Although Marseille is France's largest commercial port, the city is going through a rejuvenation these days. Several miles of waterfront are used for shipping and cruise ship docking but old warehouses and empty land is being rebuilt into modern condo and office buildings and shopping centres. We are staying in a newish building on the edge of this, in a 9th floor 3-bedroom penthouse with a huge rooftop terrace, views across the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east across the city and the Old Port to the huge Catholic Basilica built in 1864, the Notre Dame de la Garde, and the Cathedrale de la Major, a beautiful and historic cathedral that was erected in the middle of the 19th century Cathédrale de la Major is an amazing example of the architecture of that time. Originally, ... read more

Rather than driving into San Francisco this morning, we caught a cab over to the Larkspur ferry terminal near us here in Corte Madera and enjoyed a FAST 35 minute ride into the San Francisco terminal at the foot of Market Street. It was an interesting trip, passing San Quentin prison on the way. A lot of the inmates were in the yard exercising and one of them was wildly waving at us as if to say, "wait for me!". The ferry ride also gave me some new angles for photos of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz in the fog. We spent the day walking around and shooting images of the city and just absorbing the atmosphere in this great city. We ended up in Chinatown for a dim sum lunch then walked down to ... read more

We woke up to another chilly, overcast and slightly foggy day again. I'm not sure what happened to summer but I sure hope it returns soon. Although our drive had to begin with the top up again, it's still fun driving the Miata on all of the narrow, winding roads around here. At North Bend we turned off of Hwy. 101 at Virginia Avenue and followed the signs towards Ocean Beaches. The Cape Arago Highway (Hwy. 540) begins here and runs along the bay, past Charleston and out the peninsula. After driving about ten miles we found the road closed! We turned into a state park campground there and the girl at the gate told us she heard that if you drove around the barricades you could make it all the way out to Simpson Reef ... read more

Yesterday, Friday, September 5, was breaking heat records, into the 90's fahrenheit. And the outlook was for more of the same on Saturday. But, the day started very foggy, misty and COLD and we didn't climb up past 55 degrees; nearly 40 degrees cooler than forecast! So the Miata kept her top on all day today. Our first stop today was Cape Foulweather with a 360-degree coastal panorama view. Unfortunately, the weather really was foul; so foggy we couldn't see much but I did get a few shots of a beautiful beach, hundreds of feet below us, fading off into the fog in the distance. We drove on to the Devil's Punchbowl from here, which is a rock formation on the coast that is like a huge bowl with tunnels at the bottom letting in the ... read more

Our stay at the Tokeland Hotel really was great. The atmosphere is kind of a mix between a historic hotel, B&B, and Grandpa's cottage. The whole place is very eclectic with a variety of old wooden tables and chairs in the dining area, with cloth placemats and all the lounge seating areas around the hotel have a real hodge podge mix of chairs and couches with cushions and blankets and piles of books and board games everywhere. All of the staff and the owners are very friendly and attentive and even Fat Cat and Pixie the old Golden Retriever were very welcoming. The meals were all excellent from the oysters and scallops to the eggs, cranberry sausages and coffee. The Tokeland is a VERY warm and homey place and I would strongly recommend that you do ... read more