I have not posted for the last two days. No warnings, no advance notice, just *poof* I disappeared. There are no official rules in the blogosphere, but I find this to be ultimate un-cool. My apologies to all. Now for the good stuff. I disappeared to Chicago, then San Francisco where I lost myself in a sun-soaked glorious week of friends and family.

Which brings me to this week’s Friday@Flore. Before the Flore became I regular part of my life’s routine, there was the Dolores Café. Located on a busy neighborhood corner, just below Dolores Park with its historic California mission. There are basketball courts, a high-tech kiddie park, rolling green hills and a spectacular view of downtown, the entire scene perfumed with the aromas of medical marijuana.

I was not falling into hyperbole when I spoke of a sun-soaked SF visit. Its unusual, but it happened and every local with the slightest excuse to procrastinate had hit the slopes. I often joke that I do not know how to dress, because California has no sense of style, but my afternoon spent following the local street fashion scene proves me woefully wrong.

Couples of every combination were putting on their fashionable best – a relaxed adult grandson with his super cool grandma, LGBT trendsetters, woefully hipster couples, true next generation hippies, and vintage vamps. It was a kaleidoscope of style and design that left me feeling like a kid who had just devoured her favorites from her plastic pumpkin Halloween goodie bag. Well, to be honest, I HAD just devoured some of my childhood, but that’s another adventure…

I’m starting this week with the classic Paris shot. Please accept this as my apology for not being able to offer the real deal, because instead of heading the Café de Flore right now, I am sitting on an airplane with M, headed to Chicago to see our much-missed E for Family Weekend at the University of Chicago. there is no French term for Family Weekend. The idea is so foreign that I have to translate it, and then explain the concept, and they still nod at me vacantly.

Through the past six months I have collected more than photos. I have met charming people, like this lovely German couple who met in Paris as students 20 years ago. They were back for the first time, having left a young son at home so they can celebrate their anniversary.

Others don’t wait twenty years, at all. Others come daily, some even at the exact same time, settling into the same spot, sharpening their crayons and drawing their own conclusions of life @Flore.

And not everyone leaves the kids at home. this precious group was traveling en famille, Dad patiently watching the kinder while Mom did a little book shopping at L’Ecume des Pages (excellent bookstore next to the Flore and open until midnight, wahoo!!!)

And then there are those who are out and about exploring the boulevard with man’s best friend, les chiens that even the French understand is (wo)man’s best friend.