smile

In the restroom at Americano @ Hotel Vitale on the Embarcadero in SF.

I still heart SF

Ok, so the traffic down the Peninsula can be really annoying, but with this sort of stunning weather, sunroof open, blasting Wolfmother, drinking the lovely hot quadruple latte Thomas makes me every morning, life can't get much better.

all Gaudi, all the time

Friday in Barcelona we did the full Gaudi tour: Sagrada Familia (absolutely incredible-first time I'd been inside as well), then Park Guell (got tip is to take bus 92 which drops you off at the back near Gaudi's house so you don't have to trudge up the hill from either the 24 or worse yet-Lesseps metro. Walking down the hill afterwards was bad enough...), and finally La Padrera.

pets on Las Ramblas

A row of outdoor set stalls sold everything from fish to rabbits to reptiles to an incredible assortment of birds including pheasants, parrots and an array of chickens incl a massively huge breed with Clydesdale-style feet. They also had rodents including these adorable little guys: chipmunks! I had fantasies of smuggling one home on the plane. Indubitably, I still want one!

wed is Avignon

We spent our last few hours in Avignon on Wed wandering around the Palais du Papes before heading to Perpignan to catch our train to Barcelona.

let's get awesome!

Crazy taxi at the train station in Perpignan, where we finally arrived after a 3 hour ordeal looking for the rental car return in that town...

thomas takes a dip

His first time in the Med. Apparently a little chilly, but still a good thing.

cinc sentits

Phenomenal tasting menu for lunch, with a little cava to start and a recently almost endangered white wine, godello. My fav so far was the Iberian pork belly with veloute of butternut squash; Thomas loves the scallops with jerusalem artichoke puree and ham chip. YUM.

sagrada familia

 

orange

The most intact Roman theatre in the world is in Orange.

le chat noir #3

Thomas's new friend in Orange, in front of the Theatre.

dejeuner a La Mere Germain

Le soleil is finally out today-almost too much so out on this terrace! Avez-vous du creme solaire svp? The blackbirds flying through the sky en masse are incredible.

Ch du Papes

 

best dinner so far

Was ce soir at Hiely Lucullus in Avignon. Service was amazing, food was great esp the cheese selection, wine was fantastic and local-a cotes du rhone from Ch. d'Hughes near Orange. They kept giving us little amuses bouches as well incl a bit of fried chocolate (who'da thunk?) and a house-made marshmallow which Thomas declared tasted like a peep! (yet not quite so sweet or brightly colored of course)

Frejus

About an hour Ouest of Monaco is the little village of Frejus, which used to be a Roman naval base.

nice boots

Fashionable horse w a model's physique - HUGE!

royal press frenzy

A mass of press descends on our booth surrounding Prince Albert as he tours the show floor.

le casino derriere

 

lovey pigeons

Even the rats with wings find Monaco romantic.

look familiar, race fans?

 

sac-o-mat!

Keeping Monaco poop free for however many years.

le baggage est arrive!

 

monaco b'fast view

So this would be even more fabulous if they hadn't lost (sorry, Delayed) my luggage so I wouldn't be getting insta-sunburn enjoying a leisurely cafe ou deux out here... Not being able to take liquids on the plane means no moisturizer, no sunscreen (for face or body - if I were Bernadette Peters I'd be trapped in the room I suppose!), no hair product or deodorant (good thing it's France :), not to mention no clothes-it's a little too nice out for boots, but c'est la vie. It's still Monaco and it's still pretty freaking stunning!

The Stills

@ Independent w Stewart and Lori

mini mini!

 

super-cute!

 

Sat, Sep 9, 2006 at 3:51 PM: la vaca!

Awesome new addition to Napa Valley: La Vaca & BBQ. Centrally located in Oakville, too. Super authentic Mexican food - and reasonably priced. We pshaw the Oakville Grocery lemmings!

wanna help me...

Your girlfriend let you out of the house wearing this? Oh, right - you couldn't possibly HAVE a girlfriend...

Editors @ Fillmore

One of the best shows in a long time. Phenomenal sound, some new songs, great stage presence.

Thomas's 40th

Ok, so we're superior lame-o's for not taking ANY (like, not a single one) photos at Thomas's 40th b'bay bash, so you will not see his alien impression with giant waving king crab legs sticking out of his stomach and screaming through the living room (plus the added comedy when the juice started dripping out of them onto the carpet), nor the faces of all of our wonderful friends who came to celebrate and made new friendships among each other, nor the pitchers and pitchers of Thomas's primo margaritas and his famous shredded pork tacos and chili lime steak. So here's just a bit of the aftermath: 3 large-format fantastic wines, perfect for an epic party like this. 2002 Ridge Geyserville, 1997 Turley Dogtown Zin, and a 1997 Turley Black-Sears Zin. Hell yes.

BTE

Better Than Ezra at the Independent last night, courtesy of Tim Wallen. Great live show as always, fun and wandering into other people's songs, plus covers of Stones & James. Love 'em!

Missing: Bobby Hill?

Tell me this doesn't look like Bobby from King of the Hill... "wow, I'm a REAL boy!"

Muse

Mary came over for dinner, then we stumbled over there-we actually heard them start since we're basically next door. ran into Warren Christensen who escorted up inte a VIP area stage right that was worlds better than where we were out on the floor originally.

the girls

 

sunday in SF

Gorgeous day out here at Chrissy Field. SO good to be home.

Editors

Editors at Mezzanine last night ROCKED! Thanks to Mary Nite as always for the tix, and Lori Bachelor for coming through with an extra for Matt West, our man in London.