Malibu (part 2)

The next morning we drove into Los Angeles heading for the Warner Brothers’ studio tour in Hollywood. I'm not much of a movie buff but I did recognise a few things although sometimes I just pretended to not to spoil things. It had an odd feeling here and there, like a town abandoned but the detail was amazing until you go inside the buildings: only facades. We spent a most enjoyable afternoon. The most popular part of the tour was the (Central Perk) set of series Friends; everybody wanting their photos taken. The guide told us the story of how the barista in the series was picked: during one of the first shoots of Friends in the bar it turned out that no-one had bothered to find out how the coffee machine worked. One extra volunteered and got offered the (mostly non-speaking) part of barista; he was called Gunther. He stayed for the whole series.
Our next port of call was to drive around the Hollywood hills. What a place to live! We drove up to Bel Air and its view from the top over LA to the sea are wonderful: I could see myself living here straight away.

Dinner this evening was at the Paradise Cove Beach Café a couple of miles up PCH. It had a great setting on the beach, eat in eat out what you like. We chose inside, in what seemed like an old dinner style table. I ordered scampi and was not disappointed: they where huge and delicious; my partner ordered a steak and I think it must have been from a dinosaur, it was so big. So full to the brim, the short drive back to the hotel and a glass or two of wine before bed.

After breakfast we headed into Los Angeles again and drove along Sunset Boulevard, had a look at the Beverly Hills Hotel, then stumbled upon Rodeo Drive: a well known shopping street. Worth a stop to look around and that is what it seemed most people were doing, only looking but no one was shopping. It felt a bit fake but all the expensive shops aren't there for nothing, people must spend fortunes there.

Our next stop was the Chinese Theatre famous for the Walk of Fame, but unfortunately for us, we just couldn't find anywhere to park so we drove around again and gave up (next time). The ‘must do’ shot was our next port of call: to have our photos taken with the Hollywood sign in the background. We found a place on the map that said it had one of the best views. Photos taken, job done of we go again along Hollywood Boulevard. Driving along we came across some very dodgy looking areas in LA as well. Beverly Hills is monumental, but I had fallen for Malibu; it just had something and I don't say this very often but here we go: I could live there without a doubt so there you go it’s in black and white. Unfortunately, that was the end of our three days in Malibu/Los Angeles, but not our last for sure. ​