Hana's Heavenly Haven~

In the plumeria-scented heart of Old Hawaii on the coastline of Haleakala National Park--is the 4,500 acre Hana Ranch and on it a 'Top Ten Hotel of the Life Styles of The Rich and Famous.' The ultra charming Travaasa ...formerly Hana Ranch Hotel...once owned in part by the Getty Trust.

Sounds expensive, oui? Well it is a bit...in season. Off-season rates drop away faster than do all of your cares on arriving here. In 2011, the resort was rated #1 in Hawaii by Conde Nast Readers...and also wins raves by nearly 400 guest reviewers on Trip Advisor.

Before moving onto the Mauna Kea Resort--we stayed here for a week in a bungalow. Wearing perfumed leis around our necks, and sipping exotic drinks on an ocean view deck while watching a sunset that we thought would never end. And you know, it really hasn't. The feeling of total peace, beauty, and bliss can always be conjured again--just by closing my eyes.

Guests were assigned a dining room table for their entire stay. At breakfast, a checklist of lunch items was next to your place-setting with a tiny pencil for you to tick off selections. Later a picnic basket was delivered by a cheerful steward on the hidden beach that Pulitzer Prize winning author, James Michener, called the most beautiful in the world.

We took a spectacular sightseeing ride in a small plane, rode horses, (and again later on Parker Ranch on the big island--one of the largest and oldest ranches in the U.S.); swam in the Sacred Seven Pools, drove the bumpy-country lane out to Kipahulu to the serene Palapala Ho'omau Church to visit famed aviator Charles Lindberg's grave. Where the guest book in the charming old wooden church was signed by visitors from all points of the globe.

At dinner one night a film-star couple was seated next to us conducting a fierce argument in stage whispers and theatrical gestures. I had one eye on them (mostly concerned that knives and glassware were about to start flying) and one on my husband who was talking about, em, something. Exasperated he huffed, 'ARE you working undercover for The National Enquirer?!' The couple heard him and the next night at a gorgeous torch-lit beach luau hosted by the hotel--avoided me as if I were a Hollywood gossip queen.

Hana is the lush, peaceful side of the island. If you're seeking that true aloha spirit...go before hordes of kiddies just released on summer vacation arrive in mid-June...and while it's truly a grown-up paradise. here

Ethereal~

Faves from Paris Fashion Week were Elie Saab's monochromatic feminine styles...and the last image--Christian Dior with a chic-50's reference.

My inner minimalist is content with simplicity--à la Martha Graham: Keep the body defined....the posture athletic...and you can spend the rest of your days in a $10. black leotard from Target and a blunt hair-cut and feel fab. She said:

'The body is a sacred garment. The body is your instrument. The body never lies.

The body says what words cannot.

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy...that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique...

'In a dancer's body the audience must see something of the miracle that is a human being. Nothing is more revealing than movement...

'Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. The only sin is mediocrity...

'Some have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can...

'We learn by practice…in some area an athlete of God. You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost...'

Other faves this week: For a creative project that needs a boost--go here. Tony Robbins' short interview with a 108-year old Nazi concentration camp survivor who still practices the piano 3-hours a day: here Alt Design Summit 2012: here Antioch College offers 4-year FREE tuition (value $106,000). HS seniors must apply by 2/15: here A song for your beautiful Friday: here

King Arthur in France~

In the 1960 musical Camelot that became synonymous with the Kennedy White House--King Arthur sings 'How to Handle a Woman' concluding...'simply love her, love her...love her'. The origins of all that charm and wisdom was centered in the enchanted Brocéliande Forest in Brittany. No wonder 'First Francophile' Jackie who attended the Sorbonne, and loved history, the arts, and myth--was enamored with Camelot.

The fertile setting for the King Arthur legend was once inhabited by the Celts--who believed the mystical land to be the portal to another world. This forest is where lakes, rivers and fountains hold magic powers, where ancient funeral mounds date back to the Bronze Age, where Merlin advised King Arthur to recover the Holy Grail--which would grant immortality and bring harmony. Although in Camelot--the King felt no peace on the eve of his wedding: here

The Brocéliande Forest inspired J.R.R. Tolkien, it's where Ridley Scott filmed Robin Hood; and where for centuries--books, poems, films, and TV productions set King Arthur tales. In today's modern world the forest has shrunk to 27-square miles (the size of Manhattan, plus five additional square miles, and Donald Trump's hair) and is called Forêt de Paimpont.

French writer Chrétien de Troyes penned five Arthurian romances between 1170 and 1190. Much later, in the 15th c. Thomas Malory retold the legend in Le Morte d'Arthur—one of England’s first printed books. Tennyson’s first Arthurian poem, ‘The Lady of Shalott’ was published in 1832.

In other words, the French who also gave the world the original Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella--have been steeping their DNA in the immense legend of King Arthur for centuries upon centuries.

You can do the same on a visit to the Arthurian Center at the Château de Comper: here ...where you can follow the footsteps of King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. Stand by the Fontaine de Barenton, where Merlin fell in love with the Fairy Viviane, Lady of the Lake and then built a crystal palace beneath the waters that reflects Chateau of Comper--and where Lancelot was born.

Here Viviane absorbed Merlin’s powers to imprison him in 9 magical circles ‘as intangible as air but as hard as rock’ so they’d remain as one forever. His tomb is a megalith of standing stones in the northern part of the forest—which align with Carnac 100 km away on the Gulf of Morhiban where 3,000+ prehistoric megaliths erected around 3300 BC-4500 BC (above) overlook a seaside resort famous for crystal-clear water--and as a through line with the megaliths on Malta.

In the nearby 17th century Church of the Holy Grail in the village of Tréhorenteuc are stained-glass windows and paintings that combine Celtic and Christian symbols with Arthurian Mythology--recapturing the Quest for the Holy Grail. Above the southern entry is the inscription: ‘The door is inwards.’

Val Sans Retour--Valley of No Return--is where Morgane Le Fay--disappointed in love, petrified Knights in objects like ‘The Faithless Lovers Rock’--who were later freed by Lancelot. In this area is a Neolithic burial site ‘Hotié de Viviane’ and a rock known as Merlin’s seat where he sat in contemplation--perhaps of thoughts expressed 800-years later in ‘One Brief Shining Moment’ from Camelot. Camelot!

Rochefort-en-Terre~

Picturesque Rochefort-en-Terre in Brittany is one of the most flower-filled of France's designated 'beautiful villages'. The cobblestone streets are lined with classical homes, quaint hotels, and shops festooned with colorful geraniums and wisteria like Fantasia in overdrive.

A mile outside the town is a popular lake--also nearby is the sea and mystical Broceliande Forest. Since the 1100s,

Brocéliande has been associated in literature with

King Arthur's

palace, his k

nights,

Merlin, and

archangels

.

The larger port city of Brest about 200-miles north was similar in character before WWII--when it saw brutal action, years of occupation, and widespread destruction--as shown in the bottom photo.

I was in my twenties when I often visited my grandmother and her French friend. Originally from Brest, 'Miss Colburn' lived part-time in Switzerland after marrying a high-ranking American diplomat. Even in her 80s she was slim, very feminine, animated and attractive.

The family estate in Brest was surrounded with acres of fruit trees and gardens near the ocean. When the Nazis invaded, they confiscated furniture, paintings, silver, jewelry, anything of value, and molested the housekeepers. Though barely 100-lbs and always beautifully dressed--Miss Colburn spat at them and was dragged-off to jail--a story that she retold with relish. Her husband was in Switzerland at the time but able to barter her release.

Her job at home was to tie individual drawstring bags around fruit still hanging on the trees to protect and ripen them. On a number of occasions she showed me their family's leather-bound guest book that was signed by high-ranking American and French commanders. She would enunciate the names like an incantation...running her fingers just under them as people reflexively do at war memorials.

'Miss Colburn' would drink wine while Jacque Brel records played--and she'd describe pre-war scenes as graceful as a Renoir painting. How the freshest fish arrived straight from the dock on a seller's cart at their back door for their lunch and dinner. Or how her sister--a masterful seamstress--would take even quality clothes purchased before the war apart at the seams to meticulously re-tailor them for the family--while their mother played classical piano in the background.

Miss Colburn would fascinate me by her grit towards the Nazis--then flatter by exclaiming, 'You're just like a French girl.' Perhaps her turn-on-a-dime heroics and bon mots were absorbed from proximity to a legendary land of King Arthur. I'd chant to myself Miss Colburn's words....just like a French girl...just like a French girl. But it was my son who became French!

The Physics of Magic~

Spirit is more critical to a nation or an individual, more crucial than wealth~so said President Eisenhower. National wealth is measured in GDP--the value of tangible products and services. The spirit within each of us is intangible--science has never identified a physical locus of spirit inside any human being. Yet, the word that comes from Latin and means ‘breath, vigor, soul, courage’ is the animating force of life.

‘The Self’, ‘The Observer’ or ‘The Ghost in the Machine’ of individual spirit is encoded on each of the approximately 100 trillion cells in your body.

How do you light it up?

People crave and need real magic. Magic is another intangible—but we recognize it when we see it—in places, concepts, in people realizing their dreams. Magic is always around and within us just waiting to be brought out.

California, founded on magic, became a U.S. state 74-years after America was created. Even coming that late into the fold the Golden State became the # 8 largest economy in the world.

Spain having discovered the territory-- blessed it with the name of a mythical paradise from a 1510 Spanish Romance novel~‘Califia’. In the novel the inhabitants were strong vigorous spirits with beautifully fit bodies. Their Queen carried weapons made from the gold that was the sole metal in their island and led with an unconquerable heart.

This powerfully romantic ideal of California was firmly entrenched when the state seal was finally crafted; and dominated by the image of Goddess Athena. Like Califia’s Queen~Athena is a goddess of spirited endeavors.

Thus conceived in powerful images and a legend-making story, California embodied magic from the start. This is a critical distinction. Quantum Physics states every cell in our bodies responds to core beliefs.

Today, a potentially reality-altering discovery is rumored in an apparent leaked memo from CERN—the site of the world’s largest atom smasher near Geneva, Switzerland that may have isolated the subatomic particle known as the ‘God particle.’ Einstein worked the last 40-years of his life to discover this juncture of science and spirituality. Finding it would rock the world.

We believe that atoms and particles are solids. But subatomic physics proves they are blinking bits of encoded information as glittery as the electromagnetics (strongest of the four physics forces) of which they are made--generated from our Sun 93 million miles away--the brightest star in our galaxy. Uni-verse means ‘One Song’ as in the Hologram of the Great Being of which we are all a part.

Conceptions like Camelot, California or Disney emotionally resonate because they convey magic. But YOU are the real Magic Kingdom. Let that be what you re-encode on your trillions of cells every day. Let that be on the invisible seal of your permanent state—that spirit that evolves each day and lives in eternity. Try it for 30-days and see if the world is more magical. And if your spirit is more golden bright. As President Eisenhower said--that's the real wealth.

Holly's New Digs~

In Breakfast at Tiffany’s Holly Golightly famously proclaimed, ‘If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!’

Well, Holly, your real life-place is glamorously refurbished and just two blocks from the flagship Fifth Avenue Tiffany store. So grab the cat and your tiara and whistle down a cab.

The gem-like 1,700 square foot, 14th floor St. Regis suite is so VOUS--with Tiffany blue accents and sparkly whimsical touches. High ceilings, handsome crown moldings, a fireplace, marble tub, formal dinning room, and a drinks cart stocked with crystal barware from your fave store. You can mix cocktails for ‘Fred, darling’ (AKA Paul Varjak) or José da Silva Pereira--while enjoying Central Park views.

The plushy re-do by designer Caroline Rippeteau and the Tiffany design team—ensures guests channel Audrey as soon as their heels hit the double door threshold on the $9,500-a-night suite. They'll quaff complementary bubbly on arrival, enjoy 24-hour butler service and VIP Tiffany shopping.

As Holly would exclaim, ‘Oh, golly gee damn! I’m divinely and utterly happy here…and just CRAZY about Tiffany, darling. Why I’d give up smoking if they asked me to!’ But I don’t think Cat needs a new name, do you? Breakfast at Tiffany's heartstopping opening scene in HD: here and film trailer: here

San Francisco Sour Dough Bread to NY Mayor~

The Giants are headed into the Super Bowl after a 31-yard field goal in sudden-death overtime broke the tie for a three-point lead over the 49ers. Final score 20-17. Now San Francisco's Mayor Lee will overnight NYC's Mayor Bloomberg sour dough bread and drape a Powell Street Cable Car with the Giant's banner. The 49ers had a tremendous year. Both teams played a fantastic game. Congrats to Big Blue!

Always~

It's rainy and gray in Carmel today....and my brother's birthday. He's been gone three years. I can draw a straight line from Wall Street crimes to his far too early demise. He was a graceful, witty, honorable, very intelligent, enterprising, ultra-responsible, non-flashy man. If he ever swore--I never heard it, and I'm sure he never paid a bill late in his life. When he often came to my home--it was always with a huge smile and a just-baked pie.

His ashes are at the pictured Haystack Rocks. The third image is steps away from a lake property we bought together in our twenties. The last photo is the view from the back of his home...remodeled by the new owners. His crystal clear light blue eyes were donated and now two can see who couldn't before. Ironically, his beloved dog's name was also the name of the patron saint of blindness.

A million memories and images float past---on '...the river of passing events' that Marcus Aurelius called life. The brilliant ancient Roman also said, 'Heaven-born things fly to their native seat.' So, I know for certain where he is...besides always in my heart. here