One of the things I got to do while Clinton was in his conference, was go on the "Rich & Famous Tour". As the name suggests, it entailed a guided bus tour of the rich and famous people's homes in Palm Springs.

This pic is actually of Elvis & Priscilla's honeymoon house. They say that Lisa Marie was concieved in the curtained room at the front of the house. Apparently, during their entire stay, the media was camped outside on the street. I think that sparked new laws about paparazzi in Palm Springs or something like that. I certainly didn't see any cameramen lurking about during the tour, despite the fact Madonna was rumoured to be in town.

The big brown monstrocity up on the hill is Barbara Streisand's gift to her husband. The one below belongs to someone else famous, but I can't remember who!!

I know this one's a bit hard to see... but it's either Bob Hope's or Frank Sinatra's. (I keep getting the two mixed up) I'm pretty sure it's Bob's. Anyway, he built this place purely to entertain guests. It's only 2 bedroom, but can seat 1000 guests for dinner. Apparently the first roof blew off in a storm, so he replaced it with the help of the Chrysler company with some sort of copper alloy.

This one's the late Liberace's house. Note the "L" on the gates.

Check this one out! It's Liberace's letterbox!

There were many other interesting places I saw but didn't photograph, knowing I wouldn't remember what they were! The guide was a fascinating bloke: When he was much younger, a friend asked him and his jazz band to play at a new tourist park which was opening in California. Apparently, it was going to be a pretty big deal... it turned out to be Disneyland. He played there for many years until Bob Hope met him on vacation with his kids. He was so impressed with the band, he asked them if they would play at a private party for him. The band accepted and then found out the party was to be held out in the desert in a place called Palm Springs. They still accepted the gig and moved there permanently, where they went on to play at parties for the stars for several decades. Needless to say, the guide (ex-bandmaster) was a wealth of stories and gossip!

He pointed out the original houses of people like Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Dean Martin- these ones were all pretty basic and "shabby" by today's standards, especially seeing the stars bought them back then as holiday "shacks". Just off the top of my head, I also remember seeing houses owned (past or present) by Liza Minelli, Sydney Sheldon, Madonna, Gene Kelly and Liz Taylor. It was a really fascinating tour!