Week-end in Venice, CA

This message will especially be written in english, as I know that Kelley regulary reads this blog and that sometimes it's not that easy for him to understand everything. English and american friends, please, forgive my mistakes... So, as I already told you in the previous message, we decided to visit Kelley and Dawn in their house on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, and visit Venice --where they live-- in the same time. Venice is famous for his Ocean Front Walk (actually Venice Beach should I say), its weird population blend of hippies, new-agers, artists, students, surfers, skateboarders, and all kinds of marginal folks, and its canals. Let's start with pictures of the beach. Here comes first the Ocean Front Walk always full of people, taking a walk, jogging, walking their dog (by the way, if you don't have any, you can buy one right here).

Then you can admire the artworks, principally graffitis on special "express yourself" areas like these walls in the sand and sometimes palm-tree trunks...

There is of course a skate park and lots of little shops where you buy very small bikinis, pink sunglasses, henna tattoos, bicycles, and even cats and dogs; and also date with a blonde-bikini-clad bicyclist, a juggling dreadlocks rastaman, or a glossy wannabe Schwarzenegger (for his muscles, not his politician qualities). Or simply look for coins in the sand...

At last we'll end with the canals, it's an incredible story what happened there a century ago... Let's listen to Kelley explaining the Amercian Venice History... It doesn't start with Once Upon A Time, but it almost could... So, until about a century ago, Venice was nothing but a dreary swampland. A visionary, dreamer and developer, Abbot Kinney (1850-1920), decided to drain the marshes and dig a 16 miles network of canals, built a promenade, a pier and a theater. Kinney even imported gondoliers from Italy to paddle the gondolas through the beachfront paradise, dubbed 'Venice of America'. The opening took place on July 4, 1905. In 1929 most of the canals were filled in to allow for automobile traffic. But just while Hollywood was eclipsing Venice's star, unfortunately for the beautiful village but not for the exploiters, oil drillings supplanted attraction and Venice became a dangerous place, taken over by gambling halls and speakeasies during the Prohibition in the 1930s. It has been a short-lived boom, but the wells have produced oil until the 1970s. Venice experience a rebirth in the 1970s but not as a major tourist destination, the focal point was on maintaining the character of Venice so as not to chase out the low income population. In 1972, the city constructed an 18 miles bicycle path in front of the Ocean Front Walk, which extends from Torrance to Santa Monica. The new visitors were local residents riding bikes, bringing its new life to Venice. In 1976, with the invention of the polyurethane skate wheel, outdoor skating became the mania. Venice's wide Ocean Front Walk and bicycle path made it an ideal location for skating. In the late 70s and early 80s, Venice saw the likes of mural art. Buildings all around town were brilliantly livened up with scenes depicting landscapes, everyday life and tributes to Venice artists still famous today, like Jim Morrison. In 1993 the 3 miles surviving canals were restored and are now lined by gorgeous millions-dollar-homes. So if Venice's history is still being written, be a part of history and enjoy the tour!

Voilà ! I hope everyone could understand...
Un peu de français maintenant quand même, nous avons passé le déjeuner et l'après-midi de dimanche avec Martine et Stanley, qui comme la dernière fois, nous ont reçus à merveille, un bon déjeuner, un bon vin, beaucoup de hugs et de gentillesse, ça nous a fait très chaud au coeur. Ils ont pris le temps de faire des photos de notre belle Jeep pour les envoyer à Olivier qui malheureusement ce jour n'avait pas pu se joindre à nous, mais à qui nous avons pensé bien fort.