Monet, young…

Thursday we visited the Palace of the Legion of Honor to see their “Monet, The Early Years” show.

When we started from home it was a drizzle and it stayed that way all across the city.

When we got to the museum there was no parking except miles and miles down the road. Two positives from that were adding multiple steps to our Fitbits and we were so far down the road we got the best view of the Golden Gate Bridge, ever.

The museum was more crowded than I had ever seen, so my pictures were hard to get. I was dodging around stationary people listening to handsets. Later we found out that it was a free day for KQED members. Oh, and it was Spring Break so there were lots of kids around. A sampling of the art when he was young:

 

Fishing Boats, 1866

A Hut at Sainte-Adresse, 1867

The Seine at Bougival, 1869

The Porte d’Amont, Etretat, ca. 1868-69

Still life with Flowers and Fruit, 1869

Camille on the Beach, 1870. 

The Pont Neufchâtel in Paris, 1871

Argenteuil, 1872

Still Life with Melon, 1872

The Port at Argenteuil, 1872

Regatta at Argenteuil, 1872

The last one really shows him developing into Impressionism. The reflections on the water are delicious.

After wending our way through the legion of crowds, we drove over to Land’s End for lunch at the Cliff House. Didn’t get a table by the window, but that was ok, we got popovers…

Very happy that we made it home without a traffic jam and before a very big storm.

An impression of Lands End…

When we arrived for the bird walk last week, it was frigid weather and I opted to sit in the car for the first twenty minutes while the birders stood on the bluff with the cold wind whirling around them.They were oriented to the area by their guide. The hardy gazed off into the distant foggy sea while I decided to clean up my camera roll in my iPhone. That put me in mind that I had not looked at the Hipstamatic app for a long time and when I scrolled through I found there were four combo packs I had not downloaded.  I purchased them and then tested each one out. One combo reminded me of the feeling of the area (the visitor center that we had been in on a previous visit contains lots of old photos of  when the Sutro Baths were in their heyday).  I decided to do some triple barreled shooting on the walk. My Canon for the view shots, my native camera on the iPhone for the close-ups of flowers, and Hipstamatic app for atmosphere/flights of fancy. The Canon was slung around my neck and the iPhone was in my pocket and I had to keep thinking which of the three I wanted to use…but I think it helped with getting me to be alert…it was awfully early on a Saturday, after all. This post is the impression shots of the area using the combination of  Yoona lens and Shilshole film in Hipstamatic…there is a story, here, of craggy bluffs, wind-trained trees, and crashing waves with the foundation remnants of history. That is my visual story, and I am sticking to it…think I will make a book…

June Bird Walk…

Lands End

From Leah Garchik’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle this week: “The season of summer vacations is upon us. Laurie Ustruck was at the western edge of the city looking at the ruins of Sutro Baths, alongside a mom who seemed to be visiting her daughter. Said the mother, “I thought you were bringing me to a Lands’ End outlet store.”

Definitely not one of your outlets, we found…

The building on the left is the Cliff House Restaurant (more about that later)…

We gathered with the group of birdwatchers from TM’s class. Early morning last Saturday. Actually, we were there by 8:00 a.m. which meant we left home at 7:00 and, much to my surprise, where we live was blistering hot, the beautiful coast stayed cool and foggy all morning as we walked. This National Park has stunning views and lots of history behind it. We parked above the Sutro Baths and walked the path that was where the steam train and later the electric street car delivered San Franciscans to the Baths. No outlet has that kind of history behind it!

We were surrounded by yellows on the trek (and a little red, orange and pink) what with all the lupine in bloom…

of course, monkeyflower…

I finally identified what this is (and it came in many shades)…it is wild radish and is quite tasty!

Caught our first glimpse of the Golden Gate (but was not golden in this light…couldn’t even see the tops)…

A plethora of cormorants and gulls…Gulps of cormorants, rookery, sunning, swimming…

and thickets where if we spent some time we would probably see many species…

We circled up behind the Palace of Fine Arts where we had been the week before visiting the “Intimate Impressionism” show. I did not know there was a nice dome on the back…but the redtails were circling…

We went down and around the golf course (watching our heads for errant golf balls)…

and in these trees saw juvenile redtails learning stuff that birds learn when they fledge out of their nests…

Once we came around the golf course we walked down the trail the way we had come…

Harbor seals were up on the rock (definitely not “sunning” themselves).

Oyster catchers (almost bright enough to see their flame scarlet bill with its orange yellow tip).

Back to the parking lot and down the hill to the Cliff House for (wait for it…) Popovers and this view…

As we walked back up the hill to our car we saw a redtail motionless on a draft having a good ride before he bore down on an unsuspecting rodent…

The graffiti on the sidewalk said it all…

On the water…

A lovely foggy Friday to cross the new Bay Bridge looking for art at the Legion of Honor. The new bridge is a soaring sight and quite ethereal.

When you get to the Legion of Honor you also get a view of the other famous bridge…

“The Impressionists on the Water” runs until October 13 and it is a beautiful show. No photos in side the exhibit but I was awed by color lithographs by Seurat. Layers of color in the pointillism style, blended by the eye into depth and texture of water.

Whenever I go to this museum I pop into the room that has their Rodin sculptures. I think of him as old friend, now, because I have been to the Rodin Museum in Paris and I have seen where he lived and worked. This time at the Legion of Honor I caught sight of Camille Claudel and a work she had done. She had been part of the exhibit “Les Papesses”  at the Pope’s Palace in Avignon in June and now I understand why she is usually found in close proximity to Rodin’s work.

Camille by Rodin and Rodin by Camille…

Re-creating statues…

Patterns in the courtyard…

The view from the front steps…

I am usually so unsuccessful at catching photos of birds that I  don’t try anymore. Good luck this day, however, a little guy was so intent with the water that he was almost hovering for my convenience…

Rather than head back east in search of lunch, we realized we were not too far from the edge of the earth, so we headed west the few blocks to Land’s End and where the Sutro Baths used to be. It was a wise choice since the fog was starting to lift and we could imagine ourselves “on the water,”  evidently our theme for the day.  We have lived in Northern California for a very long time, but have never been to the Cliff House Restaurant and we were happy to expand our education of historical San Francisco landmarks.

Playland Cowboy

Back over that new bridge to home…

“I am dancing, dancing on the edge of the world”—Rumson Ohlone Song