Francium - In the French Quarter of San Francisco

Francium

While exploring elements to use as a title of my blog post, as I was challenged to by my friend Robin. I wondered if San Francisco had an element named after it, it seems not. But having read more about Francium and finding it is named for France I realised I had a very good connection to my first meal in San Francisco this time and the area in which I am staying.

Chinatown

While the most obvious community link in this part of San Francisco is to China, with the Gate to Chinatown being immediately opposite our hotel. Here the largest Chinatown outside of Asia stretches 24 square blocks of 1⁄2 mile north to south by 1⁄4 mile east to west from Kearny Street in the east to Powell in the west and from Broadway in the north to Bush Street in the south.

San Francisco's Chinatown gate with our hotel on the right

French Quarter

South of Chinatown, indeed in the area in which our hotel is located is San Francisco's French Quarter. Here in 1851 3,000 French people were sponsored by the French Government to settle here in the area along Bush Street from Grant Avenue, one which the Hotel Triton is located, to Kearny Street. 

Eglise de Notre Dame des Victoires

Hotel De France

There is a French Church, see the photo above, a French hotel and restaurants called Le Central, Cafe Claude, Cafe Bastille, and, sharing some of the ground floor of our hotel Café de la Presse.

So Francium seems a perfect title for this post.

Dinner on Friday Night/Saturday Morning

After checking in to Room 510 of the Hotel Triton it was time to get some food.

Room 510 Hotel Triton

Captain Jack settling in to Room 510

Having began this day at 3.00am BST I was fully away that at 6pm PST it was 2am BST. So having begun the day on BST it seemed right to continue in that time zone until going to bed. This gave me the excuse (I'd like to say canonical right, but I may be pushing it) to eat meat at tonight's (this morning's) dinner. My conscience is good at coming up with technicalities like this, when they are to my benefit!!

When we were last in San Francisco in 2013, we were looking for somewhere for lunch on our last day, and as I said in the blog post then:

Following Mass we went for lunch. Just half a block from our hotel we found a lovely French style bistro we had not seen before called Le Central. It was a lovely place.

So, knowing we would need somewhere near after our day of travelling we headed to Le Central again.

Le Central 

Even though it was early on Friday evening the restaurant was bustling with customers. We were ushered into a lovely table and given some time to peruse the menu.

Soupe à l’oignon

Drew began with Soupe à l’oignon with french onions, croutons, gruyere and herbs. The gooey cheese was lovely and there were lots, it was pleasantly salty with lots of onion flavour. Drew was happy.

L’escargot bourguignon

I went for L’escargot bourguignon – snails in garlic butter topped with shavings of toasted cheese. The garlic richness of the butter was perfect for the meaty chewiness of the snails. I used plenty of bread to mop out the butter after I'd eaten the snails.

Pan-roasted halibut

For mains Drew had pan-roasted halibut with maitake mushrooms, roasted summer squashes, japanese eggplant and saffron. The fish was perfectly cooked for Drew, the mushrooms were crisp and tasty and the sauce was delightful. Drew eat most of the squahes but didn't like the look of the yellow ones, so left them. After a day of mocking my lack of meat, when I am back on it he is eating Fish!! 

I had been waiting the six years since our last visit for the Le Central cassoulet a rich well cooked cassoulet with white bean stew with duck confit, Toulouse sausage, lamb and pork. The beans picking up the rich meat sauce and each element of meat tasting very distinctive, rich and generous - a warming welcome back to San Francisco, excellent.

Cash

I have two credit cards with 0% fees for overseas transactions. So I always take money out from Cash Machines overseas avoiding the cost of exchange rate transactions and get the bank (Mastercard or Visa depending which card) exchange rate which is always better than the tourist rate. After leaving Le Central we walked to a Wells Fargo bank, but it wanted $5 to undertake the transaction, so I cancelled it and walked on to Chase Manhatten to take out the £300 I might need for the first part of the holiday - though so far I have spent only on Card not in cash, I'm sure I'll need some cash for small items and for washing machines.

Sleep

25 hours after getting up on Friday morning we went to bed at 8pm PST (4am Saturday BST) and hoped to sleep through the night.

Saturday

Waking up

I was awake again by 1.00am, though five hours sleep at one time is more than I manage at home. I noticed Drew was also awake, so after a brief chat I tried to go back, this wasn't completely successful, but I was determined not to get up to early, as a way of fighting the jetlag. I slept fitfully until 4.30am and then uploaded the last of yesterday's photos to Flickr and began yesterday's blog post. 

Coffee

Having abluted at 5am I went across to Starbucks opposite the hotel for a coffee each. We each had Venti Americanos. I felt very American walking across a street with a coffee. I must admit I tend to prefer sitting down with coffee, not walking it, but here I only needed to walk across the road and up in the lift to get the best of both worlds.

What to do in San Francisco

At 8.00am we left the hotel with an outline plan of the day. Before the holiday I had looked at a few blogs about San Francisco including one called 25 Things to Do in San Francisco well of the 25 we had done 16 previously meaning there are 8 we can focus on this time. Time Out has a list of 47 things to do, while most of these overlap with the other blog there were a few things that I took from this and added to the other list.

MUNI

With our outline plans for the next day it seemed most economic to buy a Muni 3 Day Muni Travel passport, we have used these to good effect in the past. For $35 you can travel on buses, cable cars, street cars and underground trains as often as you like. Better than ever this year I discovered that if I used a Clipper card (like the London Oyster card) I could buy a $35 passport for $29 a $6 saving when I had already paid the $3 one off cost for the card on yesterday's trip from the Airport to Downtown. The normal fee for bus/street car tickets is $3, for Cable Cars $7, so I have no doubt we will save on the 3 day passport in the next few days. 

Two blocks from the hotel at Powell and Sutter there is a 24 hours Walgreens, Walgreens being a Clipper purchasing partner, so we went to the counter presented our two tickets and paid the $58 for both of them.

Taylor and Bay Cable Car

Going to Walgreens we saw our first Cable Car - on the Taylor&Bay line (there are three lines on which these icons of San Francisco run.)

Hyde and Bay Cable Car coming up Powell Street

We walked across Union Square and a Hyde&Bay Cable Car was climbing up the hill, but it wasn't for us this morning. 

Breakfast

Street Car - Market to Castro

We walked down to Market street and on to an F car (a Street Car) to Castro. At the Castro terminus it is only a few feet to our breakfast destination Orphan Andy's.

Orphan Andy's

This traditional Castro diner serves breakfast all day, it just happens we were there for breakfast time.

Louisiana hot links and eggs (overhard) with Home Fries and Rye Toast

I had Louisiana hot links and eggs (overhard) with Home Fries and Rye Toast. Louisiana hot links are a spicy sausage like Chorizo in flavour, but a little less dense.

Links and eggs (over easy) with Home Fries and White Toast

Drew opted for Links and eggs (over easy) with Home Fries and White Toast, links being the local name for sausages.

We both enjoyed our breakfast in this bustling place and were also glad for the endless coffee that kept being topped up.

Twin Peaks

We left Orphan Andy's at 9:30am and began our climb up Twin Peaks, the highest point in San Francisco. 

Both the blogs referred to earlier said that going up Twin Peaks were a must do, so I had found a helpful guide to the walk by Bill Choisser. 

This gave excellent block by block detail of the walk, even we couldn't get lost. 

Fog on the Peaks

The Swansea born poet Harri Webb has a poem about Fog on the top of Wales' tallest mountain called 'The Mountain of Snowdon' 

The Mountain of Snowdon is barren and bleak, it has gogs at the bottom and fogs at the peak, it is worth the hard slog over bolder and bog, because one you are up there you can't see the gogs.

For those not immersed in Welsh culture gogs (from the Welsh Gogledd, meaning North) are North Wallians, whom South Wallians (Hwynts as we are known by the gogs meaning 'from beyond') think are odd folk.

Haydn pointing at no view

Well the hills of Twin Peak have just the same. Though the walk was fantastic, and the views along the way good. The view at the top was of fog, as I try to demonstrate in the photo above.

If you'd like to look at the journey start here on Flickr and click through the next 39 photographs until you reach the one above. 

My brother-in-law, Martin, was convinced in 2009, that the Fog came in all along the California and Oregon coast just to spoil him taking photos. Well Martin, it doesn't just do it to you. Drew is as much of a victim. 

Haight-Ashbury and the Summer of Love 

We decided to go back down the hill by bus, well we had to walk back down the steepest bits first. 

Downtown without the Fog

Looking at downtown and Oakland beyond

We caught the number 37 bus down realising that once we were at lower levels the views were again glorious so we got off the bus to take some photos and walked back down to Market and Castro to catch the 24 bus from Castro to Haight on Diversaro.

Last time we were in the Haight-Ashbury area Drew was accosted by two young people selling "Shrooms and Dope", he declined, but still wanted a return visit. Today it was an older lady who told him he would get a better picture if he stood just down the alley way. The alley way was less than salubrious so Drew pretended he had not heard and walked on. This may be less exiting than schrooms, but equally intimidating for a Drew who is not accustomed to people talking to him in the street.

Guide to living in the Haight

Love is the answer

Even after 52 years Haight-Ashbury keeps the spirit of the 60s alive. This selection of photos can't exemplfy the many sights, so I would again send you to Flickr, starting here.

Coffee

Coffee grinder - Flywheel Coffee Roasters, Stanyan St

Having walked the 10 blocks of the Haight it was time for a Coffee and toilet stop. We came across the Flywheel Coffee Roasters, Stanyan St, which had lovely freshly roasted coffee and a convenient toilet.

Golden Gate Park

Central Golden Gate Park

Back in 2013 we had come to the edge of Golden Gate Park, but as it was the last day of our holiday and I needed to get to Mass, have lunch, and travel to the airport, we did no more than look at the map and catch a bus back downtown. So we decided then to explore the park if we came back to San Francisco. That and the fact it is mentioned as a must do in every guidebook and blog made it an obvious place for us to go.

Golden Gate Park also has lots of cultural references. James T Kirk hides a Klingon Bird of Pray there in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Prue Giroux a character in Further Tales of the City meets her boyfriend in a shack in the park in that book. It appears in ten other films.

Flagging in the Park - 2019

Flagging in the Park 2019

We walked through some lovely grassy areas where many families were sitting having picnics in the park, we passed a child's play area and then came to the AIDS Memorial Grove where a group of eccentrically dressed individuals were celebrating Flagging in the Park. You'll note from the picture above that Drew waited until he was a good distance away before taking any photos of the eccentric behaviour in case people tried to involve him!! 

California Academy of Sciences

De Young museum

Japanese Tea Garden

Next we came to the area which includes the California Academy of Sciences, the De Young museum and the Japanese Tea Garden. This was very busy, we wandered along among the artists and fountains but didn't visit any of the locations, enjoying more being out on this lovely sunny day.

Botanical Gardens

The next place we passed was the Botanical Gardens which were also very popular. 

Dutch Windmill - Golden Gate Park

Ocean Beach

We continued our walk and came to the Dutch Windmill and Ocean Beach. Completing our four mile meander through the Park, a very enjoyable occasion.

Back to Downtown 

The N Train Terminus at Great Highway and Judah

We walked two blocks to the start of the N train from the Great Highway at Ocean Beach up Judah.

On the N train, quiet at the back

The train starts as a street car on rails and overhead pylons and becomes an underground train as it heads into downtown. 

It stops at the underground exit at our nearest station Montgomery, from there we walked one block by two to the hotel arriving at 4:15pm, with my phone registering 22,700 steps today. That's around 9 miles, a good way to shake off the 11 hours of sitting on the plane yesterday.