I went to California but mostly to San Francisco.
I looove the backpacker life :-) My plane lands at LAX. I clear US customs in…just 30 min!!! and got my luggage in the same hour of landing!! Go out and meet my amazing friend with his car and who will offer me a home for over 3 weeks in SF…and who happens to be in LA for the weekend to visit some friends. So we go at his friend’s beautiful house where we will stay few days, meet him and his wife, leave my luggage and off we go to see Kylie Minogue’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl (quite a venue I can tell you!!) as he happens to have 2 tickets…it is all open air, it is super Huber ‘Hollywood’ and colourful with people gathered at the gate sipping champagne or wine and getting ready for a fab night…and it is the full moon and clear starry sky! I am no fan of Kylie, but I really had an fab time sipping white wine while dancing under the stars and enjoying great company and just celebrating life and friendship!!
Then went a bit around LA…of course saw Ze Hollywood sign, went on Broadway and Beverly Hills…but got far more impressed by the Getty Museum and the view from there and the art than by LA itself. Then we drove back up to San Francisco via Santa Barbara (beautiful) and the beaches.
Then…(sigh)…ZE amazing (and one of my preferred city in the whole world!!): SAN FRANCISCO!!! I lived in and loved that city for 3 beautiful weeks enjoying each day to its fullest!! I was blessed to have only 2 days of freezing wind and almost no fog and mostly only sunny and warm days…so I got the best of the city, the parks, the beaches, its incredible people and fab vibes; got trillions of pictures of the Golden Bridge…well I felt in love with it and every angle and light were just magnificent.
I practiced Taoist Tai Chi with fabulous people; had amazing food and amazing time with my friend who showed me all around with lots of heart and passion for his city; enjoyed strolling UP and DOWN the steep to highly super Huber steep streets of SF getting mesmerised by the beautiful and tastefully colored Victorian houses, the numerous of little cafés and great places to eat great food.
Had a free private visit of Alcatraz from a friend to see the non touristy part of it; met truly wonderful amazing people and souls; went for an unforgettable drive and wonderful walks to Muir Woods and incredible drives on the Californian roads in the best company.
I had a fun encounter when I went to get some sun on the beach with all my clothes on (important for the rest of the story…) and just a blanket to lay down on the sand…not knowing that it was actually a nude gay beach…but discovered it quite quickly once down there! As it was a 30-45 minutes down steep hill I evaluated the situation (the Up hill was not a fun contemplation right at that moment): should I leave or should I go?? only few were scattered around, were discreet and well as they were gay I should be safe, right?? And I could see at the end of the beach families with kids and dogs…so I find an isolated spot, I lay down, just close my eyes and enjoy some sun with my iPod on…I tried to enjoyed the view of the Golden Bridge from the sand point of view…but few nude ‘elements’ were on the way…so better off closing eyes!! But after not long a gentle soul yet ’nu comme un ver’ (nude as a worm) came ‘up’ (well it was quite windy and cold so not a lot of ‘up’ going on :-) ) to me asking me politely if I would spread him with sun cream…??????????…I gently decline…not my cup of tea if you ask me…but not long after, an other nude pretended ‘gay’ guy started hitting on me in all his tiny ditsy little nudity…sorry guys not really working for me as a flirting technique!! I gave my most gentle smile, say ‘goodbye, have a nice day!’ and thanks but no thanks, just gathered my things and went back up hill…well it is SF after all and it was quite sweet and a good story to tell…and I did got some sun after all!!
What I learned from that trip amongst other things is that there is always good surprises around the corner and against everything I would have thought, I love US…or should I say at least this part of US and I had a real blast thanks to my friends, the beautiful energy of the place and of its people…and really look forward to the days I will be visiting again and experiencing the natural parks and the Great Canyon….and the time I went back just 2 months ago for Burning Man…but this is another tell and another post for another time…so stay posted!!
