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Pinnacles National Park

Amateur (ou peut-être pas…) de grimpe, voici votre prochaine destination! Petit parc national très peu connu, Pinnacles se trouve à 1h30 de route de San José. Et pour s’y rendre, nous avons traversé la “charmante” petite ville qu’est Hollister (oui je sais que la marque de ce nom reflète un esprit détendu et le style surf  du sud de la Californie…) Pourtant lieu d’habitat pour de nombreuses espèces dont les vautours et les condors (par ailleurs difficiles à distinguer), je n’en ai malheureusement pas vu, peut-être dû à la saison de reproduction.

Pinnacles National Park, photo: Vincent VK Pinnacles National Park Pinnacles National Park Pinnacles National Park Pinnacles National Park Pinnacles National Park Pinnacles National Park Faute de rapaces... GREEN and Californian poppies along road 25
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Monterey and the Pacific

Despite a rainy morning, we decided to follow our program, meticulously organised by Vincent; driving south under heavy rain to Monterey where we made our first stop under a beautiful sun!
Monterey Bay is a protected marine area; otters, seals, turtles and many other species live in it also provides a habitat for a kelt forest. We spent some time canoeing on this bay, which is the best way to see all this wildlife.
Our second stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the biggest and most well-known in the world. It was actually built inside an old cannery, closed partly because of overfishing in this area.
Then it was already time to go home, but surely not without driving alongside the ocean! Who knows, maybe we’d see a whale or two as it’s the season of their migratory, which path follows exactly that coast.
Sad I only saw a jet of water, we felt obliged to stop at Half Moon Bay to buy fresh-fished salmon…

Monterey Bay Photo: Vincent VK Monterey Bay from the old cannery Jellyfish in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey Bay Aquarium Pigeon Point Route 1 along the coast San Gregorio State Beach San Gregorio State Beach Fresh salmon grilled on pine wood
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SF

Second day in SF! A very varied city, that would take months to discover even partly.
Away from the bay, I walked through South of Market, the Financial District, China Town, Nob Hill, Mid Market (Civic Center) and South Market again.

South Park; city full of surprising architectures Financial District China Town Ferry Building Marketplace from Chinatown Bay Bridge and Financial District from the Ina Coolbrith Park Lightness in an active city Transamerica Pyramid from Washington Street (between Jones and Taylor St) Civic Center; San Francisco City Hall A bike-friendly city!
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Palo Alto

Although San Francisco is also famous for its fog, Thursday being a rainy day I stayed in Palo Alto. But there were still a lot of great things to discover! 2016 having been an exceptionally wet year after 5 years of severe drought, everything is impressively green.

We started with a walk in the neighbourhood, which is very quiet considering the emplacement of it (10min from the train station and 10min from the Stanford campus). Then a little walk in The Dish, an Environmental Restoration, Habitat Conservation and Recreation area belonging to Stanford University.

If you get the chance to take a walk on the Stanford campus – I can only recommend it to you (and it’s even better by bike)! Beautiful gardens, buildings and delicious french crêpes.

And if you’re tired of the urban life, 15min by car and you’re in the foothills park, enjoying nature and wildlife.

The Dish Stanford Hoover Tower from The Dish SF from The Dish The Dish The Windhover, Stanford Manzanita; if it's a hot summer, just lean against it! They don't even care about us! All green and windy Stanford Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden