RAY'S BUSINESS TRIP TO ISRAEL WITH A STOP IN PARIS

WHEN YOU ARE INVITED TO TAG ALONG, YOU DON'T SAY NO!!!!

April 27th to May 6th, 2014.......

Ray's business took place in Tel Aviv, so we stayed in the Royal Beach Hotel there, right on the water! Warm, sunny weather was SO appreciated. The Mediterranean Sea was lovely and warm enough for swimming. Tel Aviv is the business capital of Israel and a very lively place. Lots of restaurants, shopping and nightlife.

Tel Aviv

Dinner in Tel Aviv with Ray and his colleagues. the guy in the Notre Dame T Shirt
Is the owner of this restaurant. We had a beautiful feast and a really fun evening.
Thank you Amir!!

On Tuesday, Sharon, our host, arranged a day tour for our group to visitJerusalem. Please do your own research on this town as there is SO much history here. We were first taken to a hilltop fort to view the city from above.

Sign for the Fort in Three languages

This is the Fort... built by the Crusaders on top of the tomb of Nabi Samuel.

The amazing Western Wall with the Gold domed Mosque

Road Warriors looking over the city from the Mount of Olives

2 shots of the ancient Jewish Cemetery at the foot of the Mount of Olives

Beautiful domed temple in Jerusalem

JAFFA, the Ancient Port just next to Tel Aviv. It was kind of slummy, but is now slowly being developed and people are moving in. Ray and I visited this old building which is now a museum and the home of Ilana Goor, an artist. It holds her eclectic collection of art and sculpture.

A building in downtown Tel Aviv

On our last evening in Israel, Ray had a business dinner and I walked out on the beach to a great restaurant called Manta Ray. Wonderful atmosphere and seafood.

On Thursday morning, we departed Tel Aviv and flew to PARIS..... The trip took all day and we arrived in the evening to cool rainy weather. Our Hotel was the SHANGRI - LA ..... and we were happy to stay in for a beautiful Chinese dinner at the Shang Palace Restaurant there. We had Peking Duck!
The Shangri-La overlooks the Seine River and the Eiffel Tower and is a renovation of an old palace that was built by Napolean's Grand nephew, Roland Bonaparte. They have done an amazing job transforming it to an elegant luxury hotel. Check out the website to learn more about it.

Our Bold Photographer at Breakfast at Shangri-La

I Love Paris in the Springtime

Shangri- La Exterior on the Avenue D' Iena

The view at night from our hotel

George Washington at the Place D'Iena just outside the hotel

Cyn models her Paris Hairdo!

Busy Day for the Bateau Mouches... the Invalides and the Tour Montparnasse in the background

A closeup of the same scene

We drove past the Conciergerie on our way to a special dinner at "Le Cinq" in the Georges V Four Seasons Hotel

After breakfast on our last morning at the Shangri -La we wandered into the small but beautiful  hotel garden just overlooking the Seine. Very Peaceful!

I'm in the Garden wearing my real hair

Perfect French village with May Mustard seed meadow. We are about an hour outside Paris taking the back roads to the Loire Valley. This was on Sunday, May 4th, 2014.

The Famous Cathedral at Chartres on a gorgeous day! We had a wonderful Lunch in a bistro just next to the cathedral.

One of the buildings at our Loire Valley Hotel, The Domaine des Hautes de Loire. We checked in on Sunday evening,
May 4th.

The Restaurant. You know you're in the country! Very nice dinner here. And Great pain chocolate in the morning!

The Main Hotel  building. Domaine des Hautes de Loire was an old Hunting lodge that was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1860's. It is now a privately owned country "Relais et Chateau" hotel. Beautiful wooded grounds and gardens all around.

Chateau hopping on Monday. This is Chenonceau. A beauty!!!

Azay Le Rideau is not in great condition. There is a multi year government project going on to restore it.

The Gardens at Villandry are fabulous and quite famous.

Villandry

On Tuesday, May 6th we drove from our hotel to Charles De Gaulle airport and caught our flight for home. Our stay in France was WAY too short, but we were so happy we got what we did! Early May is a good time to go. The crowds have not arrived yet, and the city and countryside are beautiful!!!

EASTER WEEKEND 2014 IN NAPA VALLEY

LOVELY CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY WEEKEND WITH OUR BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER!!!  Ray and I made a plan to visit Julie in the wine country for Easter weekend. WE flew out on Friday morning the 18th of April. On the way up from the Airport, we decided to stop off in the City for some lunch. As we were headed for the Golden Gate Bridge, we chose the BALBOA CAFE in the Marina. We met there in March of 1980, 34 years ago!!! Oh, my this called for a drink! We had a really reflective and romantic lunch at our old stomping ground which has been transformed into a pretty upscale/ trendy place with good food. Years ago it was a burger joint.

Selfie at the Balboa Cafe

After checking into our little cottage at the MEADOWOOD RESORT, we drove to Julies and enjoyed a home cooked meal on her patio. It is SO great to be with her! We had not seen our girl since Christmas and that's too long! She played her new guitar and we sang a few songs together.
Good Harmonies!

Julie with one of her cats, Suri ( named for Surya, a Hindu Sun God )

 Julie joined us for breakfast at the hotel. Saturday afternoon we messed around in the sunshine.

Family Breakfast shots

Saturday afternoon we messed around in the sunshine. We did some shopping and driving around to enjoy the Napa valley scenery.

Napa's Amarosa vineyard with Tuscan style Castle

Flower Garden At the Hall Rutherford Winery

Bridget, Julie, and Cyn

For Dinner saturday evening, I planned a mini family reunion. Craig and Bridget came,
and Dan, our nephew, came with a couple of friends of his who were visiting him for the weekend,
plus Ray, Julie and me.  We dined in a private room, The White Room, at CINDY'S BACKSTREET KITCHEN. With a group of 9, it's so nice to have the room alone, and the food was very nice. We learned that Cindy, the owner had been in a bad car accident and was recovering in Hospital from her injuries. So Sad!

Easter Sunday morning Ray and I had brunch at the Meadowood Grill with Craig and Bridget. Nice to relax and catch up with them! Then they headed home for their own R&R...
 Julie was helping a friend serve food at a food truck event on the Presidio called "Off The Grid". Their truck served barbecue and it was called "Le Cochon Volant". There were many vendors there and Quite a lively crowd picnicking and partying SF style all over the Presidio Green. We went to check out the scene, taste some barbecue ( YUM!!) and visit the Walt Disney Museum right on the Green at the Presidio.

Julie prepping Cole Slaw to go with the Barbecue at "Cochon Volant"

 Ray and I then drove down to the Ferry building food court and enjoyed the wine bar.  We love all those foodie shops, many of which were closed at that time on Easter Sunday........

Here's to That Beautiful California Wine!!!

Julie met us for dinner at LE CONTINENTAL, a Vietnamese restaurant in the City, then we drove to Fisherman's Wharf to meet her friend Stephen's dad and girlfriend who were visiting from Vermont! We couldn't stay long as it was still a 2 hour drive back to our hotel!! We got home after midnight......

Monday was a very slow start and we hung around the Napa area. Had lunch and shopped.....
I found a great health food store and Ray's foot was hurting so he sat in a cafe....
Julie returned from the City in the afternoon, and we met in a bakery to chat and say goodbye.
She had to get busy on her schoolwork before returning to school on Tuesday.

In the Garden at Julie's house

Meadowood is a beautiful place. Ray caught a shot of this guy working on the
tree right outside our cottage there. It was a "habitat tree" frequented by woodpeckers. 

Ray and I drove to the city and had a great dinner at BOULEVARD Restaurant. We sat at the bar in front of the chefs line and watched the cooking action. The food and ambience were great!!! We'll be back!! We ended the day by driving to our Airport Hotel to sleep so we could make our morning flight home. We got home on Tuesday the 22nd in the afternoon.... a cold and dreary day in Hanover.
What a let down after the California Sun!!!!