Your Boulevardier Hits Southern California

This weekend Your Boulevardier visited friends in Southern California. Of course, he did some walking. As you may know -- he did not -- Angelenos are not enthusiastic walkers on their often scenic streets. They are car people, even in an era of $4 gasoline. Your Boulevardier's hosts were discouraging of his footborne forays, and often offered him rides, even for short distances. Very warm weather may have been part of their thinking, but regardless of motivation it struck an odd note. Anyway, the three areas walked were:

1. West LA to Westwood Village. Your Boulevardier walked from his hosts' home in West Los Angeles to UCLA to attend the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. The walk had everything -- huge open spaces (the VA and National cemetery), a busy freeway (the 405), crowded apartment houses (everywhere), and chic shopping (Westwood Village). Pedestrians did abound as the UCLA campus was neared.


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2. The Toluca Lake area of Burbank. Your Boulevardier shared breakfast with an old friend at the historic Bob's Big Boy on Riverside Drive, then explored the very lovely Toluca Lake neighborhood adjacent to Lakeside Golf Club and Universal City. The homes in this neighborhood are among the loveliest Your Boulevardier has ever seen.


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3. A wildflower hike near Calabasas. The open space between Mulholland Highway and North Topanga Canyon Boulevard -- the shaded area on the map below, if you click for the larger version -- is bursting with native and nonnative wildflowers right now, including various sages, mustard, chemise, some remaining lupines, and creamy orange sticky monkey flowers. That such wild territory is so close to suburban development is one of the delights of this area of Southern California.


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