Tourist Attractions & Monuments California

Whale-watching tours led by marine biologists in Monterey Bay. For over 30 years, this company has filmed documentaries for Nat Geo and the BBC, among others. During orca and humpback whale season, easy online booking is recommended. The minimum tour is 3 to 4 hours to see the whales in high season, but you'll need to take the 8-hour tour to see the whales and orcas in April-May when they're in the bay. A tour we recommend if you're here in spring.

Our favorite is the Saturday market. Every week, a long succession of stalls takes over Date Street, as rich in color as in smell. As well as fresh fruit and vegetables, there's a wide variety of specialities to eat: empanadas, crepes, raclette cheese sandwiches, oysters, lobster rolls... Nothing Italian! Once you've enjoyed your shopping on the steps of Amici Park, withlive music playing in the background, you can lose yourself among the stalls selling jewelry, plants, flowers and clothes.

The vineyard's shallow clay and silt soils help the vines produce small, tightly packed bunches that yield intensely flavored grapes, especially since they are kept at a reasonable temperature by the ocean breeze the locals like to call the Carneros Express. Tasting of syrah (what a wonder!), but also zinfandel, pinot, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot... Don't hesitate to chat with the owner, a funny guy with a passion for France. He will tell you about his month-long vacation there.

In the 1980s, José Ferrer moved from Barcelona to Sonoma with his wife Gloria, looking for the ideal region to produce sparkling wine. They chose Carneros. This pinot noir and chardonnay specialist opens his estate and cellar to the curious as part of his tastings. The tour allows you to learn more about the transformation process to obtain the estate's sparkling wine. If you meet him, give him some news from Europe!

This website is really great: it lists every possible themed tour of San Francisco, with a handy calendar of visits over the next few days (at least a dozen a day in low season). The principle? The tour is "free", organized by "volunteers", but you'll need to leave a tip of course, which is quite high for the 90 to 120-minute tour. For each tour, you'll need to pre-register online, where available dates are conveniently displayed.

Established in 1927, the ranch originally produced apples and grapes, which it supplied to Sonoma Valley wineries. It has long enjoyed an excellent reputation. For almost 10 years, it has been producing its own wine: many bottles of chardonnay, but also pinot noir, merlot, pinot gris, syrah and cabernet-sauvignon. Tasting on the terrace overlooking the vines is very pleasant, in a bucolic setting. But bottles aren't cheap... Our favorite: Roberts Road Pinot Noir.