eva chan

The fish soup was very good. Made of leek and mushroom and the daily fish with white asparagus was cooked well. Unfortunately I really really don’t like the spring roll in goat cheese. The dish was ill conceived with asian vegetables and some curry sauce. The flavor is all over the place. It might be better with fish or shrimp in it. Apple and pear crumble dessert is ok. Tasted healthy. I also was not impressed with the pita bread with olive tapenade. The olive tasted quite good. The salad with shrimp and asparagus tasted ok. A bit of too many things in it.

Not sure where you will find another medieval castle that looks just like those in your childhood fairytale books. Built in 12th Century onwards, owned by the Valois, and left in ruins from 17-18 century, it was bought by Napoleon and gradually restored. Some restoration detail might not be as historically accurate, but I am taking it all in. The Leopold I emperor of Belgium was married here it seems. The interior is left empty, but the tour is self guided, well labeled, and many areas are opened to the public. I think a casual day trip here with the family bringing picnic food is the way to go.

The trail is about 4 mile front and back with 900 ft elevation gain. The path is really well maintained and gently sloped so going up 900ft elevation gain wasn’t too bad except today is hot and the trail has no shade. Whats surprising is that there aren’t many wild flowers. The photos I took is really all there is! (For example, we went to Arroyo Verde Park trail at Ventura and the trail was full of wild flowers). The view at the very top of the entire Santa Barbara is quite cool, but since the town is far away, the view can’t be consider spectacular. Along the way, there is no view of the city. Just a lot of nature which is good but not extraordinary. Note also about a mile of the way is paved which is great.

Just discovered this state park. We hiked the newly created white trail and then the green trail to get to the mountain peak. The new trail is well made for sure and the views on the top of the mountain of the Hudson is spectacular. These trails seem better maintained than that in the Palisade State Park. The views are as gorgeous as Palisades. This is also a rare place where you can hike 700 feet elevation within an hour drive from Manhattan for a hike of less than 3.5 miles. The path has nice shades and we were not attacked by bugs. In a few spots, the grass was overgrown a bit and we did tick checks right after. No ticks thankfully. Come out to enjoy nature.