Isabella, Olivia and John took off for London and Paris on the 17th. The late evening flight put us into London just after noon. We walked the city until the early evening enjoying the cold and wet weather. We left for Paris the next morning just before 8 and almost missed the train because of the large crowds that had decided on the same journey. We made it though and an empty seat next to Isabella gave her a welcomed chance to catch up on some sleep.
The weather didn’t corporate a whole lot. Isabella got to feel it first hand in her tiny sandals. Hanging out with the thousand of (other) shoppers at Gallerie Lafayette wasn’t on the to-do list, but we started giving in for every shade of blue her feet got. New boots from Paris – we’re still not certain she didn’t plan it all along… But before shopping we went past the place on the Seine where we spread Lyne’s ashes. Brought her a beautiful bouquet of tulips from us all. Always tough but a lovely sense of being a little closer to her. Right after we crossed Pont d’Arts and John & Olivia jointly added a padlock to the thousands of other locks on the fence.
Finished the day off in front of the Eiffel Tower which looked very mystical in all of the low hanging clouds. Quite the sparkling show they put on for us and we can’t remember being in front of it not being impressed by it’s size and presence. Isabella dug into a crepe with banana and Nutella. Heaven.
London were a little warmer or at least dry. We didn’t wake up until almost noon so good and original plans had to be shuffled. Went straight to lunch at OXO followed by a couple of hours at the Tate museum. Of the more interesting things were more than a million ceramic sunflower seeds. John and Isabella were introduced to Nikole and Martin and their two girls in the evening – good friends of the Bellamys from the Africa days.
Monday started early for John. He went to visit Corel’s London office while the girls went shopping for a birthday present for Adrian. We met up in the early afternoon and had planned to meet Lyndon and Jodie for tea at the (new) Savoy. Hectic moments once we realized that jacket and tie was required… Unfortunately Jodie wasn’t feeling well, and we had to abandon the plans. Went to the London Eye instead and enjoyed the birds’ eye view despite the low hanging clouds and gray weather, and when the evening came around we enjoyed a lovely dinner with Olivia, George, James, and Alice afterwards. All family on Penny’s side and wonderful people.
Once home we had a very busy weekend: John went flying Saturday morning trying to get his certificate renewed. Very cold preflight inspection and the radio reported snow at Twin Peaks. First in 35 years! The paper work for the recertification is almost done, so now it’s all about being in the air. It’s a lot of fun even though the spring sometimes bring some strong winds from the ocean. Tax paper were handed over later on Saturday. Uncle Sam is hungry it seems, but all-in-all 2010’s been fair and we’re happy to put that yearly routine behind us. Isabella went riding in the morning while Pia and Bella finished their last basketball games of the season. There’s a bit of a hole between now and school start. Isabella and Pia is back at HipHop and have taken on an extra day. Even Adriana signed up. John and Olivia had dinner with the Mendell’s and Pogacar’s Saturday evening at Stella Alpina. It’s been months and months in the making and was well worth the wait.
John was off to brunch with (Lars) Elmo Sunday morning at Zazie’s in San Francisco. Ended up at Twin Peaks afterwards. Snow was gone but still amazing views and a good sense of how compact San Francisco really is. It’s harder to tell when you’re racing up and down the hilly streets.
John left for Ottawa Monday morning. Much snow, much wind, much brisk walking – less warmth. Thermometer showed -4 Fahrenheit this morning. It will be good to be back in California tomorrow.