alfred at the beach . .

watching the beach boys on the sand . .

(photo and text by victoria)

on their way back to paris . .

morgana and victoria backed up their beach clothes, photography props and cameras, and headed home to paris.

nana, a new tent and finally . . veniero's!

 we took a trip to connecticut purposefully to see my mom. it served, also, as a time to set up the new tent and make sure everything was good with it.

 i'm really pleased with the tent. it went up easiy and has big windows and a door that is easy to zip open and closed. it's a little taller than i wanted, but that was a trade off for the windows (and the price). smaller tents with bigger windows (more dome like) were more than i wanted to spend. this tent was rated excellent for price, comfort and durability. it also packs up small and light. it's so different from the heavy canvas tents of my childhood (which i do love . . that canvas aroma!).

 of course toby inspected it . . 

 she seemed to give it her seal of approval, but deemed it beneath her cat status to actually stay inside.

 summer daisies in my sister's garden . .

and astilby . .

my mom had fallen on friday, but, thankfully, we averted a trip to the emergency room and the hospital. she was fine when we visited her today, albeit a little more confused than the last time we saw her, but that seems to be the path these days. we had a nice time together and ate lunch at whole foods. she had her favorite: roast beef on a buttered roll with a little salt and pepper.

the store was out of the haagen dazs chocolate dixie cups she likes, so she tried the new mochi ice cream which chanda loves (they're her favorite from a childhood spent in a local japanese restaurant - where they were offered as a special after dinner dessert on the house), but nana didn't care for them as much.

 we knew it wouldn't be easy getting home as the gay pride parade occurred today. however, greg had seen signs on our street that it would reopen at 6 pm.

 well, this was not the case. we were so close, yet so far. it was impossible to even get into our neighborhood. all streets were closed, even though this had not been posted on the city government's website (only the parade route streets were posted as closed).

we decided to go directly to the east village where we had plans to meet our friend clyde at veniero's.

after a few go rounds, a spot opened up in front of the restaurant and we were able to keep an eye on the car while having dessert (thankfully!!!).

two pignoli cookies and a rainbow cookie . . and decaf coffee . .

 a huge tart! they have so many different kinds and this was not what she meant to have, but settled for it anyway . . this was more of a cake.

 clyde with his beloved annual veniero's dessert choices: iced mocha with gelato and giant sized ricotta cheesecake (greg had my favorite: new york cheesecake).

 summer is here!

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(we didn't make it home until very late. the traffic was horrendous and we had to beg our way past a police barrier . . thankfully, a man with two little children pulled up behind us and added to our pleas and the officer guarding the street finally let us both through).

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pics from morgana . .

 nighttime pics of nice?

 and an early morning pic of the matisse chapel in vence . .

"neece!" and camping in triol

 

 morgana is visiting our neighbor, victoria, in nice for a few days. this morning i envy her! i remember nice being incredibly beautiful and sunny with happy, contented people walking about. i wouldn't mind being there right now.

 basil plant with tea and espresso cups: victoria's lovely china.

 oh, that beauiful provençal sunshine!

 i wonder what temperature the water was . . 

still life in victoria's apartment . .

morning breakfast: the roll looks delicious to me . . and the brilliant orange of the egg yolk too . .

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 this photo is from saturday night, when she camped at blindsee, an incredibly beautiful lake at the foot of the fernpass which connects austria to germany.

 these happy campers are lara and sia . .