There is always so much to see…this Wednesday the weather was so beautiful I didn’t really take a lot of pictures, but the creek was so stunning with the Spanish Moss hanging from the trees and the native grasses below. I just had to take a memory of it.
My friend and fellow blogger Lady Muffett stopped by for another walk today and we discovered these by the side of the road. I admit the Bearded Iris is not exactly a wildflower, but I don’t think anyone would have planted it there. Perhaps a bird planted it, long, long ago? Or perhaps there was some structure here once, that the flowers stood in front of and now only the flowers remain. In any case they were beautiful. So here is a bouquet for you.
I am not a rosarian. Although, I have probably sixty different roses in my garden. But I make no claim to expertise or any particular knowledge other than my pure emotional response to the simple, garden rose. I must confess, although it is a luxury, my roses mostly come from one source. They are hybrids of old strong-scented English roses with modern repeat flowering plants from the esteemed David Austin. I am a fan. I admit it. Point me toward a David Austin rose and I will buy it.
And here are the first roses of 2012, waiting to be put into a vase. Ahhh… summer … it is here. The scent of it is heavenly!
Recently I found myself in Yountville to run some errands. For those who don’t know Yountville is probably the gourmet capital of the world. Well, of my world anyway. The restaurants there are legendary. Since it was lunch, or so I told myself, I stopped at Addendum, which is a little offshoot of the Ad Hoc restaurant and it serves boxed lunches to go Thursday – Saturday. There are only two choices on the menu and I chose the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. You would be able to see a photo of it if I hadn’t eaten it so fast. And I’m not kidding. I inhaled it in one breath sitting at one of the little picnic tables in the middle of the Ad Hoc garden.
I believe it’s true that Yountville boasts more Michelin stars per capita than anyplace on Earth. The entire town is only 1.5 square miles and has six Michelin stars. Which simply means if you go to Yountville, go with an empty stomach and a full wallet.
Hunger relief to go. Indeed!
Bouchon is just down the street. I went there for a lovely brunch one Sunday and didn’t have a complaint in the world. They were mortified however that it took longer than they thought was proper to bring the meal (trust me, I didn’t even notice) and insisted on picking up my check. You can bet I have been back many times since.
Even the birds are well fed in Yountville. This one was in front of the Bouchon Bakery eating part of someone’s croissant. Note to self: if you are reincarnated as a bird, fly to Yountville, California.
If you want to have the meal of your life. Go to the French Laundry. A lot of the fruit and veg is grown in their gardens right across the street. That’s a remarkably short “farm to table” .
I am so looking forward to eating at Bistro Jeanty, which I haven’t done yet but which I hear is amazing.
My apologies, I really feel I haven’t done justice to Yountville. But to be honest, I think you can only do that with a knife and fork. Not a camera!
You can’t drive for a block without hitting a celebrity chef. As I was driving out of town I passed Thomas Keller walking down the street in his Chef’s coat and, this being Napa Valley, which is generally pretty friendly, he waved to me when he saw how excited I was to spot him. Now if only I could get a free meal at The French Laundry. I can dream… can’t I?
I started out on my walk today, accompanied by my friend and fellow blogger, the very entertaining Lady Muffett, and the first thing we saw was the famous “chicken crossing the road”. We would have gotten closer for a better picture if a giant Hawk hadn’t swooped down low enough to frighten the poor thing off. Why did the chicken cross the road? In this case I think it was going to get its mail!
We continued on a bit and the weather turned a little ominous. We were just looking at this wonderful structure when the sun disappeared and some rather dramatic clouds came in.
We thought about turning back but decided to carry on. Don’t worry if you ever get lost in the wine country there is plenty of signage to aid you.
We came to a treacherous bridge. I was a little nervous to walk across the surface, especially when I looked below, and fortunately we didn’t bring the dogs! But the Lady is adventurous and on we went.
There is nothing like the green of Spring. And finally we were home.
