Miette, Macarons and More in Hayes Valley

Hayes Valley is a very walkable, enjoyable neighborhood perfect for window-shopping and lunching.  Pair it with a Saturday morning and your favorite friends and you've got a fun way to play tourist in San Francisco.

First things first; if you arrive at a decent hour parking isn't too hard to find.  Both times I recently visited parking was no problem and the meters now accept credit cards.  Somehow paying $4 on your credit seems more palatable than plugging $2 worth of quarters into the old-school machines. 

Next, there are a few "must stops" on my local tour:  La Boulangerie and Miette.  The first offers up delicious almond croissants and turnovers - love the lemon - and Miette has enough sugar to make my dentist wince.  It's eye-candy at it's finest and a great start to the day for me.

Miette

449 Octavia St

San Francisco

(415) 626-6221

So many choices at Miette make it hard to choose just one (so I didn't!)

In addition to the bakeries mentioned I love some of the fashionable boutiques such as Azalea  (clothing for men and women) and Azil (great jewelry at affordable prices).  Also, do

stop by the heavenly-scented bath/home furnishing store "Nancy Boy" to check out the unique items on hand.

There is so much to see in Hayes Valley.  Hopefully this will motivate you to create your own visit to this urban playground where you'll find many fine things tasty and fashionable.

Macarons at Chantal Guillon

Tower of flowers and macarons. Love this!

My all-time favorite: almond croissants

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Azalea Boutique

411 Hayes St San Francisco, CA 94102(415) 861-9888

Absinthe

398 Hayes St San Francisco, CA 94102(415) 551-1590

Azil Boutique

451 Hayes St San Francisco, CA 94102(415) 552-2335

Stylish jewelry at affordable prices!

Nancy Boy

347 Hayes St San Francisco, CA 94102(415) 552-3636

Chantal Guillon

437 Hayes St San Francisco, CA 94102(415) 864-2400

Yosemite Wildflowers and Hite Cove Trail

I’m forever looking for weekend getaways which combine my favorites: beautiful images to photograph, outdoor exercise and of course, food.  Along came an article about local spots where you can view the Spring blooms and voila!  We were on our way to El Portal to hike the Hite Cove Trail near Yosemite. 

Turns out the timing was perfect as the crowds were minimal, hotel rates reasonable and the hills truly were alive with a painter’s palette of color.  There’s still time to plan a trip as the flowers will continue to spring alive until sometime in May.   Here are a few notes from our trip:

The highlight

Hiking the Hite Cove Trail! It's about 4 miles one-way so take plenty of water and wear comfortable shoes (that seems obvious but figured I’d say it anyway). The trail winds alongside the river for views of blooms and the pleasant sound of water in the background.

Poppies covered the hills and trail to create a fiery orange spectacle.

Where we stayed

Yosemite View Lodge. Comfortable and reasonably priced. The best part? The back door opened to a view of the Merced River creating the perfect ambiance for our evening wine/cheese festival. 

The view from our room (doesn't get much better than this)

Places we dined

Savoury’s in Mariposa. About 45 minutes from the hotel and worth the drive.  I ordered off the menu and a) they were not annoyed and b) it was delicious (a shrimp linguine – perfectly cooked.)

Ahwahnee Hotel for brunch. A little pricier than your standard buffet ($45) but this isn’t really your standard buffet.  What you get is an amazing array of delectable items served up in a grand setting creating an experience well-worth the price of entry.

Brunch at the Ahwahnee always delivers. Fantastic.

Yosemite View Lodge

El Portal (off Highway 140)

209.379.2681

www.yosemiteresorts.net 

Savoury's

5034 Hwy 140

Mariposa CA 95338

savouryrestaurant.com 

Ahwahnee Hotel

This purple beauty stood out among all the orange

Big Sur and Monterey Getaway

Bixby Bridge on a chilly wintery day (well, as wintery in California as you can get!)

The holiday spirit on display in Monterey

It was a nice way to cap the year: a quick trip to Monterey and Big Sur complete with a sprinkling of sun to set off the scenery and provide a backdrop for last-minute resolutions.  Mine definitely included getting away more often given the proximity to such beautiful natural eye-candy!

Speaking of eye-candy the Portola Inn, located on Monterey Bay, boasts a fair amount of well-appointed decor put together by someone with an eye for fabulous spaces.  The reason I mention this is that all the details come together to create a sophisticated yet welcoming atmosphere where you instantly want to kick back and relax.  "Why go out all night when we can hang out in such a room?"  was the question I asked immediately.

Of course we did manage to get motivated to leave when our appetites beckoned.  We ambled down the street to Montrio recommended by the hotel staff and found a small table in the very crowded restaurant. We sampled the luscious lobster mac n cheese, a bistro steak (with truffle fries - wow!) and a sweet creamy bread pudding served alongside passionfruit ice cream.  A nice find indeed.

The next day we saw the line for breakfast at Rosine's snaked out the door requiring us to keep our patience in check and go with the crowd.  The food was good, with large generous portions that could have fed 3-4 per plate (I am serious about this.)  When reading about the history of Rosine's this seems to be part of their "claim to fame" (in Monterey at least!) and it seems like something that resonates with customers.  For me personally I always feel guilty leaving so much food on the plate and eating it all was definitely out of the question.

Our last stop of the day was Nepenthe (Big Sur) where we sipped hot spiced cider against the backdrop of the Pacific.  The chill in the air was tempered by the welcome winter sun and I couldn't help but make a mental note to visit again during summer (although the crowds would probably be more visible.)

Overall, rather than looking forward to the new year I took a moment to catch my breath and count my blessings which are beyond measure.  And with that, we were on the road home again to get ready to ring in the new year.