Mill Valley, California - First impressions

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30 April - 2 May 2010 Mill Valley, Marin County, California

We made it to San Francisco on Friday. Not a sign of volcanic ash at Heathrow or even when we skirted Iceland on our way. Greenland was somewhere over there and Canada somewhere down there, and in the case of Canada, below us for bloody hours. Overrated country. Canada didn't look very interesting. Mainly clouds.

But California - now you're talking. Pilot finally (after 10 hours) had good sense to fly a bit lower so we could see. Sunshine on Sierra Nevada and northern California. Got to the house in Mill Valley about 5 pm. Airport bus across Golden Gate and taxi for the last 3 miles or so. Taxi driver gave new take on immigration. "You know what? This area's being ruined by too much traffic. It's all these people from the east." For I second I expect strong words about Chinese and Koreans. "Yeah, they ought to f**k off back to New York. " Ah yes, that kind of Easterner. A bit like Winchester being ruined by Londoners and their 4 x 4s. Ethnically Mill Valley seems a bit like Winchester, with bigger cars and houses, surrounded by giant redwoods.

We're here on a house swap for five weeks. David and Claudia's house is wonderful. Rosie has christened the pool. I did a bit of light gardening while she swam on Sat pm. Automatic watering system is not 100% working, so David and Claudia have asked us to do a bit of manual irrigation to help keep the artichokes and tomatoes alive (you say tomato, I say artichoke). Choice of about 15 hosepipes and taps to water 4 levels of garden descending to back gate and woods beyond. Humming birds pop in for a feed. The odd coyote and mountain lion are occasionally sighted. (I think my hosepipe has scared them off.)

We lack for nothing here. Just as we're getting used to going from a one hosepipe house to a fifteener, we're trying to cope with the size of the house. Bathrooms, luxury kitchen (no grotty bits in the corner), pool, hot tub. (California's 3 year drought is officially over after a wet 2010 so far.) Yet it's comforting to know that amidst all this, David and Claudia have a kettle just like ours. Having said that, there's no sign of limescale anywhere.

The car is great. I hope David & Claudia enjoy our Focus, but I bet they miss their Volvo. Now just about got used to the size of it and driving on the wrong side of the car, thanks to some local (Mill Valley and Muir Beach) moseying on Saturday and a trip two hours or so north to Sonoma and Napa Valleys on Sunday. Locally at least, driving is very sedate- 25mph limit in residential streets, including our very quiet road, and 40/45 on local main roads. At junctions everyone stops and waits for everyone else. Protocol is easy to manage at 4-way stop junctions, once you know: first to get to junction is first to move across. In bad tempered SE England, where road rage is always simmering under the bonnet, surely this couldn’t work, but here in sunny Marin County, at least, it does. Suppose everyone's scared of litigation – maybe car insurance doesn't include damage to the car. But here seems a very civilised place to be a driver.

Highway 101 is our north to south artery. It crosses the Golden Gate about 8 miles to the south of us to take us into the city. Going north, it's 6 lanes either side, but much easier to drive than, say, the Boulevard Périphérique around Paris. So far I've not bumped it or scraped it. Reversing beeper helps.

Mill Valley 'village' is really nice. Wooded hills at the end of most roads. Not just any old trees. Some giant redwoods, most now protected in Muir Woods National Park. The 'mill' (=sawmill) has long gone. Replaced by a nail boutique and a dog grooming parlour. Lots of clothes boutiques pretending to be 'French'. Pretentious names like 'Etre' and 'Esprit de Provence' and 'Pantalon de Sarkozy'. (One of these is made up.) I've slapped a retail restraining order on Rosie. If she fancies a bit of dog grooming, well, OK. There are some good eating places, though, including the Depot Bookstore, which has 'the' caff/brunch place of the village, as well as a great bookshop. Amazingly, very few of the books I picked up had any trace of brunch egg on them. On Saturday morning the Depot was stacked out with tanned flesh and ex-hippy beards. It's apparently a bit of a 'media' celeb area, so I'm sure we've rubbed shoulders with the girl who reads the 3am weather on Fox News. Shoulders, I said. Martin, you'd enjoy browsing the parking lots. Haven't yet spotted an A55 van or a Standard 10.

Had a local drive around on Sat pm. About 20 minutes over the hills west is Muir Beach on the Pacific. Fantastic views from the top on the way. Panoramic views of the northern bit of the Bay and of the city skyline in the distance. I think we're going to like this place.

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