I was curious to see the other side of LA, the glamorous one. So far, I wasn’t too impressed—the houses looked nice but nothing out of the ordinary. I certainly couldn’t picture all these movie stars and socialites living here, in Korea Town or in Little Armenia.

We first headed to Santa Monica, where there is a lovely pier marking the end of Route 66. The beach looked gorgeous… It was easy to tell locals from tourists—locals had their winter jacket on, while tourists like us were in T-shirts! Indeed, LA was much warmer than I expected, it was about 20C during the day, much better than the -10C temperatures we had when we left Ottawa.

After Santa Monica, we took the ocean drive to Malibu. The road, bordered by a cliff, zigzagged along the Pacific Ocean and offered a great view. As we got closer to Malibu, the houses got bigger and the fences around them higher, but nothing like in Beverly Hills.

Now, this is where rich people live. You can tell by the size of the driveways, hiding the houses, or by the fact that there is no parking anywhere. Or because there is a flurry of landscapers driving around but no one in sight. Or because all houses display signs such as “do not enter, private property, armed response.” Bel Air, an enclave inside Beverly Hills, looked even more guarded.

We eventually ended up in Rodeo Drive, LA’s version of Avenue Montaigne in Paris. It wasn’t as impressive as I thought it would be, most flagship stores such as Chanel or Gucci didn’t have bouncers at the door (it’s a thing in Paris).

I bought one thing—a Starbucks coffee. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but they are not exactly my cup of tea.

Santa Monica Pier
Forest Gump
Santa Monica Beach
Dogtown Hotdogs
Malibu Beach and Coke
Beverly Hills
Rodeo Drive
Santa Monica
Santa Monica Police Car
Malibu Beach
Rodeo Drive
End of Route 66

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14 Comments

  1. Cynthia December 10, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    I’ve been more impressed with mansions in Montreal’s Westmount than in LA but I think it’s because the biggest and prettiest houses are probably hidden and unreachable!

    Reply
  2. Mr.G December 10, 2010 at 1:49 pm

    My blog and I are missing our favorite (and unique) commentator!

    Get back soon Zhu!!! We miss you!

    Reply
  3. Fran December 10, 2010 at 6:05 pm

    It looks so relaxed. Would love to visit some day soon.

    Reply
  4. Linguist-in-Waiting December 10, 2010 at 8:05 pm

    Wow. Things look so flat. Oh wait, I forgot it’s Los Angeles! And it’s too bright too! Have a blast!

    Reply
  5. kyh December 11, 2010 at 1:29 am

    I love the earthy tones of your photos? Is that str8 out of the camera or did you tweak some settings PS? Look very warm! 😀

    Reply
  6. Zhu December 11, 2010 at 7:13 am

    @Cynthia – I totally agree! All the fancy houses are hidden in LA.

    @Mr.G – Ah, sorry! I really don’t have a good Internet connexion, I<m writing the post in Word to copy and paste later, and commenting on blogs is hard 🙁

    @Fran – It was surprisingly laid-back I found!

    @Linguist-in-Waiting – It was super bright! I was surprised as well since we have been living in darkness in Canada for the past month.

    @kyh – Out of the camera! I used a custom white balance setting 😉

    Reply
  7. barbara December 11, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    Hey Zhu,

    I will check these out.LAX is a city that I have only passed through at the airport.
    I have to see in your pics what you could find there…
    I am so far not tempted to go.

    I hoped you enjoyed 🙂

    Reply
  8. Priyank December 12, 2010 at 1:25 pm

    Beautiful pictures indeed!

    Reply
  9. Em December 12, 2010 at 3:54 pm

    20°C? We would barely get that here in the middle of the summer!!!

    Reply
  10. Margaret December 14, 2010 at 4:41 pm

    “Armed response” ?! Oh my goodness.

    Reply
  11. Matthew Hyde July 1, 2011 at 6:16 am

    Great pictures; loved the one of the pedestrian crossing in Santa Monica, and as a Brit, there’s something evocative about the photo of Route 66…

    Reply
    1. Zhu July 4, 2011 at 10:30 pm

      Thank you! I know what you mean, I find it fascinating too 😉 Any plans to drive Road 66?

      Reply
  12. Isa December 15, 2011 at 7:26 am

    How come I never found those articles! I can’t wait to see LA, even if it was a late fascination for the city (I always avoided it in the past). Now I just want to feel how this strange city really is!

    Reply
    1. Zhu December 18, 2011 at 4:25 pm

      L.A. was a fascinating place, much better and much friendlier than I would have thought actually!

      Reply

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