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Dear Parler Paris Reader,

With a nine-hour time difference between the West Coast and Paris, Monday's newsletter couldn't include a report on our adventure landing in "Fog City" (just one of the many nicknames of San Francisco, including "Baghdad by the Bay," "The City by the Bay," "The City That Knows How," "Frisco," "Everybody's Favorite City," "Golden City" and "The Golden Gate City").

It was everything, but foggy. In fact, the city couldn't be more stunningly bright, sunny, warm and blue. We were told that this past summer was the coldest ever recorded, so this glorious weather is a fresh change and we are eternally grateful.

Old, close friends, Terry and Sue E., who have a condo on Russian Hill among their impressive portfolio of real estate (most of which are based on having 'view') insisted that we stay there while in "The City by the Bay." I had seen it once before and knew that it would be a heavenly oasis, with of course, a million-dollar view. Arranging to get the keys was a series of emails between us, this being where our adventure begins, as there is no question, I got my 'wires crossed,' so to speak, about where the keys would be waiting for us.

We landed and picked up a rental car, then headed into the city unsuccessful in getting the GPS working, but using our paper map and noses to land us in China Town where we had reservations for dinner with my oldest friend from New Orleans and her family. That evening was our one window of opportunity to visit with one another, they being on route back home to Tel Aviv the next day, after a hiatus of many years. Kathy and I met our first day in kindergarten and have remained close throughout our lives. Her mother passed away very recently, so it was a special reunion for us.

We left each other after their assistance to get the GPS working, to head to the condo where we thought the keys were waiting. Understand that here we were, in a city foreign to us, driving up and down the crazy hills, in the dark, looking for an address not easily found, only to discover the entrance to the building very hidden away, with a locked lobby, no door man and no way to enter.

It was about 10:30 p.m. when I started buzzing any one on their resident roster to plead to let us in. One gentleman agreed, but entry to the hallways bought us nothing. There were no keys, just a locked door to the apartment. As a last resort, I phoned our friends in London -- in the middle of their night, with serious apologies for waking them up -- only to discover that the keys were waiting for us at their Hillsborough home, well past the airport, from which we had come earlier!

All we could do was laugh, get back in the car, drive to Hillsborough down the dark winding streets and back -- a good one hour round trip. By this time, we had become quite familiar with the road to and from the airport and the streets of Russian Hill, but thank God for GPS, is all I have to say!!! Without it, we would have been sleeping on the streets of "Baghdad by the Bay" as all the hotels were booked solid thanks to the "Oracle OpenWorld 2010 Convention."

No matter, at 12:45 a.m., we opened the door to the large studio apartment high on Russian Hill, almost solid with windows that give on to a large terrace overlooking a 'knock-down drag-out' view of "Everybody's Favorite City" that made the entire adventure well worth it! Being clear as a bell under blue skies, one can see from Coit Tower to the Bay Bridge to Fisherman's Wharf to Alcatraz to the TransAmerica Tower to Embarcadero. There she was, the "Golden City" at our feet. In addition you can hear the seagulls and the clang of the cable car on Mason Street. All in all, it was an amazing welcome to San Francisco, where we are hosted to speak at the Alliance Française tonight on Living and Investing in France.

Monday we spent the afternoon at Fisherman's Wharf eating cracked crab and acting like tourists shopping at Ghirardelli Square, dropping a cool $28 to park, but enjoying the gorgeous weather and views of the bay. We took a driving tour of Pacific Heights and made a point to drive down snaky Lombard Street, noticing the prettiest house on the street at number 1010 -- and we fantasized about what that would be like to maneuver its driveway late at night!

That evening an eclectic group of friends met us at Aux Delices on Polk Street for a Vietnamese dinner. Included among them were cousins from New Orleans who have lived here more than 40 years, old friends from both Los Angeles and San Francisco, business colleagues and two authors who write about France -- Cara Black, author of the mystery series "Murder in the..." (11 books (!)) and Kimberly Lovato, author of "Walnut Wine & Truffle Groves" whom I was meeting for the first time.

The rest of the story you will hear about on Monday, after which we will have made presentations here in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, where we will be meeting with hundreds of Francophiles who are seemingly interested in having a little piece of their own of the City of Light or "terrain" in the provinces of France. So, stay tuned for more of our U.S. adventure.

A la prochaine...

"Adrian with her oldest friend from New Orleans, Kathy Rasner"

Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris

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P.S. There's still time to come to the Alliance Française tonight for "Living the Dream to Live in France" with registration at 6:45 p.m., the presentation at 7 p.m. and a cocktail reception following at 9 p.m.: www.afsf.com, 1345 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94109-5611, (415) 775-7755, $25 Entry Fee Includes 2-Hour Presentation and Reception. To reserve, email Morgan DesVignes at: mailto:morgan@afsf.com. Payment can be made via PayPal on the Alliance Française Web site.

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