Winter in California, Spring in Montpellier!

A wintertime view of the Central Coast! Not so bad... Note Morro Rock, nearly dead center.

Ah, the California coastline! We were there in February, making the long trip to spend time with friends and family.  And California, specifically the Central Coast where we live, was more than fine. It fact, it was extraordinary!

We flew into San Francisco and met up with our friends Sue and Alan, driving with them to Los Osos. They stayed for a few days, escaping the Oregon winter. They came with us to one of our favorite places, the nearby Montaña de Oro State Park. We love coming here to stroll along the flat cliff tops and watch the powerful waves of the Pacific Ocean crash against steep rocks. On this visit we had thick fog drifting down the coast, giving the cliffs and narrow beaches a mystical aire.

The rough rocky coast of Montaña de Oro, a state park not far from our house in Los Osos,
 on a foggy sunny day.

Paula and Sue at Montaña de Oro. Discussing the weather?

Nothing beats a sunny day at the ocean, but there's a lot to be said for a mystical, foggy seascape.

Finally a break in the fog, and a pair of lovely, lonely California poppies. 
(The State Flower!)

Our house in Los Osos is close to Morro Bay, and while we can't see it from our ground-floor apartment, it is ever-present. We walk often to the bay, just a mile (downhill!) from our house.

 

Kayaks on the shore of the bay in what we refer to as "downtown" Los Osos.

Oh so California: a cow statue, a stand-up paddle boarder wearing California poppy shorts.
(Looks like the tide is out on the bay!)

Somehow, in all the years we've lived there, we/re rarely been out on the water. All the many kayaks we see on the shore and in the water is a constant reminder that we really don't take the opportunity to use this fabulous resource! 

But we did on this visit.

Our good friend Mike is a tourist guide who spends a lot of his time on the bay. He organized a trip across the one-mile stretch of water to the sand spit that separates the bay from the ocean and keeps out the huge Pacific swells. So one morning found three of us—Mike, John, and me—sliding kayaks into the water at the edge of the marina.

It's not a long paddle, but we felt victorious when we arrived on the far beach and left the boats to climb the dunes. From the top we enjoyed fine views all up and down the coast, and it was a quick descent to the  spacious empty beach on the other side. After contemplating the vast Pacific Ocean, we made our way back up the dunes again, and then came running, jumping and crashing down the steep dune faces to our boats. The wind had picked up, but it was now at our backs, so our return paddle was quick.

View from the top. Mike holds the camera; in the background is Morro Rock,
one of two iconic landmarks of the town of Morro Bay. 

John runs-jumps-slides down a dune face as I wait my turn at the top.
(Photo credit: Thanks, Mike!)

A quick view of the bay from the sand spit...

It was such a successful trip that we did it again the next week, with Paula and Jamie, John's wife. The wind was up this time, and we only got halfway across the bay before turning and paddling along the shore. We had walked and driven along these beaches many times, but this was the first we'd see seen them from the water. That was very special. Overall, our two kayak trips on the bay were fantastic!

Mike, Paula, Paul, Jamie, John after our highly successful paddle on the bay!

We were pleased to see how well the yard was doing under Jamie's excellent care: the succulents were exploding! Here in France we are limited to little pots on the balcony. It was a joy to see a real garden. And we have John to thank for the night time lighting... 

The succulents grow SO well in the sand dunes of Los Osos!

John's night time fairyland...

...and he found something new to light the garden paths.

Even in February we can enjoy the garden at night!

A final shot of Morro Rock, seen from Sweet Springs, across the bay.

            It's spring again in Montpellier.

Well, so what? It's spring again all over the northern hemisphere. But we LIVE in Montpellier, so we get to see spring happening here. 

We lived in California (also in the Northern Hemisphere) for many decades, and spring did, indeed, happen at this time every year. But it didn't make as great an impression.

Why? Because California weather is pretty nice all the time, really. Things are always green!

Here, while winter is far from harsh, many trees and other plants do lose their leaves. Things turn brown. Branches are bare. Now the leaves are returning, plants are flowering. It's a change, it's exciting. It's remarkable!

View from our balcony. For months we've seen these bare brown branches; soon we'll have a solid wall of green, restoring our privacy (and that or our neighbors), and protecting us from the harsh summer sun.

Wisteria gone wild! We see it all over town.

While our time in California was wonderful, spent connecting with family and friends, we are always glad to get back home to Montpellier. Now we're busy connecting with friends here, and making plans for the summer and fall.

        More on that in our next blog...

Paula admires cherry blossoms near our apartment in Montpellier.
They only lasted about three days; now the tree is full of  tiny hard green cherries!

Back in France

The iconic Morro Rock and Morro Bay seen from the Elfin Forest, a few minutes walk from our house.

It’s snowing today. Yup. Snow. What the heck?! I mean, we're back in Montpellier. This is the South of France, for crying out loud!

And to think we left sunny warm California for this:

My thoughts Monday morning when I woke up to snow!

What we left: the view from our downstairs apartment in California.

 It’s been four or five days since we’ve been back. We’ve recovered from the jet lag… mostly. Still waking up at 5AM, but that happens anyway. 

The trip back was good. We fly on frequent-flyer miles, and so take what route we can get; not always the most direct! This time we flew from San Francisco to Lisbon, Portugal. (Our one requirement is that we get a non-stop from the west coast to Europe: no stops in O’Hare, or JFK, or Newark, especially in the winter!) We had one more flight, this one to Barcelona; our third counting the commuter hop from San Luis Obispo, “our” airport, to SF. 

Thankfully, we had a chance to rest, spending the night in Barcelona. We had a good night's sleep in a quiet hotel near the train station. The train is comfortable, far less stress than a plane flight, and by 2PM the next day (Wednesday) we were making the short walk from the Gare Saint-Roch to our apartment in Montpellier.

 

 

Yeah, so if the video doesn't work, this is what I was looking at! That's snow on those cars, seen outside the window of our apartment in France.

Now, about that snow… It seems it snows here about once a decade. We’ve seen photos—old photos—of snow on the ground. This stuff falling now probably won’t stick. Ah, and it was so sunny and warm yesterday! A sunny Sunday, followed by a gloomy Monday.

(No, it did not stick. The flurries stopped after about an hour, and the temperature only seemed like it was freezing and in a few hours the accumulation on the car roofs was gone.) 

We are slowly getting back into our French way of life, although the rainy weather, aided by the jet lag, has put a damper on our excursions out and about. Our friends Mark & Mary did invite us over for coffee, along with some of our other friends here. It was a nice “welcome back”! 

And we are glad to be back, although the pleasures of California—the climate, the gorgeous landscapes, and of course our many friendships—still resonate strongly. It was a reminder that much as we enjoy life in France, we still feel very connected to our California home. 

It was also a chance to renew our acquaintance with the physical beauty of life on the California coast. We are nowhere near done yet with our time in France, but it would not be a tragedy to return to California!

 And since we're speaking of the physical beauty of the California coast, here's a few images...

We introduced our friend Frank to the wonders of the Elfin Forest in Los Osos. This is his photo, with Hollister Peak in the background.

Frank in the boardwalk.

Frank's photo of the elf he found in the Elfin Forest.

 While visiting the near-by community of Morro Bay we found this otter mother caring for her new-born in a protected corner, oblivious to the human passers-by.

Mama otter, in the protection of the commercial docks in Morro Bay.

 

Reaching for her new born, which she stashed against the rocks while she had a snack or two.

Mama and baby.

After all the rain, this will be a booming (blooming?) year for wild flowers; sadly, we will not be there to see them! But we got a preview at Montana de Oro, our local State park, where the California poppies (the State flower!) are popping out.

Paula got this picture of California poppies in Montaña d Oro with her new iPhone 14.

Paula in the poppy fields.

Cliffs at Montaña d Oro

Up next: We have ambitious travel plans for spring. Mid-March we meet our friends Sue and Alan from Portland OR in Paris. From there we'll all head to Petra, Jordan and the exquisitely carved caves there. After that we will, finally, complete the trip to Sicily we planned pre-Covid, then Napoli and Sorrento and end with a few days in Rome. There are sure to be some good tales coming from that trip!

        But for now, we'll say

            Ma’a salama

            Arrivederci

            À plus tard

            See y'all later!

Hollister Peak, seen from the Elfin Forest near our house.

California. Be Here, Now.

 

Our end of the long valley with volcanic peaks... and green!

Well, we made it back! Back to our cozy pied-à-terre in Los Osos. And we’re glad to be here! The flight over was long and boring; nothing happened, just the way we like it. It was also disconcerting and disorienting. We fly Business Class, but even with the extra room, the personalized (slightly) service, the wide, lie-flat seats, it’s still spending 12 hours in a narrow metal tube seven miles above the earth’s surface. (In addition to getting up at 4AM to make the connecting flight, plus all the usual interminable waiting in lines at the airports…) Disconcerting, indeed! 

But we survived, and landed in San Francisco during a lull in the widely-publicized series of storms that have been hitting California. We rented a car and drove south through the slow Bay Area traffic. We stopped in Gilroy for the night, a good thing as we were both wiped out.

Up early the next day (as if we had a choice through our jet lag!), we were on the road before dawn, driving past gorgeous green hills. All down the Salinas valley, and from King City to San Luis Obispo, the countryside was impossibly green. In most years it’s spring before these hills green up, where they have but a month or two before the hot, dry summer. But on this trip, all the way south we passed gorgeous, green pastoral-looking countryside!

Pastoral countryside, what much of California looks like.

The flooding was long past, but there were ample signs of it: mud and sand on the road, small lakes in the middle of fields. The Salinas River was well behaved by the time we arrived, but the wide river bed was a jumble of mud and bedraggled trees and bushes.

Ah, California! Dead-looking oaks against the green green hills.

We managed to miss the rain, mostly—we arrived at the bottom of the Cuesta Pass, just minutes from the city of San Luis Obispo, when the first drops fell. And then, how they fell! Heavy, heavy rain. But we were in familiar territory now. We made our slow way to the airport to drop off the rental car, where we were met by our friends from Oregon, Sue and Alan.

Driving through San Luis to our house in Los Osos, Sue gave us a running commentary on what had been happening over the last few days of the storm. As we drove along our once-customary streets, past familiar houses and yard, both Paula and I had this strange sensation of never having left: it was like we were gone on an overnight, and it had rained. A strange sense of odd familiarity, a bizarre case of déjà-vu. 

We’re sure glad to be back, though! It has actually been 18 months since we were last here. The house and property are fine; we live on what is essentially a sand dune. It’s well elevated, and the drainage is great, so no water issues at all. Actually, while there was some flooding and damage in our small town, it was very localized and had been cleaned up by the time we arrived.

But enough of me! Paula has some observations as well:

 

Well we’ve been back 2 weeks—it went by fast: lots of rain, flooding and mudslides (not at our house), adjusting to CA time, seeing friends, getting used to a new iPhone (me) and camera (Paul). France seems far away. Thankfully, Be Here Now is a real thing. And soon we’ll be back in France, and it is California that will seem far away.

So I thought it was a good moment to send a few photos and thoughts of life here – both our little pied-à-terre and the area.

First some general impressions:

• Kale is out, chickpeas are in. California is the land of healthy fad food. Last time we were here 1-½ years ago it was kale EVERYTHING. It’s now been replaced by chickpeas. I love garbanzo beans so I’m happy. Oh yes KETO is the rage too. Thankfully I love carbs.
• Trader Joe’s still kicks butt with new food recipes to try. Many are delicious – like stuffed gnocchi with mozzarella and tomato sauce. Or sweet cannoli dip. Or an old favorite, chicken sausage. And I’ve been having a great time making fish tacos with the BEST corn tortillas. And enjoying great Mexican and Thai food. There is a new bakery here that makes delicious croissants and pain au chocolat - heaven.
• This is the season of green – in CA it only rains until April and we live at the end of a long valley of volcanic peaks and GREEN in every shade. They are even called the Irish hills – but only until May. Then it’s all brown. We live 5 minutes walk from a huge estuary and ocean and land that will never be built on. It is glorious.

The back bay at low tide, with the famous Morro Rock in the distance.
Five minutes from our house!

• Our downstairs apartment is very familiar and cozy. And has lots of kitchen stuff and sharp knives. And “our own bed”. Wow. Decorated with mementos of France and Spain, of course. If you are ever in Central Coast California - let us know. It's usually vacant.

Our living area.

Our own bed!

• After not driving for 1-½ years I am happy to report it is like I never stopped driving.  Even with manual 5 speed. But the cars and trucks seem bigger than ever. Scary.
• Because we don’t have street lights in our little town—heck, some streets are still dirt—we see the stars – bright and shiny – I had forgotten how glorious that is!

View of the fairy land that is our night time garden. Yes, there is a star up there!

• And lastly I thought it was quite serendipitous that one of my favorite watercolor painters was offering a 4 week class right in the middle of my time here.  Can't get better than that.

It might seem like I am falling in love with my old home again. I am, but I think it’s a passing affair. We are flirting. I’ll be ready to head back to France and Europe—it’s still my first love.

Daytime view of the garden.

Miss you all and hope you are enjoying life wherever you may be or traveling to.

 

And, facing away from the bay, we have this view!

We’ll be here in California until late February. Then it’s back to Montpellier! And hopefully, winter’s end. Until then, we’ll see what we can get up to here in Los Osos.

 

 

Bishop's Peak (right), the most prominent of the seven volcanic peaks;
 at the opposite end of "our" valley.