Leaving Las Vegas and Hollywood

It is a universally acknowledged truth that I really like photographing my feet ...

...which I did this afternoon on the pier at Santa Monica. We drove down to for lunch and to see what the Pacific looks like from the other end. It is, I'm happy to report, just as lovely as our part. 

Hollywood and the surrounding suburbs have been a strange experience. There is so much history, and so much familiarity, yet the town seems to be scrapped clean of any soul or heart. I've never been anywhere so rich in surface and accessories yet so devoid of flesh and feeling. 


We had hoped to do a bit of wider wandering but yesterday my spouse was laid low with a bad cold and a truly terrifying cough (seriously, birds fly from trees and cats hide under beds when he coughs). In the interest of public safety I kept him out of the driver's seat and instead we took a tour around Hollywood, part of which showed us houses where famous people allegedly live. Frankly I don't believe it - why would anyone live in the Hollywood Hills or Beverly Hills when the only certainty would be a busload of tourists rubbernecking your house every ten minutes? It was interesting nonetheless, learning the geography of the districts and seeing the fancy houses. 


I much preferred taking photos of other people's feet, which you can do, of course, at the famous Chinese restaurant pavement. The size of famous feet diverted me for quite a while (seriously, Matt Damon and George Clooney have enormous hoofers) and in amongst all those grown up feet are these tiny little baby feet: 

Sweet! 


But back to Santa Monica, where I made a friend ... 

... and my husband photographed, at their request,  some lovely, stylish friends ...

...and then he made a monochrome friend of his own: 

That handsome square-nosed four-legged chap was looking quite prepared to come home with us. 


And the big news - when we were taking lunch in a lovely cafe called Marmalade, we actually saw a very famous person indeed - Dick Van Dyke took a table a few feet from us! Mr Van Dyke and his dances with penguins (Mary Poppins) is one piece of film that always puts me in a good mood for weeks on end. I'm happy to report that Mr Van D looks like he could waltz a few rounds with some penguins yet. 


We're flying home tomorrow. It's sad to be leaving - we have had a wonderful time and learnt so much. The trip will be a long one, about 22 hours and we won't arrive until Friday. To get to Australia you have to fly through a time warp over the international dateline and you lose a day. This is academic for people like me who watch Air Crash Investigation and can't fly unless they are rendered comatose by Valium.


I have my bags packed - I had to buy two new suitcases in order to get all my shopping home. J Crew, Banana Republic and thrift shops are my weaknesses; visiting the Outlet place in Las Vegas has not helped matters. 


I have some wonderful purchases to show you when I get home, not least my magnificent Hermes blazer that I found in a store called Address in Santa Monica this afternoon. It is Holy Grail of blazers - in pristine condition, plain and yet beautifully detailed, large pockets, on sale and fits like it was made for me. I promise to provide relevant photographs when I am back in my home, but meanwhile here is my second favourite purchase - $5.99 from the CVS drugstore on Hollywood Boulevard: 

Cotton pyjama pants in a leopard skin print. Oh, CVS. Is there any whim of mine you can't satisfy? 


Before I go, a couple of other favourite feet: 

I can just picture her shoes. 

And hers. 

My two favourite Pisces-Aquarius couples.