Strawberries and cream.. and coffee, of course

I don't know about where you were but here in Northern California it was a lovely weather weekend. Elizabeth and I took a nice car ride on Saturday, over to Mill Valley and up to Sebastopol, with stops along the way of course. There were some places on her list of places to go and so go we did.

Our trip took us across the Richmond-San Rafael bridge, which is a pretty bridge, but I didn't capture any of it's glory. Maybe another time. As a kid I never liked this bridge, you can see out between the roadway and the sides, and I was always thinking about how easy it would be to slide out and plunge to a gruesome death below. Because that's the crazy stuff I'd think about when looking there. I don't think you can walk across this bridge anyway, and even if it was possible, NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.

But I digress as I often do.

I'm not sure if I ever went into Mill Valley, or at least into the little old-town, I don't remember it specifically. Its a charming little area. We'd read about a French shop there and we were dying to see it. The sidewalks were brick and this shop was part of a little warren of buildings that had a tunneled walkway between them, including this darling sewing shop and a restaurant.

I was thinking about all my bloggy friends and taking photos, so when I saw this book it just seemed like serendipity. The sewing shop had an eclectic collection of things, we didn't buy anything but it was fun looking. We walked around the block and enjoyed the sunshine.

And then we went for a coffee and a snack at the little French Bakery.

I mean really, is this the best looking mid-morning snack you've ever seen? I rarely see such lovely pastries anywhere and it was hard choosing what to have. The strawberries were so ripe and flavorful it was like I'd never had strawberries before.

That's pretty much because this was all part of my little fantasy life. No, I mean I was there, but a place like this is something I've always dreamed about. Living near a little downtown area where you could stroll to breakfast on a Saturday morning, have a coffee, read the paper.

Live in a little old house, funky but filled with interesting nooks and crannies. A magazine life. Or one made for TV. Filled with baguettes and fresh flowers and of course, strawberries. Insert the fruit of your dreams. Have a coffee. And a charming day.

Elizabeth has more of the day.. read about it on her blog.