A few nice ladies, who know I LOVE beautiful jewelry, told me about the exhibit at The Legion of Honor. It is all French jewelry of the twentieth century. Catherine was my kind and willing cohort for this grand adventure. It was amazing. I will remember this for the rest of my life! The kind of jewelry that is more brilliant them the Crown Jewels, just because of how it is crafted. It was enough to bring me to tears. And also to make me consider the life of a jewel thief. We took the whole tour 5 times. We honestly missed the sign that said, “No photography,” so I don’t know why they made such a big deal out of a few pictures…I will ask Michael to help me post those

We each have a favorite, but the amazing thing is how we kept changing our minds, each time we went through. Catherine has exquisite taste, I must say. I think my taste is getting more “over the top.” I would wear those pieces all the time. Gardening, I don’t care. Think Liz Taylor in a sun hat and wellies. I would wear them pinned to my nighty!!! The descriptions, of each piece, were  delicious and entertaining. I have so much respect for the artists who designed and crafted these pieces. Surely, these are the finest examples I have ever seen. There was one gorgeous piece of Tiffany. It was a tiny vanity box, inlaid with opals, with tiny gold drawers to hold little pats of powder. Most were made by Cartier, Lalique, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Boucheron. Many pieces had unknown designers and that does seem sad. We left grinning, hearts pounding and on a jewelry high.

Driving around the city was its own special challenge. You would think a tourist capital would put one or two signs around. We finally stopped and asked a tiny old man for directions and he knew every road and short cut. After the exhibit, we drove to the convent where Catherine worked and wrote about for her thesis. They had a lovely tea for the volunteers. It was really delicious. Our dear Catherine is so loved there. She even won a little Irish teapot and teas. After that we drove down to Santa Row and walked around. We were very tired from our grand adventure, but wanted to keep talking about our day. We were not ready to let go of the excitement.