A "Piper" Kinda Night

Song - The Pied Piper by Crispian St. Peters


Friday night I got to check off one more item on my 100 Things To Do Before I Die list!  Mr. B took me to the Palace Hotel in San Francisco to see Maxfield Parish's 1909 Mural of the "The Pied Piper of Hamelin".

So we had planned this trip several years ago but suddenly the hotel's management decided to auction off the painting and it was taken down off the wall at The Pied Piper Bar & Grill.  After the ownership was deluged with protests, they decided to refurbish the painting and in August of 2013 it was reinstalled!

The beautiful floral arrangement at the hotel's lobby

The stunning garden court

The entrance to the bar with a small bit of the painting showing

SIGH......

"The tale of The Pied Piper dates back to 1284 in the rat-infested town of Hamelin, Germany. The piper was hired by the townsfolk to lure the rats away to the river where they drowned. Upon his return, the townsfolk refused to pay him. Seeking revenge, the man played his pipe again, luring the children from the town, never to be seen again.

Dark stuff.

Enjoy your Manhattan." - From SF Weekley - By Rhys Alvarado

 So after a very yummy cocktail and appetizer we took a cab over to a Basque restaurant where we were meeting some of Mr. B's business friends.  The restaurant happened to be named "Piperade" and therefore the title of my blog - two pipers in one day!

Mr. B and Chef Gerald Hirigoyen

The chef came out mid-meal to see how we were enjoying our dinners.  Mr. B and he got to talking and found out we have Basque friends in common.  Small world and great food!!!


" San Francisco has only one drawback - 'tis hard to leave."
- Rudyard Kipling

The Mountains are Calling

Mr. B and I just returned from a few days in Yosemite.  We were participating in the Chef's week up there and by participating I mean - eating, watching demos, eating, dining, eating and taking in the quiet Winter beauty!

No snow, no rain, the Merced River looks like a trickling creek. But still, the cold beauty takes my breath away!

Yosemite Falls had some water and even some ice formed where the mist rises and freezes.  Can you see the white thingy in the center of the photo?

That's ice!

And on our morning drive around the Park we spotted this fellow.  I guess he thought he was a pedestrian!

He got tired of posing for photo's and decided to lay down for his close-up shot!

Everything was so quiet and serene.

Except for Mr. Raven who was noisy from dawn to dusk!

Came upon another Coyote who was listening at a mouse hole.  He was so patient and would cock his head from side to side while listening to activity inside the hole.

I was waiting for him to do a face plant!

We enjoyed learning about cheeses and how to taste them properly from Peggy & Sue founders of The Cowgirl Creamery!  Mmmmm......yum! They were both so funny!


 I told Mr. B that it was like spending the day in France where you get a plate of cheese any time of day!

Peggy

Sue

 

 

On the final day, Chef David Bazirgan from The Dirty Habit in SF showed us how to make scallops and soup.  I wouldn't mind him cooking my meals anytime!!!

While waiting for the evening's sun to set, I took a photo of Half Dome's reflection in the Merced River.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike." --John Muir

Onward

On my painting blog/website is the final collage of my 28 paintings from the last 30 days.  I thought I would share it here as well.  The challenge was from Leslie Saeta - 30 Paintings in 30 Days.  We began with over 1400 artists and about 250 finished the challenge!

I missed two days because Mr. B and I took a little trip to Yosemite for a few days.  But today I painted one of the two missing and tomorrow I will paint the last one!

If you would like to see each painting close up, just go to my painting site - jeanettebaird.com

On some of the posts, I showed the process of painting these little gems!