Big Sur (California) Christmas by Ruth Paget

Big Sur (California) Christmas by Ruth Paget Big Sur (Monterey County – California) Christmas with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

I have lived in Monterey County California for more than twenty years with a hiatus in Stuttgart, Germany for several years. 

During this time, my family has kept a Christmas tradition of driving to Big Sur over the Christmas holiday to enjoy the scenery and support the local economy. Our first stop is the gas station in Marina followed by Starbucks for hot chocolate, ice coffee with white moka, and warm, buttery croissants. 

 We listen to Christmas carols on the radio and complain about Carmel car congestion like everyone else. The radio begins to die out in the Carmel Highlands where the Santa Lucia Mountains creep in and you start to drive on a cliff, which drops down to the ocean. When the radio dies out, we pull out a Mozart CD for our ride down the coast. 

We have on of two destinations in mind depending on our finances: Nepenthe or Fernwood. Nepenthe is a little more expensive, because I always want to go to the gift shop and buy environmentalism books, Jack Kerouac or John Steinbeck books, French vanilla perfume, artisanal soap made from goat milk, and Putumayo folk song CDs for the ride home. Sometimes I even buy notecards with paintings done by owner Erin Gafill. 

Fernwood, our other family outing choice, has a small motel behind it and a large bar in front of it. The bar is a locals spot with a large screen TV tuned to golf tournaments current and past. The wood paneling inside is redwood; Julia Pfeiffer State Park with its redwoods is close by. Even the chargers for meals are redwood. Their best meal is the BBQ platter with chicken, ribs, beans, and coleslaw with sultana raisins. We have watched several hole-in-one shots while eating there as boisterous patrons yell, “Yeah. Yeah. Good shot!” and applaud. 

Fernwood does not have a gift shop. It has a grocery store. As a child, Florence preferred Nepenthe for goodies. We had food at home. I like Nepenthe’s food offerings. On a recent visit, you could still order a good meal using take-out and terrace seating during Covid-19 measures. My husband Laurent and Florence ate steak and fries, and I ate a shrimp BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato) sandwich with pinto and garbanzo beans on the side along with coleslaw. We shared a cheese platter for dessert. 

In the gift shop, I bought the book Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash by Susan Strasser, because Strasser wrote that almost everything was used in the 19th century that was produced; trash is a modern invention. 

 I noted that the ride to Big Sur was much smoother and wondered if recycled plastic bottles were being mixed in with the tar to lower the cost of paving there. On the way home, we listened to more Mozart and watched hawks swoop down the cliffs to glistening slate water. 

I finally feel after twenty plus years in Monterey County California that sunshine and warmth are normal for Christmas weather after growing up in freezing, cold Detroit, Michigan. Both communities, though, do share a common love for creating and promoting contemporary music often composed and rehearsed during the winter months. 

 By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Europe’s Lessons: How and Why Europe is Beautiful

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Eating English Breakfast at River Inn for Brunch with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget in Big Sur, California by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Eating English Breakfast at River Inn for Brunch with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget in Big Sur, California by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

When my daughter Florence began high school at the Big Sur Charter High School, I would drive down to Big Sur to set up her curriculum at the school office at the beginning of each semester, which is right by the River Inn Restaurant.

After our school meeting, I would take Florence to the River Inn for brunch.  The River Inn is snuggled under sequoia trees.  We sat on chairs and ate at tables made of sequoia wood with many rings.  We identified years with little or a lot of rain by looking at the width of rings in the wood.

The location of the restaurant makes it a little chilly, but that is why we wear layers in Monterey County.  I would order two English breakfasts for us and told Florence to take her time eating.  There were not many people in the restaurant when we were there in the morning, so we had time to eat our English breakfast that was made up of the following items:

-2 over-easy eggs

-3 or 4 sausage links

-4 strips of bacon

-a large helping of sheet-pan baked potatoes made with purple onions and garlic and coated in olive oil to bake – a little salt and pepper makes them taste better

-2 or 3 broiled tomatoes with a topping of breadcrumbs mixed with chopped garlic and parsley

-a pot of English breakfast tea with real cream to add, if we wanted it (we did)

-white and whole wheat toast

-a choice of various jams and jellies, including marmalade

-Kerrygold butter

-wildflower honey

We would spend about two hours eating our English breakfast.  If the restaurant were really not crowded, we would spend about three hours eating, talking, and getting hot water refills on the teapot.

The Big Sur River Inn has a large, enclosed dining room with large, glass windows all around it, so you can see the sequoia trees.  Pfeiffer State Park is down the road on Highway 1 from Big Sur River Inn.  Many tourists make Big Sur River Inn their home base for touring Big Sur.  There is a large, terraced deck outside that leads down to the river.  There are tables, chairs, and heating units out there for cocktails and meals, too.

Many times, I would take out some paper, pens, and journals and give Florence some, too, and ask her, “What do you think kids could do here in addition to this just eating?” I asked.

We would both write up ideas, which include responses like these:

-Memoirs Writing Workshops using Bill Roorbach’s book entitled Writing Life Stories

-Foreign-language discussion clubs like the Goethe Institute, the Alliance Francaise, the Cervantes Institute, and the Italian Cultural Institute

-Film Clubs – for contemporary films as well as historical ones by national cinema (There is an Oxford Guide to World Cinema that has historical films listed by national cinema.)

-Theatre workshops for kids

-Puppet shows with nice stages (A beautiful Sicilian one is needed for this.  The town of Acireale in Sicily makes these.)

-Sommelier training for Levels 1 and 2

-Nature Writing with lectures on the wildlife and wildflowers in Big Sur, California

-Wildflower drawing workshops

-Tai Chi Club

I thought these were pretty good ideas and hope the current owner of Big Sur River Inn might consider putting them in place.  (Note: I reviewed the River Inn for the Monterey Country Weekly when I was a restaurant reviewer for 2 ½ years for them.  I had fun being Mimi Sheraton for a short time.  Her book Eating my Words is great fun for foodies.  I also like Diane Jacob’s Will Write for Food.)

In any case, driving down to Big Sur River Inn is a field trip.  We usually stopped to get soda for the trip back to the Monterey Peninsula and listened to “World Village Music Hour” from UC – Santa Cruz.

By Savvy Mom Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Lunching at Rocky Point Restaurant with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Lunching at Rocky Point Restaurant with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget in Big Sur, California and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My family discovered the Rocky Point Restaurant when went to an Alliance Française lunch there.  After that we went back to Rocky Point for lunches as a treat on drives down to Big Sur from our home in Marina, California.

We always reserved ahead to get a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the Pacific with a view of Bixby Bridge in the distance.

Bixby Bridge is the bridge used in car commercials on television.  It is very photogenic, but I do not dawdle when I am on it, because Highway 1 is a freeway not a place to stop and take pictures despite Big Sur’s beauty.  There is a place to stop and take photos before you get on Bixby Bridge.

The reason the Alliance Française was holding their lunch there was that they had some French items on the menu even if they were not named as such.

So, we could get eat French onion soup and a “Pacific Omelet” made with a pepper and onion sauce with sheet-pan baked potatoes, purple onion, and garlic.  The Pacific omelet with pepper sauce is really a Basque omelet in piperade sauce.

In the Spanish and French Basque countries, cooks use a pepper called “esplette” to make this Vitamin-C rich sauce.  (For more information on Basque food, the San Francisco-based cookbook writer and restaurant owner Gerald Hirigoyen has written two informative books entitled Pintxos and The Basque Kitchen.)

We always drink iced tea in Big Sur.  Bixby Bridge and Highway 1 hang on a narrow cliff on the side of the Santa Lucia Mountains that separate the Pacific Ocean from the Salinas Valley on the other side of the mountains.

Before driving down the coast from Rocky Point, my family would go out beyond the parking lot and get great photos of us with Bixby Bridge in the distance.  There are hiking trails down to the beach below, if you really want to take them, too.

Half the fun of going to lunch at Rocky Point is driving down the one-way road that leads to the restaurant.  They have pull-out space for when two cars meet, but we liked to drive down the steep road chanting, “Make way for the Pagets!” 

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Eating Eggs Benedict at Nepenthe with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget in Big Sur (California)

Eating Eggs Benedict at Nepenthe with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget in Big Sur (California)

Nepenthe has Hollywood history that insiders know about and smile when they shop for books by the poet Hafiz and Big Sur resident and poet Robinson Jeffers.  (Jeffers is also one of the poets chosen as a Big Read author by the National Endowment for the Arts.)

My husband and I would take our daughter Florence to Nepenthe as a child to eat at the Phoenix Café, which is the “Grand Terrace” used in the film The Sandpiper that starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1965.

The Phoenix Café has great brunch and a stunning view over the Pacific Ocean with cliffs dropping down into the ocean below.  You have to order at the counter, but waiters bring out your order.

Florence and I ordered Eggs Benedict, which is a poached egg over a thick slice of ham on top of toast.  The whole thing is covered in Hollandaise Sauce.  When I make Eggs Benedict at home, I melt grated Swiss (Emmenthal) cheese on top of them.  Florence can make these, too, even without an egg poacher just by sliding the eggs into boiling water.

At home, I serve Eggs Benedict with prosciutto or San Daniele ham from Northern Italy, if I can get it.

The restaurant upstairs is more expensive, but they have a deck where you can sit at a counter overlooking the Pacific Ocean and eat meaty Angus burgers with coleslaw and mounds of fries.  They will even bring you mayonnaise, so you can eat your fries with mayo like the Belgians do.  (The French do this too, but hide the mayo in cute tubes.)

I love the store at Nepenthe – the Phoenix Shop.  In the past, they used to carry French vanilla-scented perfume that I liked, blank-page journals in large format where you can paste brochures about historical monuments, wildlife, and wildflowers.  I would put purchases like this in one of their distinctive, purple bags to advertise the store.

Nepenthe also used to carry science and economics books for visitors from Silicon Valley.   Today the bookstore carries various books about other religions including many Asian and Native American beliefs, cookbooks, and poetry. 

On my last visits to Nepenthe, I have bought books about Saint Hildegarde von Bingen from Germany, travel as pilgrimage, and books about the “Nordic” lifestyle written by a Finn.  (Most Scandinavians from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway do not consider the Finnish to be one of them.  Their language, for example, is completely different from these other three languages.)

Florence always got something for her journal here or Putamayo music recordings from around the world.  I have always felt that you can find something cute to feather your nest at home with at Nepenthe.

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting the Coast Gallery and Cafe with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget in Big Sur, California with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Coast Gallery and Café with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget in Big Sur, California with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

I first learned about the Coast Gallery and Café in Big Sur, California when I met Gary Woeppel, who was donating Marc Chagall and Henry Miller prints for a fundraiser at Congregation Beth Israel in Carmel, California.

Woeppel was the exclusive dealer for Chagall prints that documented his Jewish heritage in Russia and Paris, France.  He had prints of Chagall’s shtetl childhood in Russia as a Hasidic Jew as well as many bouquets for his wife Bella, wedding scenes, and a Moses-lying-down-the-law print that hangs in the Knesset in Jerusalem in Israel.

I had been asked to write a review of the Chagall exhibit fundraiser for the Monterey Country Weekly (Circulation: 200,000 now).  Woeppel was the former owner of the Monterey Country Weekly and a graduate of the University of Iowa writer’s program.  (I think he holds a PhD from the University of Iowa as does Pulitzer prize-winning author Jane Smiley, who is another PhD from the University of Iowa and a reclusive Monterey Country resident.)

Yes, I did ply Woeppel for some writing tips.  I also know my art history background was checked out with the University of Chicago by Woeppel before I could do a review of the fundraiser.  The Synagogue asked me to also do a presentation on the prints in addition to the review.

Gentiles from Detroit do know that being asked to speak at the Synagogue on art history is an honor.  I went through tons of art books at the Carmel Library in pre-Internet days to pull identification information on the prints.  I wrote a presentation and rehearsed it and agreed to an impromptu question-and-answer session after my presentation.

My presentation was geared to certain prints displayed in the exhibit. 

On the night of the presentation, I asked the Rabbi and Woeppel, “Where’s that print of the wedding scene?  I need it for my presentation,” I said.

“We sold all of them,” the Rabbi said. 

(“Time to regroup fast!!”)

“Well, I’ll look around and fill in with something else,” I said.  They had a print of Henry Miller with Anaïs Nin that I used to talk about love instead.

I did a very good presentation and liked being introduced as an “expert in iconography.”

During the question-and-answer session, someone asked, “Why did Chagall portray some of his sons as donkeys?”

“Chagall had a low opinion of several of his sons,” I answered to mirthful laughter.

I smiled and passed up fudge at the reception, because I knew I was Second City material!!

(There is a second Coast Gallery at the Lodge at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, California)

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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