Friends and I visited my sister Diana (second from the left above) last month and got really sandy – in a good way. Leave the Dolce wedges and Missoni kaftan at home. It’s time to be a kid again.

Get soaked in a kayak,

chilled to the bone in the Pacific and winded big-time by all the stairs on the Steep Ravine Trail.

Start by renting a car in SF and zipping across the Golden Gate Bridge, eventually getting to the extremely curvy and dramatic Highway 1 to Stinson Beach. Or opt for the equally  gorgeous, more pastoral Panoramic Highway, which splits off from Highway 1.  Both drives take under an hour and get you here…

When I was growing up my family had a house at Stinson and we went “to the beach”  every weekend. My sister Diana now summers there with her family and, while a bit more crowded today, Stinson and the towns nearby still stun me with their natural beauty.

Chill with the seals….

Hike up Steep Ravine and back down the Dipsea Trail loop. Don’t be deceived by the gentle beginning…

Soon, you’ll be climbing amidst a canyon of redwoods, ferns, endless stairs and bridges…

Kayak across the lagoon to hippie town Bolinas,

where the artsy locals shun tourists so much that they took down the road sign to Bolinas. You miss it even if you don’t blink…

Stop in and smile at Smiley’s, which opened its Bolinas doors in 1851 and prides itself on being “the oldest saloon west of the Mississippi”.

We dined on fresh Drake’s Bay Oysters and grilled Red Snapper at the Coast Cafe,

then we kayaked home with the moon lighting the way.

ps My foodie niece Sarah strongly recommends a drive to the nearby Point Reyes Station Farmer’s Market held every Saturday morning 9-1, July through October. Feast on GBD‘s grilled cheese sandwiches (voted “Best Grilled Cheese on the Planet” by Gourmet magazine), hummus from The Hummus Guy (‘addictive pita chips’, niece warns) and Mount Tam cheese is Sarah’s ‘♯1’ from the Cowgirl Creamery spread onto a baguette from Brickmaiden Breads.

Two seconds later Sarah sent me another text: “Don’t forget Stellina in Point Reyes Station, Saltwater in Inverness and Sir and Star in Olema. Oh, and Beth’s Bakery is opening soon in Bolinas.” If anyone is looking to hire a Bay Area food blogger, Sarah’s your gal.

September, 2015

The post Leave Your Stilettos at Home – appeared first on Elena Bowes.

Cap Ferret, and no, I don’t mean Ferrat, is a sublime sandy peninsula sandwiched between the calm, oyster-rich Arcachon Bay on the southwest corner of France and the dramatic windswept Atlantic Ocean. The sandy spit about an hour’s drive from Bordeaux  sits amidst pine trees, endless gorgeous beaches that an Australian friend said reminded her of home, ubiquitous bike trails and the best low-key, understated, chic Parisian people-watching outside of Paris. The first time we cycled to mission control, namely the bustling daily market where everything from espadrilles to escargot is for sale, I was agog at the clientele. BCBG big time.

If you’re into flash and Ferraris, Cap Ferret is best forgotten. But if Martha’s Vineyard injected with bucket loads of innate  French style appeals then Cap Ferret is best remembered. Screen siren Marion Cotillard summers here. Need I say more? Below is Cotillard in recent film “Les Petits Mouchoirs” which was filmed in Cap Ferret with her hunky director, actor boyfriend Guillaume Canet.

Cap Ferret is ideal for active people. Activities include sailing on the bay, kite sailing off the dunes, picnicking on secluded sandbars and going for invigorating walks along constantly changing coastlines. Sometimes the tide is in. 

And sometimes the tide is out.

But it’s always pretty. My friends and I below have just scaled Europe’s highest dune,  Dune de Pilat.

Later we walked along a deserted sandbar.

The nature and people aren’t all that’s beautiful. The simple wooden houses with their wraparound terraces are equally as arresting.  This one belongs to French designer Phillipe Starck.

And the seafood is delicious. Below is a typical first course at lunch- fresh oysters washed down with a  chilled glass of white Bordeaux.

Take me back.

September, 2014

The post Take Me Back appeared first on Elena Bowes.