Western USA

Los Angeles

Los Angeles. You either love it or hate it!

October 12, 2012. We arrive in LA for a special occasion. At midnight, Maggy turns 36. At midnight, M (the French rock star) plays LA for his very first US concert.
So we celebrate her birthday to live music, in a private-concert vibe (300 people for M — great for us!).
At 1 a.m., we leave the venue with our 3 little monsters in tow. Back to Santa Barbara, where we'd left that morning.

We'll come back to LA for a week, invited to stay with Hélène, whom Maggy met at that fabulous concert.

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Venice Beach

Catalina Island

Here we meet up with Franck, Caro, Léa and Vega (the dog!), who are sailing around the world.
They've arranged to take us to Catalina Island for 2 days aboard DayBreak Oceane. (Their blog)

Original video (Picasa), sadly no longer available.

Short video on the sailboat. Arriving in Avalon, Catalina Island!

At Hélène's

Hélène — Maggy met her at M's concert on October 12 in Los Angeles!
Two emails later, we're invited to stay with her and her husband Alain in the upscale Nichols Canyon neighborhood.
They're from northern France. So are we!
They've lived in the US for 30 years and welcome us warmly into their home.
We'll spend a week here, getting to know and tame this gigantic city.
From our host home, Sunset Boulevard is less than a 5-minute walk. Needless to say, for us the location is... a dream!

A wonderful stay in LA!

Los Angeles is also a chance for a romantic night out. Hélène offers to watch the kids. She lends us her navy-blue VW Beetle for the night.
Off the two of us go, top down, to Beverly Hills for the evening. So classy!

A thousand thanks to you both! Your little corner of paradise reminds us of the hills around Nice that we know so well.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art & Petersen Automotive Museum

Legoland - San Diego

Disney: $100 a day.
Legoland: $60 for 2 days.

So we decide to take the kids to the San Diego park... With our Canadian friends from DayBreak Océane, yet again! Cool!

Honestly, theme parks aren't really our thing, but we still have a great time, going on a weekday to avoid the crowds.
Special Halloween night. Candy galore!