Candles have been ablazing all week in celebration of the birthdays of six august people, Jerry and five women friends. Revelries began in The City (no offense to our East Coast friends, but SF is our The City), with lunch in the Haight. The streets are little changed from the ‘60 and the denizens are clones of their grandparents who first brought the long hair, colorful attire, and aroma of marijuana to the area.
These legs were across the street from our lunch stop.
Our purpose for the day was to enjoy the Impressionist Collection from Musee D’Orsey in Paris. The de Young Museum is the only place in the country to house this collection during the renovation of the musee. On a personal note, Jerry has yet to accept the remodeled de Young. It was such as institution during his childhood that he is pained to see the changes but he has to admit, that nostalgia aside, the new building is a wonderful showcase for exhibits. The small sculpture garden is worth a visit.
The first of the two exhibits is of early Impressionists including Renoir, Monet, Manet, and Caillebotte. It is an understatement to say seeing these was wonderful. The groups of visitors were small enough that we could study the paintings at leisure. We will be back later in the year to enjoy Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne.
Friend Rita’s birthday dinner was at The Grand Cafe where we enjoyed a grand, and rare, experience, a very reasonably priced fine dinner in SF. Our three-course prix fixe dinner of onion soup, salad or escargot, followed by steak or salmon, and ending with profiterols was outstanding.
On Saturday we returned to Alexander’s Horseshoe Bar up the road in Loomis to celebrate Coral’s day. Dinner was good but the service was way below par. Fortunately, we four have decades of experience entertaining ourselves no matter what.
Sunday brunch was in honor of Jerry’s birthday and Steve and Rita’s anniversary. Sienna, up the road in El Dorado Hills, puts on a wonderful brunch at a fabulous price. We toasted all the celebrants with bottomless mimosa’s.
Then Anna Lee attended three birthday lunches for friends. Karen was feted at On the Border. After margaritas and lunch, the writer group Karen leads settled down to work, analyzing each others writing under her critical eye.
The week’s festivities ended with a joint Pat and Pat party. It was also a mini reunion for educators from San Juan USD. Over delicious salad and cake, the conversation ranged from years of memories in the district to politics and travel. Hostess Nancy did a great job of providing a celebration for the Pats.
You notice no ages were revealed, suffice it to say, temperatures were warm in the area
