First Day in LA

After a couple of delays, our flight finally got off last night and landed just after 11:00 LA time. Betty and Gary were waiting armed with luggage cart and courtesy of the late hour we arrived quickly at their latest digs in the Brentwood neighbourhood. They are currently renting a condo in a very attractive building in an nice area not only close to their present building site, but also convenient to the 405 highway and other good neighbourhoods.

Despite the late hour and the fact that Gary had to work in the morning, we were still up reconnecting at 2:00 a.m. - kinda late Ontario time.
The next morning we rose after Gary had left and following a leisurely breakfast, headed to Bel Air to check out their new project. The day was sunny and although a bit chilly, it was great to be coat and sock free.

This house, high up in the hills of Bel Air, was formerly owned by Arthur Marx, son of Groucho Marx. Betty & Gary elected to take it back to its footprint and rebuild, so this is the most ambitious of their projects to date. It also has quite a ways to go to completion.

The interior floors - 2 foot square limestone tiles - are nearly done as is most of the rest of the infrastructure, so insulation, wallboard and stucco will soon commence. They've done a beautiful job of opening the place up with the 2 sides of the house affording most of the view of the valley beneath them consisting of panels of sliding glass doors that not only bring in light and open up the view, but also can totally open up the house in pleasant weather.

It is already easy to see the potential of this place and I'm sure it will be stunning when completed. Famous neighbours include Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Girls Gone Wild guy Joe Francis and the former residences of Art Linkletter and Adam Sandler.

We left Gary working and heading into Westwood for lunch at an In 'N Out burger joint. Then we picked up some essentials at Trader Joe's, Ralph's and the Wine House and headed back to Brentwood for a wee siesta. We old folk clearly can't keep it going like we used to! Pitiful!
Because it was our 36 wedding anniversary today, we planned to dine at one of LA's unique restaurants, but had a hard time settling on just exactly which restaurant. We got reservations for both Ago and Chateau Marmont, but decided at the last moment that the winner was Marmont in Hollywood. This place has long been known for famous people watching and tonight was no exception. Any guesses as to whom we dined with this evening? Let's start with George Hamilton, followed by Nick Lachey, Lindsay Lohan and Tamara Jones (medical examiner of Castle).

No pictures were allowed inside this restaurant due to its regular clientele, so I have no proof of my claims, only the confirmations of my fellow diners.
Dinner was excellent tonight, but the attitude of the servers left a lot to be desired, starting with my cocktail order, a rusty nail, which the waiter took to be orange juice and galliano. Yikes!
Then I ordered a Gigondas for dinner but got a Hermitage instead from our slightly arrogant waiter and finally settled for a Chateauneuf du Pape. Also, apparently it's common in LA, but plates were cleared before everyone was finished. Gauche!

Don't get me wrong. Tonight was fabulous, but a little w(h)inning is always in order.
On our return to Brentwood we drove down Sunset Blvd. and passed numerous cool looking night spots that appeared worthy of a visit.

We have also passed recent billboards advertising the Beatles on itunes, using a very cool photo of the Fab 4.

So much for another anniversary and out first full day in LA!