The Western End of Route 66

Jellyfish tank at the Santa Monica Aquarium

I picked up a cold in LA - probably due to jet-lag, and so decided to take it easy today as I was planning on going to Disney on Monday. At this point I regretted not using my LA City Pass the day before as most of the easy-going stuff I felt like doing was closed or had restricted hours on Sundays, or you had to book in advance.

Santa Monica Beach & Pier - view from Palisades Park

So I decided to go to the beach!

Santa Monica is really beautiful, albeit a bit touristy. There's a very famous pier called the Santa Monica pier which is the last point on the Route 66 trail.

By Santa Monica beach there is also Palisades park - just a stretch of grassy tree area as far as I could tell - and the Santa Monica Aquarium. Apparently there is also the original Muscle Beach here too but I didn't see that (or have any interest to).

The Santa Monica Pier as the sun was starting to drop in  the sky...

Entry to the Aquarium was included on the LA City Pass - it's only $5 (or Free for kids under 12) but I'm not sure I would have bothered if it wasn't included. It's run by "Heal The Bay" - a not-for-profit environmental group who also run bay clean-ups and educational workshops. The Aquarium is great if you're interested in rocks, bones, shells, and fish eggs - not so much if you want to sit and watch fishies and other sea creatures swimming about as there's not really very many to look at. They do have interactive activities like touching seaweed or doing shell rubbings though so probably worth it if you're being accompanied by small people.

Ferris Wheel at Santa Monica Pier

Historic Route 66: The End of the Trail
A little ironic that this is where I started my journey...
One day I intend to drive along the whole thing.

On the pier there is a fun fair - rides all day are also included in the City Pass; again, not a massive save, and something I wouldn't have paid to do separately, but I had a nice time going on the Ferris Wheel and some spinning cups etc.

There are also lots of shops - beach ones selling buckets and spades, touristy ones selling postcards and souvenirs, and then a few stalls with people selling handmade jewellery or driftwood carvings. Plus all the typical fun-fair food stands with hot dogs, churros and candy-floss. Towards land, there are also some restaurants like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Just like everywhere in LA (and probably any major tourist destination or city), there are loads of buskers.

Santa Monica is Beautiful

Overall, I'd recommend visiting. Even if you're like me and completely adverse to all things sand, the views are spectacular!

Gril de Buffles (Buffalo Grill)

Buffalo Grill

On Friday afternoon, Allison's classes got cancelled. As I also was not working, we thought we'd go for work.

Living with a very French family (unlike the demi-French family I live with), Allison was desperate for non-French food. Ideally she wanted curry. Or chinese. But after a bit of research we realised that few of these places were open for lunch.

A Teenagers Menu??

I decided that as it was rainy, we should drive somewhere as I didn't want to walk into the centre. After yet more googling, we found some restaurants in La Glacerie, a nearby village/town.

French-Style, Famous American Bacon Burger 

We chose... Buffalo Grill! A french take on a western
/american style grill restaurant. It wasn't bad really. The waiter was quite happy to speak to us in English which was nice.

I quite enjoy the being served with salad and bread before you've even ordered in some French restaurants (Courtepaille also being one of those such restaurants).

Dessert Pancakes. Yum.

We went for the Famous All American Bacon Burger (or some
thing to that effect) which they then Frenched up with Dijon mustard and Bearnaise sauce. It was good, but I feel like I might have just preferred a steak.

We were stuffed, but had chosen the 'Chef' Menu (2 courses and a drink for just 14.50) so ordered Pancakes for dessert. Allison was so confused by Pancakes being on the menu for dessert; "but pancakes are a breakfast food!?", she said.

All in all, not a bad meal out. We didn't actually arrive until about 2:30pm, and then sat and talked til nearly 5pm (poor Waiter). I'm pretty sure we were the only people there the whole time!

American-style decor