California in the Fall

A trip to Southern California is always refreshing.

Here are some pictures from the trip.

In Southern California, even the views off of hotel parking garages can inspire! This is in Pasadena.

Trips to Southern California, at least in my book, absolutely must be accompanied with a subsequent trip to the Alien Fresh Jerky store in Baker. This is of course nearly in the middle of a desert and that desert is pretty well in the middle of nowhere. It is the greatest stop!

Some of the resident aliens sit on the building to supervise abductions and testing of store patrons.

The latest in alien news is posted on the front of the store.

The truth is out there!!

Back to the "real" Southern California.

The heart of SoCal is really right there at Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Corona Del Mar and Irvine. The water, the boats, the palm trees, the cool breeze off the water, the sea air smell and the outrageously priced/valued homes overlooking the ocean complete the SoCal package.

There are some great places to eat! The Crab Cooker on the Balboa Peninsula is a fun, popular, throwback sort of place. Seems to attract a lot of locals and I know the place would be full to overflowing during the summer with the influx of tourists.

The Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island are bright spots in the sizzling glare of the area. The Balboa pavilion is an attractive piece of history.

More boats and water with more of what makes the area unique.

Being from the midwest, it is difficult to understand what these things are that grow so nicely right outside the local Chick-Fil-A. Where I'm from, the most scenic thing close to a Chick-Fil-A is a black top parking lot.

They look like birds and I was in paradise - so maybe there is a connection. (Sorry)

I've never seen a high school that is so clean and white - well, except in the winter when one is covered in snow.

There is always the need to visit the ocean whenever possible. At Newport, the water is always(?) blue, the sun is always(?) shining and the breeze is always(?) cool off the water. It really is a stunning vista. I suppose the people that live there don't really enjoy the panoramic spectacle to the same degree as us interlopers.

But really, who can argue against this being one of the more beautiful places?

The ocean is fun up close and personal as well. There are a few creatures captured in the photo and temporarily in the tide pool.

I hope I don't get in trouble by the city of Newport Beach for the photograph!!!

The banana trees are plentiful, beautiful and compellingly unique. I wish I had one in my yard and I wish it grew bananas!

The palm trees are plentiful and beautiful.

A not so random group of people posing in front of a not so random building. College kids do the darndest things in California.

These guys were waiting for me in Chicago.

The Beauties of South Europe

The latest wandering of this home body was to the south of France.  It was a beautiful 4 days filled with the sights of one of the worlds most scenic areas. 

First, you have to see what I was leaving behind:

This is a view from my front door and you can see that there is snow - you can't see how cold it was, but it was cold!

I left home, traveled to Charlotte, NC and boarded a USAir flight to Frankfurt. The plane was big, but not big enough for my long legs. Sitting up straight in my seat, my knees pressed against the back of the seat in front of me. Not a great sign for the next 6-8 hours of flying time getting to Europe. In Frankfurt, I changed to a much more comfortable plane with plenty of leg room (for the 1.5 hour flight to Nice). The biggest surprise on the way was seeing the snow covered Alps from the plane on the route from Frankfurt to Nice. 

Arrival was in Nice at the small, convenient international airport. That first day arriving in Europe from the US is always fun with the associated jet-lag. The trip from Nice to Menton France (my final destination) was a short jaunt along the major freeway. My destination was a small tourist hotel in Menton called Hotel Richelieu.

This small city is fantastically scenic with its seaside location.

Scenic overlook of Menton

Menton rooftops and mountainous backdrop

After settling in to Menton, I took a train trip to another small city called Grasse. The stated purpose of this trip was to visit a perfumery. The result of the trip was a fantastic day of walking around the town and seeing the sites.

Here are a few pictures of various parts of the city.

A beautiful fountain in the old city portion of Grasse.