The Desert???

It is a fact .... without this

And this....

the Coachella Valley would just be desert! But Palm Springs, CA is one of our favourite places to visit this time of year. We stayed at the Indian Wells Renaissance Esmeralda surrounded by beautiful pools, palm trees, and golf courses.

Everyday I woke up excited to put on my mini-iPod, downloaded with my favourite walking songs and head for the mountains. The streets are wide with manicured sidewalks and the sun was usually warm on my face, sometimes I had to dodge the continuous water sprinklers.

This year we had a special invitation to attend a cocktail party at the former estate of Mr. Frank Sinatra. Twin Palms, named appropriately, was so Hollywood 50's Glam!

The home stretched out to surround the famous piano shaped pool (which wasn't actually built to resemble a piano at all, but when the light fell through the pergola walkway, the shadows cast across the water looked just like piano keys, a little trivia I couldn't resist sharing!)  

We were entertained with a selection of Sinatra songs on a grand piano next to the original recording system Frank had installed to cut records while he vacationed.

And, in case you are interested, the estate is available to rent for an event or a private vacation of your own! Did I mention that while we sipped our Coppola wine, Francis Ford Coppola, film director, producer, screen writer, and wine maker, was there to entertain us with stories about The Godfather. It was a fantastic evening in the desert!