We got up a little late thing morning, walked and exercised. My crème fraîche was delicious this morning, and has some with strawberries for dessert after dinner. After lunch, we decided to take a drive to Pride Mountain Winery. It was quite a drive up the mountain! The winery is unusual because it straddles the border between Napa and Sonoma. The views were spectacular for the top of the mountain too! Our guide took us through the caves and we tasted a number of wines, but also tasted from the barrels, which was interesting.

Then, home and the drive down the hill was just as winding.  Once we got home, we took a little nap, and then began dinner.  Made shrimp with a spicy tomato sauce and some pasta.  Quick and easy.  Then, Dexter tonight, the blog and Paris.  More about the impressionists and how the new Paris inspired them.
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This is just a selection of pictures of our time here in Napa, and we have been talking about how our time here is coming to an end soon.  And to think, four short weeks ago David was saying we were here for too long!

Robert Redford – up close and personal

Alex, Theo and David before the tasting

David at R+D

Our first stop at Hunter III

Alex, Theo and Claire at Paraduxx

Alex, David and Theo at Frog’s Leap

The Marine Layer on my morning walk

The Start of the Day – David was in the front seat, sorry.

The French Laundry

David at Ciccio

Alex and David in front of the French Laundry

David relaxing at Paraduxx Winery

David in the courtyard before the concert

The aftermath at Frog’s Leap

Joy and David laughing about something

David and Scott take trikes out for a test drive

Another good, quiet day.  Walk, exercise, walk for David.  We then went to the Culinary Institute for another demo – summer squash soup, which was delicious, and I have crème fraîche in the works now and picked up some squash on the way home.  We had a visit from the owner of the house, which was very nice.  It was great to meet her as she and her husband were on their way to a wedding in St Helena.
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Then the blog and more Paris Reborn.  The 1867 Universal Exhibition happened, and in many ways put Paris on the map as the place to be, and the Impressionists have been introduced to the story.

I heard this one this morning on my walk, and thought it was appropriate.  Like the video below, my wagon is permanently attached to David’s.

So we drove down to Albany (near Berkley) and met with Steve Schwartz who sells and customizes these trikes for folks with physical challenges.  He showed us a bunch of stuff, and then we went for a test drive.  You can’t really see it in the video, but the view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate across the bay was spectacular.  Of course, we weren’t prepared for the chill that was in the air, but it was great to be out and cycling.  We now have an estimate for the cost for a pair of trikes, and we will discuss whether it is something that David will be interested in doing.  I was worried that the mechanics might be a problem for him, but he got the brake (most important) and steering seemed to work fine for him.  He had a few moments where we had to show him the difference between pedaling forward and backward, but he got that pretty quickly.  I think it would be great for exercise and just getting out and moving.

We were home in plenty of time for a nap and then Alex, Claire and Theo arrived in the afternoon.  We went to Ciccio’s for dinner, which was great, again.  The hostess remembered us well, and was glad that we were back.  Lots of babies in the restaurant, and all very well behaved, as was Theo.  Then home, and we watched Project Runway.  So glad that Timothy is gone (along with his unicorn!)  He just irritated me.  Then sleep – no blog and no Paris Reborn.

Today, I got up and took my walk.  Ran just a little bit.  When I got home, Alex told me that David had an episode where he felt faint.  He laid down, and was much better after a little while.  We went for coffee, and then breakfast, exercise and a walk.  We then headed off to a wine tasking at Paraduxx which is nearby.  A friend of Claire’s had recommended it, and said that it was even better than Frog’s Leap.  It was very nice, but not really better than Frog’s Leap.  In very much the same style and feeling, but the porch at Frog’s Leap really is special.  After hanging out under the trees for a while and sampling the reds, we decided to head over to Mumm, which was also great.  A little noisy because there were I think two groups of bridal parties – a little bachelorette action!  Then home and Claire and Alex packed up to head back to San Francisco.  Always nice to have them visiting, and Theo is a delight.

Tonight we caught up on True Blood, I read the blog from the other night and we read a bit of Paris.  Napoleon III is sick and on his way out of the picture, and France is on the brink of war with Prussia.

I was going to go with “You’re always a day away”, but that seemed too easy.  Tomorrow we go to Albany, CA to test drive trikes for David.  There is a company that does custom trikes for folks with mobility issues, and we have an appointment.  I think David will be able to do it, but am prepared for whatever happens.

Today, we went to Inglenook and had a lovely afternoon with Megan who works at the wine bar.  The place is really delightful, and the wine was good.  Megan comped out wine, coffee and cheese because they didn’t have anything that we asked for on the menu.  She also gave us some great recommendations on other wineries to visit.  We are also going to plan on making another visit to Inglenook even if it is just to sit outside the bistro and have a relaxing afternoon.  Really beautiful.

Then, I ran to the store, had the car washed and when I got home, made dinner, then an episode of Dexter.  Then the blog, and Paris Reborn.  It looks like the book is coming to an end soon, and Mssr. Haussmann is going to get what a lot of the folks at the time thought he deserved.  Now to bed and rest for tomorrow’s adventure!

Well, I didn’t think about you last night, as I neglected to write this.  When I got up this morning, I thought I had.  I think I am losing my mind (hint, hint – no really, it’s obvious).  Yesterday we got off to a rocky start when after David’s walk he was a little put off because I wasn’t paying enough attention to his walking – I was doing French flash cards on the iPhone.  I was physically there the whole time, but my head was elsewhere.

After I got over that, we hopped in the car to go to Gott’s Roadside for burgers.  Well, David had a BLT, but I have the blue burger.  It was tasty, but very messy.  Because the bun has a glaze on it, when you bite into it, it gives just enough resistance to make the contents of the burger squish out the sides.  I managed, but it wasn’t pretty!  Never thought that the quality of a bun could cause so much havoc, right?  The fries were great!
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Later in the day, David went for another walk and I didn’t bring the phone this time.  Then we had a snack (lunch was still with us in many ways) and watched So You Think You Can Dance. Sad to see Curtis go, but justified.  Then the blog – no additions or corrections – and Paris.  The Île de la Cité got a makeover and Notre Dame was restored.

From one of my all time favorite musicals.  A little cheeky, and the relation to the events of today will be a hint.  We went to Tra Vigne for lunch today with Luba and her friends visiting from Italy and staying in Santa Rosa.  Lunch was delicious and the setting was pretty glorious too.  We sat out on the patio under the trees and the whole feeling was Italian.  We started with some roasted padron peppers (varying levels of heat) and Mozzarella “al Minuto” which was delicious.  Not sure if the the fresh mozzarella or the bread was better!  David and I shared the fig and gorgonzola pizza – also terrific!  It was great spending the afternoon with Luba and her friends!  Thanks for coming over the hill to visit us.  Luba also asked that I start adding more pictures and videos, so here is something that I didn’t put in a few days ago.

Yesterday, we went to the movies and saw “The Way Way Back”.  I really liked it a lot.  David liked it, but he had some problem that he couldn’t explain to me.  I think he just doesn’t like Steve Carrel and Toni Collette.  I thought they were both good – the characters were not really very sympathetic though.  And Allison Janney was relentless!  Funny.  When we went into the movies, it was sunny and warm, and when we walked out, it was shocking.  The temperature had dropped drastically, and was downright chilly.  The sun was still out, but a cold flow must have come up the bay from San Francisco.  It was pretty cool today to, but really pretty delightful.

Sorry for missing the blog for the past two days, but there really wasn’t much to report, and I was a little tired and uninspired.  Some of you may still think I am uninspired, but, I do the best I can!  In a nutshell, for the past two days – I went to the CIA alone to learn to make stuffed grape leaves, we went to the Hess Estate to look a the art which was fun, but didn’t do any wine tasting there, we watched So You Think You Can Dance (split over two days), Food Network Star, and that is about it.  When I read this tomorrow to David, I am sure there will be something that I forgot that I will need to add.

Paris continues to be reborn, and we are really enjoying that.  I keep going to the iPad to look at maps and check out what the landmarks that they talk about in the book are, and how they changed the city.  It really is impressive.  Also continue to work on my French, but am afraid that it will all be theory until November, and then I will be pushed into the deep end.

Anyway, I will end with another quote from the above musical that is less cheeky, more sentimental and heartfelt – “Maybe it lasted a day, maybe it lasted an hour, but somehow it will never end”.  Just feeling this tonight.

It is one year since David had his stroke, so I thought a calendar reference was appropriate.  And I be you were worried that I was going to complain about David and his calendar!  Today was a good quiet day.  David and I went to Mumm Napa and had some champagne.  It was another glorious day.  Took our walks and my foot is not perfect, but much better.

After Mumm, David took a nap, and I went to get what I needed to make the eggplant rollatini, and I assure you, it was not the eggplant that I forgot.  I wouldn’t put it past me, but it was something essential, but not in the name of the dish.  It came out really well, and David had not just seconds, but thirds as well.  David said that I could go to the demonstration tomorrow without him – stuffed grape leaves.  I am curious.

After dinner, we watched Project Runway.  Timothy is irritating me, and needs to be sent packing.  I hope Heidi is reading this.  Then the blog – I neglected to tell you that David got a pair of shoes for Paris as well – gray suede with orange soles.  Also, another section of Paris Reborn.

OK, this is a hard one, and quite honestly, it is a stretch for a title.  The key word here is feet.  My foot started acting up today.  It was worse when I woke up, and a bit better now, so I think (hope) it was just a short flare up.

We didn’t do much today.  Spoke to Alex.  Made an appointment with a place near Berkley where they do custom fitted trikes.  We are going on Thursday to see if David might be able to use one of these.  He was never a bicycle fan mostly because of the seat.  I think these reclining models might be a good fit.  Good exercise too, of course.  We’ll see.

I went shopping and was going to make eggplant rollatini, but I forgot one of the ingredients, and didn’t want to go out again, so made something with other stuff we had.  Then we watched Food Network Star, and Hulu followed that up with the finale of HGTV Star, so we watched both, plus a Castle.  I keep wondering, what happens with the old Food Network and HGTV stars when these new ones are selected?  Do they just get put out to pasture?

Then the blog and Paris Reborn.  Also had some folks who guessed the “Oven” song (Lila and Ellen) – “I Can Cook Too” from On the Town.  Sung by Nancy Walker.

I know you will all be surprised by this (well, maybe not all), but today, when I was out on my walk everyone seemed to irritate me.  I didn’t like the shoes one person was wearing.  I didn’t like that ones hair.  It was all I could do to keep from slapping someone.  Maybe it’s the full moon or I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  It continued throughout the day. I told David this, and he said that this is his MO.  We decided that the difference between us and folks in an asylum or prison is that we don’t actually hit the people who irritate us, as much as we would like to!

Anyway, took a long walk this morning, and the weather is back to its usual gloriousness.  Went for coffee, and I avoided yelling at the folks on line at Bouchon Bakery.  We exercised and took David’s walk.  Then we went out shopping.  Picked up a few things – I got a pair of green suede shoes from Cole Hahn that are pretty cool, I think, although, now that I mention it, I might get slapped by someone who is a bit irritable.  Who knows, it could happen.

We went to dinner at R+D here in Yountville.  It was nice and the food was good.  Very relaxed.  We have promised that we will go back for cocktails one night soon.  Then home and bed – the blog first followed by a bit of Paris Reborn.  Charles Garnier has been selected to design the new opera house.  That’s where the name comes from!!

It took a while to come up with this title too, and I think some folks will know this one.  Still no guesses for “My oven’s the hottest you’ll find”.  Hint – Lyrics by Comden and Green.

Tennis again today.  David hit with Dave, and it went well.  He worked for about an hour, and at the end he was exhausted.  David that is, not Dave.  I think that it is doing David a lot of good being on the court, not just because he enjoys it but because it is making him work on his balance.  At one point, and I am not sure if I will edit this out when I read the entry to him tomorrow night, he began to walk out on the court without his cane.  I know he can do it, but he is not secure enough yet.  Time.

So, still no takers on the “Oven” line?  The singer also directed the Village People Musical – Can’t Stop The Music.  Yesterdays was a little easy (or at least, better known), and had three folks who answered – Jonathan, Jane and Donovan.  Well done.  In short there’s simply not, a more congenial spot.  Really, Napa is marvelous.  Again, today it was a little cloudy, but it kept the temperature down a bit, which was good.

We also had a lovely Facetime call with Lynda, and talked about her upcoming play that is part of FringeNYC.  Get out to see it if you can, Strange Rain at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre.  It sounds very interesting and fun.

When I was out getting coffee this morning, I got a message from Geoff Van Kirk, who was in SF with his wife, Pat Doyle (both from UNIS), and they were going to be in Napa in the afternoon on their way back to NY, and wanted to stop by.  What a great surprise!  Even better, when they arrived they had bags in tow from a fabulous bakery in San Francisco.  Delicious! B. Patisserie.

Then off to tennis.  Tonight, I had another walk in the evening – La Passagiatta.  One of my favorite memories of Rome was the strolling around Piazza Navona in the evenings, along with much of Rome!  Then the blog and Paris Reborn.

Today was different than all the other days we have been in Yountville.  It felt like it was going to rain.  It didn’t rain, but it felt like it, and the sky was not the usual clear blue – there were clouds!  Well, I want my money back!!  Speaking of money back, nobody got yesterday’s lyric.  I will give you a hint – the song it is from was originally sung by Rhoda’s mother or Rosie the waitress depending on your point of reference.  Tonights headline should be easy, I think.

Today, aside from the weather, was a rather boring day.  I took two walks – one in the morning and another in the afternoon.  David took his long walk, and we exercised.  After all that, we went to CVS and the medical supply store in Napa.  Picked up prescriptions and a special bolster to help David sit up in bed.  I think it will work well.  We were also looking to try out one of those rolling walkers, but it won’t work because he still can’t grip with his right hand.  He can squeeze but, as soon as he starts to walk, he lets go.  Too much to concentrate on.

Tonight we watched Dexter and some episodes of Food Network Star.  I think I see where Dexter is going, but won’t give it away.  Then the blog, Paris Reborn and an episode of Law & Order: SVU

So far, Maria has gotten all the musical references.  Let’s see how this one goes.  Today we went to the Culinary Institute again for the demonstration, and he used the oven this time!  He made, and we tasted Eggplant Rollatini.  Delicious.  And the wine was good too!  David was a little tired today, and he didn’t take his usual long walk this morning.  He actually thought he might not make it to the CIA, but did in the end.

Afterwards, we went to an open house around the corner from where we are staying.  I saw the house (actually two houses) in an email that I got.  I still get real estate updates from when we looked last December.  It intrigued me because one of the properties we looked at was two one bedroom houses on one lot and this was two two bedroom houses on one lot, and it is a lower asking price.  Well, it is lower, because both houses need a lot of work – the materials say they need some TLC, but it really was more like they need to go into intensive care!  New floors, windows, paint, roof, etc.  Great location though – quiet street in the middle of town.
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Made dinner, and relaxed at home.  Caught up with Bill Maher and then watched True Blood.  After that, the blog and Paris Reborn.

OK, so the prize for yesterday goes to Maria from Brooklyn and Mary Hall from Washington, DC.  Not to diminish the triumph, but let’s face it, that one was easy.  This one should be easy for a certain segment of the population.  A segment that I belong to.

So, today we went to Frog’s Leap with Dave and Pamela who drove up after doing some business in San Francisco.  We sat on the porch and had a delightful time.  The woman who poured confirmed the story of the name of Frog’s Leap, and it is a play on Stag’s Leap, but the site of the original vineyard was an old frog farm.  Yes, as in raising frogs for frogs legs.  Never really thought of that.  I also heard a story on the radio about someone proposing that in light of the UN’s announcement that looking to insects for a food source, we should start building grasshopper farms.

We left Frog’s Leap and headed back to Yountville and the Lincoln Theatre for an evening of 24 Hour Plays.  Star Jones introduced the performances, and there was a bit of a screw up before she entered.  First, another delayed start (almost 30 minutes) and they turned her mic on too early and without her knowing and she said something about going to the bathroom before going on stage.  There was then another delay, while I guess she did just that.  Awkward.  They didn’t turn it off when she sat in the audience and she began to tell her companion about the music before each of the pieces.  I kept telling David that Joy Zinoman would be having a fit at this point.

The plays were not great, but I guess you can only expect so much in 24 hours.  David liked Christopher Meloni and Tamara Tunie the best, and I liked Allison Janney.  She is much taller than I expected, or at least looks like she is very tall on stage.  Very striking.  The second half was much better, but Dave and Pamela, you still didn’t miss much.  They left at intermission.  David wanted to, but I stood my ground.

Read the blog and more Paris Reborn.  One of the mistakes that the author claims the second empire has made with the redesign of Paris is to segregate the classes – pushing the working class to the periphery and keeping the upper and middle class in the center of Paris.  Some things never change, right?

OK, I am going to make it my mission to come up with a title for every post that is pulled directly from Musical Theatre.  A star will go to the person who correctly identifies the origin of the quote.  I think it will be kind of easy actually.  And, of course it has to relate in some way to the events of the day, so everything was beautiful at the ballet tonight.  We went to the Lincoln Theatre here in Yountville for the second in our cultural outings.  Tomorrow is another.  It was the Ballet Gala of the Festival del Sole and there were dancers from ABT, San Francisco Ballet and San Jose Ballet.  So, we arrived and were waiting in the lobby near the entrance to the VIP lounge, and David became excited because he said he recognized someone, and I asked if it was someone from ABT, and he said yes, one of the principal dancers.  He was sure he knew his name, but couldn’t tell me what it was.

We went into the theatre, and had a bit of a problem with seating, but the usher was great and went to the box office to exchange our seats.  We sat down, and before the show started (late, I might add!) he again saw the ABT dancer.  We had been chatting with two ladies, a mother and daughter from Napa, and they seemed dubious and wondered why David would know one of the principal dancers for ABT.  I explained, that this is the sort of thing that he would know.  So, later, as I am perusing the program, I recognized a name that sounded familiar to me – José Manuel Carreño – and pointed the name out to David, and he let me know that this was the guy.  He is the new Artistic Director of the San Jose Ballet.

The ballet was beautiful, particularly the pieces with the dancers from ABT – Swan Lake pas de deux and Le Corsaire pas de deux.  The other dancers were great too.  One of the dances, not so much, but the rest were great.  There was a lost piece by some early 20th century choreographer, that might have been better left lost, if you know what I mean.  I couldn’t help but thinking of The Music Man and One Grecian Urn, Two Grecian Urns and a fountain, trickle, trick . . . well you get my meaning.  I also couldn’t help but reflect on Les Ballets Trockedero de Monte Carlo during the Swan Lake.  Here is a bit from an ad for Sadler’s Wells.

Anyway, everything is beautiful at the Ballet.

Yesterday, not much happened, but I did successfully make Vietnamese Salad Rolls for dinner, and they were quite good.  Wrapping will take a little bit of practice, they weren’t as tight as I might have liked, but they were tasty!

Tonight, there was no reading.  We just wanted the preview for Project Runway and the first episode, so we were up pretty late.  Tomorrow we have a visit from Dave and Pamela and we will be heading to our third cultural outing after a wine tasting at Leaping Frog.  Another great day.

First, I want to say that tonight, when we got ready for bed, and I went to pull up the blog from last night to read, I discovered that I never published it.  I wrote it, but didn’t hit the publish button.  User error, as they say.  Sorry.  So got that published now.

This morning I got up and took my walk (no running today) and when I got home, Alex, Theo and David were happily playing in the living room.  David tried to tell us something, and I finally figured out that he had to go to the bathroom, and Alex had helped get him up out of bed and on his way to the bathroom, which was great.  He was concerned about what he would do if Alex wasn’t there, and thinks that I shouldn’t go for my walk until after he is up and out of bed.  We will see how that works tomorrow.  He reminded me of this again tonight to make sure that I didn’t leave the house until he was up and out of bed.

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We took a walk and exercised, and then I went for coffee.  We spent the rest of the morning relaxing and playing with Theo.  Very nice day.  Made lunch, and then Alex and Theo headed back to San Francisco at about 4pm.  We talked about what to do, and David thought that we should go out for dinner.  I did a little research and finally decided on trying to go to Ciccio, which is just down the street from French Laundry.  We drove over, and there was about a 45 minute wait, but the hostess said that she would call me a bit before a table was ready, and we could come back, so that’s what we did.  The place was very, very nice, and the food was terrific.  We had fire roasted padrone peppers and roasted eggplant and peppers followed by a pizza with sausage.  All were delicious!  This will become one of our regular spots while we are here, and I can’t wait to take Alex and Claire.  While we were waiting to be seated, we ran into Marnie, the woman who gave us the tour at the CIA, and she said that this was one of her favorite spots.  She also came over during dinner to check on us, and pointed out that Thomas Keller (the owner of French Laundry) was at the bar having dinner.  Not bad at all!  Good food, comfortable and convivial atmosphere, and just around the corner!

We got home, and David couldn’t have dessert, we were pretty full.  Then bed, the blog (as I mentioned earlier) and then more Paris Reborn.  Tonight’s section was about financing and legal issues, so David was a little confused.  I tried to explain, but I think I just muddied the waters!

There were two stories yesterday that I told that David said were particularly boring. I have no idea what they were. We went to Healdsburg yesterday to visit Mary, Peter, Christy and Gavin who were out from DC and NC. Very nice to see them, and to have a nice visit. We also went to the town of Healdsburg which was very nice. A main square with a park surrounded by various stores and restaurants.

The day started out a little rocky. I had my run/walk, David did his exercise and then we went for a walk. About half way through the walk, David had a fall, which was pretty frightening. Not sure if it was because we went a different way, but he just got his feet caught up, and went over. He only had a small scrape on his elbow, but was pretty shaken up. We got home, with much effort, and got cleaned up and he took a nap before heading off to Healdsburg.
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This morning, we did the same, but David insisted on getting back on the horse, and we took our old route, and he walked the usual distance, even though he was a little sore. Then Alex and Theo came to spend the night. Claire is in Aurora, Il, taking some classes in preparation for teaching in Paris so we had a boys day/night. We had a nice afternoon, and I took advantage of Alex being there to do some shopping. I had also made arrangements for a tennis pro to work with David, and we went to meet him at 4:30. It was great, again, and afterwards, David wondered why he didn’t have any pain or discomfort playing tennis, but does when he is just sitting. I told him that moving sometimes helps alleviate the pain from a fall like that, or at least distracts you from it. We had a nice dinner, and then, since I did’t write the blog last night (sorry) we just had Paris Reborn. We will have a great day with Alex and Theo tomorrow!

We did make it to the CIA for the demonstration, and it was great.  Our presenter made Vietnamese Salad Rolls, and I think I will try them on my own before we go back to Palm Springs.  Very good, light lunch.  The day started off the same – walk/run for me followed by exercise and walk with David, then coffee.  We drove out early to the CIA because there have been some traffic on the weekends, but we got there in plenty of time. We sat and had a latte at their cafe.

The presenter was very personable, and there were only 15 of us in the demonstration.  Learned some new techniques, and the method of pealing garlic will come in handy!  After the demonstration, we had a tasting and some wine, then home.

I took a nap in the afternoon, then made dinner – grilled chicken and asparagus.  David liked dinner tonight, but wanted me to let you know that he was justified in not liking the dinner from last night because it included kale.  This came after I read last nights blog, them more Paris Reborn and sleep.  We also watched Food Network Star, which we are enjoying.

Today was another beautiful day – cool and sunny.  I have to say, it is getting a bit repetitive!  Got up early and took my walk/run, then home for exercise and a walk for David.  I went alone to get coffee, and they now know what I want before I ask.  Nice to be known, right?

We had some lunch and then sat outside.  In the morning, I had seen from the window a partridge and her nine babies running and pecking around in the grass.  Later in the afternoon, when we sat outside, they continued to peck around the lawn and were soon joined by the father.  The video below will prove to you that I have too much time on my hands!

In the afternoon we took a drive down past Napa, and then around the town.  Made dinner, which David didn’t like so much, watched another episode of True Blood, more Paris Reborn.  It is still very interesting. Next, I am going to try to book a demonstration at the Culinary Institute of America for tomorrow and then some relax before bed.

Today was a lovely cool day.  I took a nice long walk this morning and then went for another walk with David.  They were removing the blackberry bushes along the walkway, and not sure why, but I am sure there is a good reason, so we had to take a different route.  Then exercised and went for coffee.  We both took naps in the afternoon, and I made a reservation for Mustards Grill here in Yountville.  The food was just too heavy, and I can still feel it hours later.  Then it was off to Castello di Amorosa for the opening night concert for the Festival del

Sole.  Everyone who was anyone in the Napa Valley was there, or at least they all thought they were someone.  The concert was in the courtyard of the Castello, and there couldn’t have been more than 700 seats.  I am still surprised that we got tickets, and when we got to our seats, I couldn’t believe we had these seats!  We were in the second row on the center aisle!

So, we are sitting waiting for the concert to begin, and amazed at how great our seats are, and I begin looking around.  You may notice how bad the picture to the right is of David, but it really isn’t of David.  If you look just past his left ear, you can see a gentleman looking down reading the festival guide, and it took a moment for me to confirm it, but it was Robert Redford!  See the close up below.

The concert was absolutely delightful.  Audra’s voice was amazing, and her selection of songs was perfect – funny, moving, inspirational – and she sang a lot, and didn’t talk too much.  I said to David when we were on our way home

what I take away is, she just seems like the kind of person you would love to have as a friend.  It was one of those magical evenings, and it all happened in a castello!  Who could ask for anything more?

So, I missed a couple of days writing, and I neglected to tell you about our visit to the Culinary Institute of America in St Helena.  Joy and I went to go to the store, and picked up a few things, and the building was so great that we decided to come back the next day with David to take the tour, and we did.  We took the tour an it really is an amazing building, with lots of history.  After the tour, we had a chocolate tasting experience (well, that was what they called it).  It was an interesting, interactive chocolate tasting, from bean to product.  Lots of fun.  We did this in the morning before the French Laundry.

Last night we went to The French Laundry, which was amazing. The food was great, and the service was impeccable but the best part of the evening was the company. Alex, Claire, Joy, me and David. We left shortly after the babysitter arrived and took the short walk to the restaurant. We were a bit early, so walked a bit through the garden across the street. Here is a picture of David and Alex before we went into the restaurant.

We were still a bit early, so we sat in the courtyard waiting for the table to be ready.  David and Alex were both disappointed that they didn’t have cocktails, and we said we would wait until we were seated to order wine.  I perused the wine list while we waited, and it was pretty daunting – both the size of the list and the size of the prices!  But I knew that before, I looked at it online, and was amazed at the $18K bottle of Sauterne.  That is a little obscene, but I am sure there were also higher priced bottles.

Anyway, after looking the list over, I had some wines in mind for dinner.  We were taken to our table, which was on the ground floor, tucked away in the corner, and the first thing David said was “bad”.  Unfortunately, he had the seat facing the corner, and didn’t have a view of the room, but there was not way, really to move him around to the other side.  That was the last time he uttered the word “bad” for the evening.  It was absolutely perfect for the rest of the evening!

The whole dinner took about three hours, and we all chose the chef’s tasting menu.  The only other choice was the tasting of vegetables, which I am sure was nice, but. . .  David said his favorite item was the Alaskan King Crab “Boudin”, I liked the one with the longest name, Applewood Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Elysian Fields Farm Lamb.  I liked the Bacon and Elysian Fields.  Bacon, because it is bacon, and Elysian Fields because of Streetcar Named Desire.  So for wine, I wanted to stay local, and David likes a Riesling, so ordered a bottle of the Stoney Hill Riesling to start. It was a great choice, if I do say so myself, especially since I have no idea what I am doing. About half way through, when that bottle was done, we wanted to switch to red, and saw a Pinot Noir that looked good and was in our price range, so I asked for the Ancien, Carneros.  The sommelier said that they had sold the two bottles that night and asked if I wanted him to suggest something.  I said yes, and expected him to try to up-sell, but he absolutely understood what price point we were looking at and offered three bottles that fit the bill.  I ordered the Wind Gap Pinot Noir, and it was also excellent.

Anyway, we walked home from the restaurant at around midnight, and all crept into our beds for a nice sleep.  This morning we got up and went for coffee at the Coffee Caboose, and then Alex and Claire gave Joy a ride to the the airport and went home.  We relaxed for the day, and I made a more rustic dinner tonight than the one we had last night, watched Dexter, True Blood and then read a bit of Paris Reborn.