I don’t often take pictures of meals, as I know a lot of folks do. But this morning’s breakfast at the Clafoutis French Bakery and Restaurant around the corner from our timeshare in Santa Fe served our eggs, bacon, croissants, and French preserves in a most interesting way.

After breakfast we drove from Santa Fe to Tijeras via the very scenic Turquoise Trail — NM highway 14. Along the way, we took the Highway 536 turnoff toward the Sandia Peak and drove up to an elevation of 8,600 feet. There we took a short walk to a gorgeous lookout over the canyon.

From Tijeras we took interstate 40 into Albuquerque, and spent some time in the shops in Old Albuquerque. We had to take shelter under an overhang during one of the heaviest downpours of rain and hail either of us had ever experienced. Not to mention quite a departure from the California drought.

Tomorrow morning, it’s off to the airport for the ride home, full of memories of a great time in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Now, we look forward to two weeks in France and Barcelona next month. Until then, safe travels to all.

The evening at the Santa Fe Opera was spectacular last night. It started with a “Preview Buffet”dinner on the beautiful grounds of the opera house. The double rainbows captured in the picture below foreshadowed the pouring rain during dinner. We enjoyed conversation with two other couples — one from Dallas, TX (temporarily relocated from Orlando, FL) and the other from Colorado Springs, CO. 

Ready for dinner

Double rainbow

The Santa Fe opera house is open on both the left and right sides of the audience, as well as the back of the stage. Their production of Don Giovanni was superb in every way — the set, costuming, and music. For example, a 20-foot statue occupied the center rear of the stage throughout much of the performance but the lighting on it varied with the scenes. In the final scene, it shimmered with an ethereal, red glow, as Don Giovanni was tortured before descending into hell (below the stage) for his many misdeeds. 

View of stage from our seats

Today, we returned to the main plaza for awhile, followed by visits to Museum Hill, where several interesting museums are located. We had a great snack on the patio adjoining a wonderful plaza, set among the museums. Here is a shot of a significant statue at one end of that plaza.

On the plaza at Museum Hill

Our day neared its end in an unusual way — having dinner at a restaurant in the dark, using the flashlights on our phones to read the menu and see our food. A power outage that covered a very large area struck almost immediately after we had been seated at La Boca Restaurant, which ordinarily serves a huge array of delicious tapas. With the power outage, we were limited to salads and a cheese platter, which were quite good. We took Uber back to the timeshare instead of walking 15 minutes in the dark streets to find the happy surprise — lights were on at the timeshare. 

After a three hour delay at the San Francisco airport, Bev and I flew to Albuquerque and drove to Santa Fe last night. Today, following breakfast at a restaurant on the plaza, we browsed the kiosks in the plaza where many artists were selling their works having rented the space from Girls Inc., a non-profit group that has held the arts festival every year for several decades. Parts of Santa Fe are so walkable that we then toured the Loretta Chapel, built in the late 19th century. It features a spiral staircase that makes two complete 360 degree turns with no visible means of support except its base and its attachment to the choir loft. Built with square wooden pegs and no glue or nails. The banisters were a later addition.

Tonight, we have tickets to the Santa Fe Opera to see Don Giovanni in that gorgeous venue.