Domaine Carneros & Brix, Napa Valley

June 21, 2014 - Les Faneurs Club Français voyage à Napa Valley



Walking around the vineyard at Brix

"Les Faneurs" : I've tried to translate the name of the French Club my husband is a member of a few times. 
Google translator says: Personne qui fane les foins (or "person who fades hay"), so... there's that.

Rose garden and vineyards at Brix, Napa

From my experiences with Les Faneurs members and their activities, I would define them as: a group of French families and friends who enjoy traveling, eating well, meeting new people, and drinking lots of wine! Lucky for me, that perfectly describes me also and I fit right in.

On Saturday morning, June 21st, Casey and I drove to Vallejo Marriott to wait for a pick-up from the Peninsula Tours charter bus company. The large bus had already stopped in South San Francisco and was mostly full, but the 20 French members climbing aboard at this location had no trouble finding seats. We found two comfy spots near the front and slightly reclined our plush chairs.

Buses in Napa

Comfy foot rests, very comfy bus!



After getting onto Hwy 29, Monsieur Colby passed around delicious, homegrown organic plums.  They were sweet and tart and juicy! It was followed by a bottle of brandy, which I passed on until our ride home (I hadn't had breakfast yet!)  We soon arrived in Napa, being fortunate to not hit much traffic as we drove near Sonoma, where NASCAR weekend was just kicking off at the Sonoma Raceway (formerly Sears Point).

Napa Wine Train Tracks



Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros

We stepped off our bus and a second bus of Les Faneurs members arrived shortly after us. Casey's parents and grandmother were on that bus; they had been picked up in Novato.

We found a table for our group to sit in the shade, and 100+ members of our group dined together on olives, meat, bread, and cheeses. We started with two champagnes choices and ended with red wine, leaving the winery smiling at 11:30 after over an hour of fantastic food and bubbly beverages. The staff was very attentive, walking around and keeping our glasses full, as well as replacing food items as they disappeared. There was lots of seating, both in the sun and also under shady umbrellas. 






100 + Les Faneurs members






Last year's annual luncheon also began at Domaine Carneros, but we continued to St. Helena's luxury resort, Meadowood. It wasn't a long drive and it was beautiful the entire way. This year we stayed in Napa and enjoyed an even shorter drive along the beautiful Napa Valley vineyards, arriving at Brix for lunch.





Chef Robert (Brix)

Gardens at Brix

 The French-inspired cuisine was prepared by Chef Robert, whom we were introduced to at the end of our meal. It was fun to walk around the gardens and look at all of the produce and herbs they grow on their property.



 Our lunch began with a singing of God Bless America as a group, followed by a song in French. One of the neatest things about the lunches and dinners with Les Faneurs is all the wonderful singing before and after the meal! It's very positive and uplifting to sing as a group.


Salad

Our fresh salads came out with a creamy dressing. It was a hot day and the cold lettuce was very refreshing.

Filet mignon

Grilled salmon

 
 
 
 
 
 











 

Chocolate buttercream cupcakes

 
Following the salad we were each served a portion of salmon over a grilled green, as well as filet mignon and asparagus.  The proteins were cooked perfectly, both rare, and the greens were wonderful! I traded some of my meat for the veggies from plates around me.  By the time cupcakes and coffee arrived I was full!

Domaine Carneros




 Everything about our afternoon was wonderful! From start to finish we were treated first class and it was a great opportunity to get to know some of the other members a little better. Once again, I was thrilled to get to hang out with my husband's family, and enjoy a weekend afternoon drinking wine in the sun.  Napa Valley is a wonderful retreat and only and hour from home. The afternoon there felt like a true resort experience! I can't wait for the next annual luncheon!



French Flag

Galindo House & Gardens, Concord (Historical Site)

6/16/14

Commonly toured homes of historical significance in (northern) CA include the John Muir House (Martinez) and the Winchester Mystery House (San Jose). Hopefully the Galindo House and Gardens in Concord will soon be just as well known and visited.  Until recent years, the Galindo House was owned by the City of Concord and unable to be viewed publicly.  Ruth Galindo left the home to the City to be opened as a museum, following her death in 1966.  All of the items in the home were left to the Concord Historical Society and placed into storage.  Ruth Galindo was the fourth generation of her family to live in the home once given to her great-grandfather for fighting in the Spanish War. (Cutlery at the dining table was engraved with the letter "F", for fourth.)  She left behind no heirs, nor did her two siblings, Harold and Leonora, who also lived in the home. 



The City of Concord was unable to afford necessary restorations to the home and it sadly sat until 2010 when the City finally agreed to give the home to the Concord Historical Society, who began working toward making the home into a museum, as intended.  The original belongings were mostly returned to the home, except several paintings which were stolen when the storage facility where they were kept was robbed. Most of the items in the home are the original items belonging to the Galindo family. Books, furniture, clothing, dishes, etc. - all original and wonderfully preserved.



How excited I was to drive by the Galindo House yesterday with my husband and realize they were open for tours! We parked in the private lot behind the home and walked to the front door of the 9-room house. As we opened it, a woman stood in the doorway and instructed us to close the door and ring the original bell, which was a button in the center of the door. The bell chimed and she opened it again, then pointed out the elaborately designed door hinges. From small details like the hinges to more obvious ones like the fine wood on the first level flooring, the importance of status during that period was emphasized throughout the house.



Map marked with plane spotting,
used to go around the entire room

Cal Berkeley 1933 yearbook

A tour led by three different ladies took us through the home and went into great detail of the family members and the home's history. A little local history was taught as well. The town of Todos Santos was founded by Salvio Pacheco. Merchants were paid $1 to begin commerce around the main Plaza. Todos Santos Plaza kept it's name, but the town was renamed to Concord months after it was developed (1869). The women showed us maps of land parcels and told us about their owners. They then detailed every corner of the home's interior. It was extremely interesting and informative. The Galindo House was built in 1956 by Francisco Galindo. Unlike modern homes, there is only one closet. Clothing was placed in drawers or hung in armoires. The home was heated by coal fireplaces and had plumbing even in the upstairs bedrooms. The family was very religious and crucifixes are in every room. Pictures of beloved animals, well-dressed dolls, and seasonally designed medallions above the light fixtures, all paint a more intimate picture of the lives of the Galindo family. Even a 1933 Cal Berkeley yearbook rests in one of the bedrooms. (The year my grandmother was born!)

The Concord Historical Society hosts an annual tea party at the House, as well as other socials from time to time. Information about their events can be found on their webpage. The members decorate the home during the Christmas holiday and invite you to visit again at that time. Thanks to their hard work, the home is now open for tours year-round, but only on Sundays from 1-4. Please go visit this piece of our local history!  It's a wonderful story of many very significant families, and the women telling it are delightfully engaging. It's free to visit but donations are gratefully accepted. Post cards and candy are also available for sale. Don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave!!

Driving through Dunsmuir, CA ~ 5/22/14

May 22, 2014 - Dunsmuir, CA

I wrote a review (link available at the bottom of this post) about Historic Downtown Dunsmuir on June 1, 2014, but I decided to share some more pictures and find out the significance of some of the buildings we saw on the Avenue of the Arts and on the main street of Dunsmuir Avenue.  This historic railroad town is rich with histoy and fun, current facts.  The community is over 100 years old and remains a wonderful vacation destination.

California Theater, Dunsmuir, CA

When we first began our drive through Dunsmuir, the sign in front of the California Theater stood out to me as very similar to one we saw in San Jose last year. We saw our cousin Christopher Bengochea sing Madame Butterfly at the Fox Theater in San Jose, and San Jose's vertical "California" sign is identical to the one in Dunsmuir. Dunsmuir's California Theater opened in 1926 and has had many famous visitors, including Babe Ruth and Clark Gable. It has gone several periods of operation after a restoration in 1991, but the three-screen house is currently closed.



"The Best Water on Earth" mural

The official city slogan "Home of the best water on earth" is painted along a large wall leading from Dunsmuir Avenue down to "Avenue of the Arts", where the Union Pacific tracks run parallel to the street and the Sacramento River.  The town sits at the edge of Mt. Shasta, and the mountain's lava layers eliminate the need for water filtration for their drinking water, giving them their slogan.  I tested this statement at two of the town's three drinking fountains.  One sits all alone across from the Hotel and Theater and two are closer to the Sheriff's station and City Chamber of Commerce.  On each side of town, one fountain runs 24 hours a day - cold, clean, fresh water!

It was amazing!





The Dunsmuir Police Department was disbanded over 20 years ago and is now policed by the Siskiyou Sheriff's Department.  The Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Center was closed when we drove through town.  Most of the town was closed that day and we could find nowhere to go into, but this was the most disappointing as I was hoping to speak with someone who lived in this alpine village.

Historic resorts can be found in town, as well as the (closed) Dunsmuir Travelers Hotel.  The Hotel survived a big fire in 1921, only 18 years after most of the town had burned down in another fire.  Herbert Hoover stayed in the hotel in 1933, the year my grandmother was born. Dunsmuir has survived many other fires, avalanches and floods during its life.  One of the most horrific events was one of the most recent, when a railroad spill dumped 19,000 gallons of an herbicide into the river, killing every living plant and life for 45 miles downstream.

Travelers Hotel



Even the rest areas right outside of town are beautiful

 

 

There is an outstanding view of Mt. Shasta as you leave town (headed North)

 

This wonderful town is named for Alexander Dunsmuir of British Columbia.  In 1888 he donated a fountain to the town with the condition it be named for his family.  Come see the fountain and participate in the many other activities offered here! River rafting on Class III rapids, sport fishing in the streams, and exploring nearby waterfalls are just a few of the great things there are to do in Dunsmuir. The town hosts festivals and celebrations and their events are on the Chamber of Commerce website calendar. The railroad tracks aren't the only major transportation line. This is the north-most stop for Amtrak and a bus station sits in the middle of town.  It's also easily found on Interstate-5. The drive is as beautiful as the destination and I highly recommend it!










My original review of our experience (of Historic Downtown Dunsmuir only) is on this link:

 http://amy81yelp.blogspot.com/2014/06/historic-downtown-dunsmuir-dunsmuir.html







Aquapalooza at Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco

June 4, 2014 - Aquapalooza at Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco

 

While reading through my emails on Tuesday, June 3rd, I came across one from "FunCheapSF".  Their site sends a weekly email with "fun, cheap" things to do in or around San Francisco.  Often they have free events, and they always include one event that you can win tickets to through their website.  I decided to look at this week's contest.  It was for "Aquapalooza", an adults-only (21+) pirate-themed party with science and a silent disco.  Given that the event was taking place the next day, the site asked if you were "100% sure you could make it", and I said I was.  Not an hour later I received a confirmation email saying I was the winner!

Chinchillas

Turtles

 We headed to the City Wednesday night for the 7 - 10 pm event.  The Muni workers of SF happened to be on a "sick-out" this week (since striking is against the law, they're all calling in sick), so traffic was snarled and we ended up not leaving until 7 for the hour long drive to Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf.  I've walked on this Pier tons of times but never gone in the Aquarium. I was very excited for our first trip here and to learn more about the place. 





Indoor pools

 I really had no idea what to expect in terms of size or what animals they displayed to the public.  We parked at Pier 39 parking garage ($9/hour), conveniently located across the street.  It was foggy and very cold and windy! We practically ran to the Aquarium and up the stairs to the entrance where we were ID'ed and let in, but hardly greeted by any of the four employees we encountered.  We were each given complimentary drink tickets (won with the VIP ticket prize) - which was awesome because the rum punch they were serving in the tiny rocks glass was $8.00!

There were several displays with land animals.  I didn't know why they would keep two chinchillas in a tiny glass cage.  An animal that loves to run fast and far in a small glass cage was very odd, especially inside an aquarium. We had these as pets when we were younger. (Also kept in cages way too small for what they deserved.) But the ones at the Aquarium didn't move or look around at all.  It was sort of sad to see them trapped like this.  Chinchillas can be very social. The frogs and snakes and turtles seemed more fitting.

 

A woman spoke to the audience while we were being fed nachos, sliders, and a noodle dish, from three local restaurants (Wipeout Bar and Grill,Fog Harbor Fish House, and Pier Market, who ran out of the scallops they were serving with the noodles before we arrived.) The food was very good and the speaker was very entertaining.  She is the sustainable initiative manager for the Aquarium and has studied the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean. It was amazing to hear her speak about the pollution she saw as her expedition team sailed across the Atlantic. 

 We waited in a slow line to go downstairs to the tunnels where we were able to view many more fish. The Aquarium was actually very full with several different species. Some of the fish were HUGE! Even the starfish were much bigger than I expected. It was really neat to watch them swim past us. I loved looking at their eyes and faces, searching for smiles on their fish lips.






 

The Aquarium has a gift shop near the entrance.  They sold trinkets and fish-themed necklaces and tee-shirts, as well as photos they took of their guests (in pirate costumes) earlier in the evening.  The $21 package of less than 5 pictures wasn't a sell for us, but we did go back and take some pictures on our own phone with the pirate gear!

 

 

The "silent disco" meant wearing headphones as you walked around that had 3 music stations to choose from. Many of the guests were drinking and dancing and having lots of fun in the tunnel. It was definitely not a silent disco for them as they stomped and danced.  You had to give your ID over to the staff in order to "check-out" a pair of the headphones. (Which was why the line was so slow getting down to this level.) The system they used for holding the MANY driver's licenses and passports they were collecting was surprisingly disorganized and we waited a long time in line to receive AND return our headphones.  With $9/hour parking you'd think they'd have a better idea of how to keep the IDs in some sort of efficient (alphabetical) order. But standing in the line did give us time to finish our second free beverage (went with a tasty bottled Hefe beer). 

 The event was really cool....for free.  The regular $25 tickets plus Eventbrite fee would have left me very disappointed had we actually paid to attend this.  I thought the staff was terrible.  The woman operating the elevator to and from the tunnel told us about their switch to a non-profit only a few years ago, and the work she does to bring children to the Aquarium free of charge. She was the only person who told us anything about the place and there were lots of staff walking around.  I know this is a huge tourist destination, given the location, but we would have loved to learn more about the place.  It's also much smaller than the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so if you've been into that gorgeous Aquarium, don't expect anything near the same size.  The jelly fish displays were probably my favorite thing here. The beautiful boneless fish are mesmerizing. I was really glad to get to see this place and especially for such a unique event; hopefully they continue to improve their execution of nighttime events for guests.