited, it has something for everyone and at prices lower than most museum cafes. We would definitely return if we are in the area again. Here are some images to give you an idea of the setting & the collection.
We drove from there to our next hotel -- the Royal Palace in Westwood. When we drove up we feared we had made a mistake booking this place. The outside looked dated & tired. The lobby was a bit better, but we had read great reviews so we reserved judgment.
When we opened our door we realized we had a suite! A tiny kitchen/dining area, along with a living room, bedroom & bath. Everything appears to have been recently renovated. Flat screen TVs in living room & bedroom, & the most comfy bed! Slept better than we had in ages.
Per Yelp reviews we walked a couple of blocks to SanSai Grill, a fast food-ish Japanese restaurant, so we could get some takeout to bring back to our room. They have a happy hour special, so for $20 we got way more than the 2 of us could possibly eat. The food was pretty good, but we were blown away by the friendly, helpful service. When Holly requested her food without onions, our server recommended an alternative dish & even offered to make a special batch of 1 of the salads for her. Once again, Yelpers steered us in the right direction.
Well, we didn't think we'd make it, but we're finally off on our journey, but it hasn't been easy. Less than 2 weeks before our departure we found out that there were some changes (or at least the information was new to us) in the paperwork requirements to move our household goods to France, so we had to do some quick thinking. We originally planned to load the goods into the container the day we moved out of our Bay Area home, & have them moved into a storage facility in Béziers until we moved into our permanent home in France. Instead, we decided to move them into storage in the Bay Area until they are ready to be shipped to France. In the long run, this is better (less expensive), but it caused stress.
For a variety of reasons (we won't go into detail) we were slower in getting things donated/tossed/packed, so it was really down to the wire. We were still packing when the movers arrived. Somehow we made it, even though it didn't look like we would. All the last-minute activity caused stress & insomnia, but things are looking up. When we originally planned this nearly a year ago, we thought we had more than enough time, but maybe that was the problem. With so much time before the move, we didn't feel the sense of urgency. Note to self: don't get fooled by long lead times......start early and assume everything will take longer than you think.
We left the Bay Area shortly after noon yesterday, heading south to LA for the first stop on our 6-week trip across the US & Canada. At this time of year, the drive down Highway 5 is bland & boring, which makes it seem even longer than it is. Arrived in LA (Woodland Hills, actually) exhausted, but managed to avoid the worst of LA traffic. Walked a few blocks & found an Indian restaurant that looked pretty good, so we picked up some takeout, along with a bottle of wine from a grocery across the street. We always thought that the food in most Indian restaurants was pretty much the same, but this had to be the worst we've ever had.
Today we're heading to the Getty Villa in Malibu; we love the sister museum in LA & hope this one does't disappoint.
