march 12: a french bakery, tea gardens, museums and a massive orange bridge

we went to an amazing french bakery for breakfast. (la boulange)
i have never, in my entire life, had a more delicious breakfast!
(the macaroons are incredible!)

and then it was off to the japanese tea gardens.
it was raining lots. i think that's why i liked it so much.

our next stop was next door to the de young museum.
we had a bit of a debate about whether or not we should pay the
extra $30 to visit the king tutt exhibit. once we learned that the famous
king wasn't actually at the museum we decided to save that for egypt
and headed to the ninth floor observatory. (which has maybe the
most amazing view of san francisco in the entire city.)
the de young is an incredible museum.
i loved the impressionist section and the photo exhibit was breath taking!
i have never stood before artwork done by the masters. it was quite
a humbling experience. as i stood before Henri's "O in Black with a Scarf"
i got a lump in my throat and i realized why such pieces have the ability
to live through the years and trends and tests of time.

we also visited the legion of honor museum where i stood in front of
several monet pieces for a very long time. so so so beautiful.
i also found a very detailed mummy room which made me happy
about my decision to pass on the king tutt thing earlier in the day.
the mummy sucked up my attention for quite a while and i probably
would have stared at it longer if i hadn't dropped my hard-backed sketch
book on the floor causing a very large, loud crashing noise (that place
seriously echos). the crash obviously demanded the attention of the
other 15-20 people in the room. (i could hear all of the heads turn.)
i left quickly after the incident.

after the museums we were off to visit the golden gate.
(because what kind of first-time-san francisco-goers would we be if we
skipped over that photo opportunity?) it was super cold/rainy/windy
so the waves were a little bit ferocious. i thought it was pretty.

after dinner we made a stop at ghirardelli square where almost everyone
ordered sundaes. my stomach was on the fritz. (it's the whole travel thing.
totally messes with the system.) so i bought drinking chocolate to try at home.
has anyone tried drinking chocolate before? i think it might be delightful.
i'll let you know.

oh! and a little note to myself:
ibuprofen works for aching feet/general discomfort.

dear geri, remember that for next time.