Somewhere (in LA)

I love California and lately have been having a real hankering to go back there.  This state has not been helped by repeated watching of Sofia Coppola’s gorgeous film “Somewhere”, set entirely at the Chateau Marmont, where I am desperate to stay.

Last time I stayed in LA – a decade ago, basically! – we stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt, which was one of the coolest hotels I have ever stayed in.  Old school Hollywood, full of Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable.  We had a family holiday roadtrip, where we flew to LA, then drove up the coast with many stops on the way, before flying home from San Francisco.

I loved the entire trip like nothing else on earth.  I have always had a lot of love for America – although lots of you don’t think that’s ‘cool’, I don’t care and I adore it!  My stepdad lived in California for some years, so going with him I have always felt almost like a native, or certainly connected to the place with an insider’s perspective by proxy.

When I was much younger, I always maintained that I would live in San Francisco one day.  Now, I think I live in Britain’s answer to San Francisco (Brighton) – seriously, I have always found the similarities, both geographic and cultural, between the two cities to be striking.  But now I find myself obsessing over LA.

I am desperate to go back.  As soon as possible.  I definitely want this to be my next big trip (the last being my solo NYC mission to the Hotel Chelsea for my 29^th birthday).  The time has come and I am plotting…