San Francisco

Directly from the Nevada / Arizona / Utah oven to the freezer : this afternoon, the highest temperature in SF was 16°C, and with the mist and the wind, it felt more like 10 or even colder... But nothing could have prevented me from enjoying the city as much as possible. The wind sounded natural, close to the dutch Windmill in the Golden Gate Park. The mist is just the classical environment for the Golden Gate bridge in July (by the way, are you sure that this bridge really exists, or is it just a hoax ? We haven't been able to see more than a few feet of it because of the fog...). A last dinner on Fisherman's Wharf tonight, and it is already (!) time to fly back home tomorrow.

Next news in August, I need a rest in Paris after those exhausting holidays ;)

From Las Vegas to Modesto

Welcome back to California ! And, first, to Calico, a ghost town which used to be a gold mine town (a real one, not something built from scratch for tourists)



After one week spent in deserts, it is nicely refreshing to enter a park full of trees (and what trees : thousands years old sequoias !) such as the Yosemite. And the temperature is only 32°C today, almost fresh ;)

From Mesquite to Las Vegas

Theoretically, the Death Valley was planned for today, but with more than 50°C, no way... It will be the Valley of Fire instead, with its rocks from all the colours of the rainbow, and its petroglyphs.

The next stopping place will be ... Las Vegas ! Welcome to the Disneyworld for adults. Everything here is completely IN-CRE-DI-BLE. My apartment could probably fit 100 times in the 1st restaurant I enter (and this is not even the restaurant of one of the most famous casinos). And please don't ask me why I had to go 10,000 km away from home to see the Eiffel Tower which I can easily go and see in Paris !!!!



If I say that the most impressive moment in Las Vegas is during the night, it won't surprise you, but if I add that it was because of a very strong rain (as a reminder, Las Vegas is also called "the city where it never rains") which caused a flood similar to the monsoon, then you might change your mind. 20 cm of water in the streets because, as it never rains, there is no draining system...

From Flagstaff to Mesquite

After a short shopping break at a Navajo gift shop, direction Monument Valley, for a 4 wheeled tour guided by a Navajo. You almost feel like John Wayne, all alone in the world with his horse...


In Kayenta, a small town on the road to / back from the valley, the tender of the Burger King is the son of a former "wind talker", the Indians who helped encoding the messages furing World War 2, based upon their language. He has dedicated a small museum to his father.

Page, upon the banks of Lake Powell, offers a very strange welcome: a belt of churches, all of them erected in the same street, you just need to pick up the one you prefer... Unfortunately, it is not possible to visit the Glen Canyon Dam at the moment, but even from the outside, it is very impressive.

So many people back from the US had told me that Bryce was their favorite park, that I was really looking forward to seeing it. And when you stand in front of the amphitheater, it is easy to understand what they meant. The pictures can only give a very fade idea of the shapes and the colours. You can stay all day long at the same place and just watch the change of colours depending on the height of the sun of on the clouds.



Or you can also go for a walk, and enjoy all the animals which get very close to tourists (chipmunks, different kinds of birds, fawns...).



Unfortunately, half of the park is closed at the moment, because of a forest fire that they have been fighting since June 14th (!).

Not far away from Bryce, Zion is also a geologist paradise. I should have payed more attention to my geology lessons 20 years ago, may be I would understand what I see today...


After a short break in St George, to see the second holy Mormon temple in Utah, it is Nevada again. Tonight will be less productive in Mesquite than a few days ago in Laughlin : in the casino, I am going to lose the 50 cents I had won then ;)

From Los Angeles to Flagstaff

Welcome to a brand new world : LA ! Not as bad as what I had imagined. A nice and friendly county, indeed, with its 88 cities which have their own identity : Marina del Rey and its thousands and thousands of boats, Venice with its artificial canals and its famous beach, Santa Monica with its pedestrian streets and its jazz clubs, Beverly Hills, where you can pretend to be Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman in front of the Beverly Wilshire hotel or on Rodeo Drive, Hollywood and its Walk of Famez where Michael Jackson's star has turned into a pilgrimage target and finally the old pueblo, the historical center of the city, a bit of Mexico in the middle of Los Angeles.

If heaven on earth could be in the Northern Rockies, hell could be somewhere around Barstow : imagine a small town in the middle of the desert, 35°C in the shade, except that there is no shade, so let's call it 45 or 50°C behind the carglass. A short break at Bagdad Cafe is more than appreciated, to get a cold drink and have a chat with Andrea, the tender.



"A desert road from vegas to nowhere
some place better than where you're been
A coffee machine that needs some fixing
In a little cafe just around the bend
I am calling you
Can't you hear me
I am calling you
A hot dry wind blows right through me"

First hours in Nevada, just for one night in Laughlin. I entered the casino of the hotel with 1 $ and went out with 1.5 $. 50% more, not bad, but I will have to find another way to get rich ;) At least I did not lose any money....

After Nevada, direction Arizona and ... Grand Canyon !!! When you are there it is easy to understand why it has become one of the 7 natural wonders in the world. So many incredible colours and shapes... It is hard to find the words to describe thi (and I won't try, it is getting late, and the day has been very long, it is time to go to bed)

From South Dakota back to Denver

After half a day spent in the Badlands, direction Wall Drug. Once upon a time, there was a guy, who owned a small drugstore in a small city named Drug, and he was not very happy because nobody would stop at his shop. Then he had the idea to add a sign "Free iced water". And because the weather was so damn hot and dry, a few cars had stopped at his shop even before he had time to go back to his counter. The tiny drugstore has now grown into a full street of restaurants, cafés, shops and museums, but they still give free iced water. There are a few French tourists there, enjoying one of the restaurants. They have hired Harley Davidsons and ride through the US.

The next visits will be for Mount Rushmore, Keystone which is the city built at the bottom of the mount, and Crazy Horse Memorial. Mount Rushmore has been built on the holy Indian lands without their agreement, so they had decided to dedicate another monument to one of their most famous chief, Crazy Horse. Because the Indian community does not accept the money offered by the government to build the monument, they don't expect it to be finished before another 70 or 80 years minimum. Today, you can just see the model, and Crazy Horse's face in the rock, but the Indian museum is definitely worth going there.

Picnic in the middle of nowhere, at Lusk, where the sherif comes to say hello. It seems that they don't see French tourists here very often ;)

On the way to Cheyenne, Fort Laramie deserves a stop. It does not look like the forts you can see in the films, surrounded by high walls made of wood. There was no wall to protect them, it was just part of what was implemented by the government to help the pioneers on their way to the West, on the Oregon Trail. There they could sell and buy different goods, see a doctor, send and receive letters, under the protection of the army...

In Cheyenne, the State Capitol can be visited without any appointment, and without having to go through heavy security checks. A nice opportunity to visit the building, the chambers and their beautiful stained-glass windows.

Last step before going back to Denver, the Rocky Mountains National Park, with the highest point of the road above 3700 meters. It is still full of snow (and snow balls still fly very well during summer !).

After a few more antelops and deers, back to Denver, end of the loop, ready to fly to new adventures !!!

From Yellowstone to South Dakota

The next stop of the trip is Cody, famous for its daily rodeos during summer. Something I cannot miss !

After a walk "downtown", the city looks familiar, with its small wooden churches, and the shops and restaurants which all look like old saloons. Something different from the other cities is my bedroom for tonight : the bed linen is dedicated to rodeo and a buffalo is waiting for me on the pillow...








First surprise of the rodeo : they start it by a prayer. Here, it makes sense, I had just forgotten during a few seconds that I was in the US, and not about to attend the final of the French tennis open in Paris... Then the national anthem, a few banners with the ads, and the rodeo can start. Bronco and bull riding, roping, races, but it is a pity that tonight no junior sheep riding was planned, it is so funny to see the tiny kids getting angry because they fell down the sheep...

Leaving Cody, we have a very long road in front of us, first crossing the Bighorn mountains (which almost look like Switzerland...), and then the never ending prairie (it fact, it ends just before Chicago). Welcome in the lands of Laura Ingalls.

In Gillette, just after lunch, Pierre comes back from the post office with a surprise for me : in addition to the stamps, he has found an Indian smurfin ! My little cowgirl now has a friend.

The new mascot duet will be inaugurated at Devil's Tower (remember, Close encounters of the third kind...). A few minutes away from the tower, plenty of prairie dogs. Difficult to know who is watching who, between them and the tourists !

From Jackson Hole to Yellowstone

A few minutes away from Jackson Hole, the Grand Teton National Park. The rain is still there, but it is worth staying outside, the park is full of animals : a female moose and her 2 kids, antelops, mule deers.... But it is not easy to see the Grand Teton mountains, you can hardly them through the clouds. Fortunately, after a very long lunch at the Signal Mountain Lodge, the weather is getting slightly better.

On the way to Yellowstone, it is raining cats and dogs, we can hardly see the road, but once again it is not going to last long. The rain stops just in time to see the Old Faithful geyser, just on time as usual.

And the blue sky appears when we reach the Middle Basin geysers. Really a magical place....

During 2 days, we will see an incredible numbers of geysers, rivers through amazing sceneries, and plenty of different animals...

From Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole

A few hours later, the rain is still there, but it won't prevent me from going for a walk in Salt Lake City : the old train station, the Greek orthodox cathedral with the mountains still covered with snow behind ... and of course Temple Square. The explanations are given by 2 misionary sisters, one from Mexico and one from Texas.

One more Capitol to be added to the collection. This one is on the top of the hill, surrounded by small churches, and Victorian houses. A very nice district.

It is already time to leave Utah, in the direction of Idaho, the state of "the famous potatoes". How on earth could anybody have the idea to take this as the symbol of the state ???

You have the feeling that the time has stopped one century ago, on the banks of Bear Lake. The fields are full of very old wooden buildings, unfortunetaly almost destroyed for most of them.

It also almost feels as home : in a few hours, you can cross Paris (and its historical museum, with the Eiffel Tower in the front window), Montpelier (no, I didn't make a spelling mistake) and Geneva. Welcome on the Oregon Trail where the pionners have given the name of their cities to the place they had to chosen to stop.

And then it is already Wyoming, the cowboys state, with small ranch along the road, horses and cows in the fields... The first town crossed on the road is Jackson Hole, a western ski resort. It is weird to have a saloon at the bottom of the slopes.

Welcome to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, where you can drink the local beer at the counter, sitting on a horse saddle, while you listen to a country music concert.

From Moab to Salt Lake City

Moab is a nice little town in the middle of nowhere (as every town in this part of the US, actually...). It is fully dedicated to the tourism in the national parks around, but has a very friendly atmosphere: it is not invaded by huge amounts of groups, but you can meet lots of American tourists who come here with their families.

First park in the area, Canyonlands, with beautiful views from Dead Horse Point upon the Green River, and from Grand View Point. The temperature gets higher and higher. It is not that hot in fact, but the weather is very dry, the sun a bit tough, and there is absolutely no wind. I start feeling like a chicken in an oven. A short walk brings me to Mesa Arch.




One of the highlights of the trip, an experience everybody should try (except may be if you fear a heart attack...): a tour in the park in a Hummer. I cannot remember the last time I shouted and laughed so much.



This wonderful day will end at the local brewery, with a cold beer (no chance that the Mormon beer can give you a headache...) and a hot roasted potato, eaten at the counter.

On next day, Arches Park, an incredible scenery all around you... The 1st walk led me through Park Avenue to the rock they call the 3 Gossips (let's say 4 with the smurfin)






The most famous spots have very friendly names such as Devils Garden or Fiery Furnace, it gives an idea of what the pioneers had to face when they entered this part of country, and had to walk through it... A old cabin, the Wolfe Ranch, built in the 1800s and used as a ranch until the beginning of the 20th century gives an even more accurate idea : 4 x 3 meters in the middle of the desert, for the whole family. But they were the luckiest people around, because the tiny river was enough to grow cattle.

A few more arches before I leave the park : Delicate Arch (which is the symbol of the state), Turret Arch, and the North & South Windows.




For the 3rd park in Utah, Capitol Reef, the sun has decided to take a day off, and is replaced by bunches of clouds, and even a bit of rain. Too bad, the colours of the rocks seem to be extraordinary. This park contains the nicest campgrund I have ever seen : a nice lawn on which the does wander, full of apple trees, and with a few horses around.


Time to leave the Utah parks and take the road to Salt Lake City