BOHEMIAN BAJA IN QUIET VILLAGE OF TODOS SANTOS, LIFE REVOLVES AROUND ART, FINE FOOD, SIMPLE COMFORTS.

Byline: Story and photos by Eric Noland Travel Editor

TODOS SANTOS, Mexico - On a Sunday morning, the bells pealed atop an old mission church with a real mouthful of a name: Iglesia Catolica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Todos Santos. Young women arrived for services in their finest dresses, despite the sweltering heat of late summer.

A block away, a rooster crowed in the courtyard of the police station. Around the corner, the cow bell clanged on the pushcart of a vendor selling paleterias, frozen treats in robust fruit flavors. Soon, the sweet sound of hymns sung a cappella began to drift from the open, unscreened windows of the church.

The village of Todos Santos was stirring gently to life, with no apparent haste and certainly no frenzy.

What a contrast with its neighbor at the tip of Baja California, Cabo San Lucas - 48 miles and a world away to the south.

While Cabo is luxury hotels, raucous nightlife, active recreation and a never-ceasing press of entrepreneurial commerce - craft vendors, time-share pitchmen, tour hucksters - Todos Santos is at its heart a working town, where men head off to the orchards and ranches by day, old folks sit in folding chairs on the sidewalk in the evening and teenagers flirt in the central plaza at all hours.

It sits on a hillside just inland from the Pacific shore, and is on the edge of a natural oasis, a catch basin for the rains that fall along the crest of the Sierra de la Laguna to the east.

Expatriate artists, restaurateurs and innkeepers from the United States, Canada and Europe have been finding their way here over the past 15 years, and their efforts, combined with the historic character of a town founded in 1724, have created an increasingly popular tourist destination - particularly for travelers repelled by the superficiality and too-earnest party atmosphere of Cabo.

``This is a magical place,'' said Joce Mathe, a businessman from Paris vacationing with his wife and daughter, as he prepared to head to the coast for a day of surfing.

Any magic derives from a fortuitous convergence. Awhile back, Mexico's National Institute of History and Anthropology declared the town a historic district, setting standards for the restoration of buildings that date to an era of 19th-century sugarcane plantations. Many have been painted in bright colors of blue, green, yellow and pink, now faded charmingly in the sun.

Artists have also enhanced the village fabric, led by Charles Stewart of Taos, N.M., who bounced along the dirt Highway 19 from Cabo with his wife Marylou in 1984 (the road wasn't even paved until '86).

Other contributions have been made by people like Enzio Columbo, who arrived from Italy, bought an adobe home on the central square and opened a fabulous restaurant, Cafe Santa Fe.

What an odd experience it is to settle in at a table on the romantically lit patio and peruse a menu that infuses Italian cuisine with Mexican influences. A dish of linguine with local shellfish (mussels, shrimp, clams) is served in a hearty marinara that can be ordered mild, medium or picante. I opted for medium, and was soon wiping perspiration from my eyes.

The caprese salad featured luscious Roma tomatoes and basil from the restaurant's own organic garden. The red wine was from the Guadalupe Valley in northern Baja. And in a sea of Spanish conversation, it was almost disorienting to hear Columbo chatting in the similar-sounding Italian with some visitors from his homeland at the next table.

Todos Santos, said painter Jill Logan, ``is kind of becoming a nice, bohemian spot.''

For artists in particular, she added, ``the light is just spectacular here. It doesn't matter what it's shining on. It has a great quality.''

These attributes drew Logan here from Laguna Beach six years ago. Now she indulges her expressionist style - using bright, vivid colors - on subjects as diverse as seascapes and Mexican flower vendors. Her gallery, at the corner of Calle Benito Juarez and Calle Morelos, is awash in sunlight. So are the garden and patio out back, where she does much of her work.

Todos Santos is now home to about a dozen galleries. The Charles Stewart Gallery exhibits the artist's abstract watercolors and oils; the Hotel Todos Santos Gallery displays the acrylics of Oakland native Jerry Little; and the Galeria de Todos Santos offers the work of 18 Baja artists, including oil paintings, drawings and sculpture.

High-quality Mexican folk art can also be found in the shops. My favorite establishment was Mar y Sol, where a cramped space is stocked to the rafters with silver jewelry, brightly painted ceramics and meticulously embroidered dresses.

The Hotel California, meanwhile, has the feel of an art gallery though it is principally an 11-room inn, with restaurant and bar.

John and Debbie Stewart, transplanted Canadians, bought it two years ago and made over the interior with bright shades of red and green, clever metal sculptures and local art, including some of Logan's paintings.

They also spent a great deal of their time deflecting questions about the myth of the place. For years, local legend had held that members of the Eagles stayed here on vacation in the early 1970s, and that the place had inspired their 1976 hit ``Hotel California.''

The story has since been thoroughly debunked. Don Henley, who has a writing credit on the song, said the story is purely metaphorical (a tale of unsuspecting newcomers being sucked into the trappings of the L.A. recording scene?).

Though named the Hotel California when it opened in 1950, the inn later was renamed the Hotel Mission. Several years after the song became a hit, a new owner changed the name back to Hotel California and began working the Eagles angle to the hilt.

``The guy played the song in here 166 times a day,'' said Debbie Stewart. ``He sold T-shirts. He really sold that story.

``People come in and ask, 'When were the Eagles here?' We say, 'Well, they weren't here.' We're fortunate it brings people in, but we've had to create something special here.''

The Stewarts certainly have, with vivid decor, a pool shaded by tropical greenery and an impressive restaurant, La Coronela, where Belgian chef Dany Lamote works the grill in the open kitchen and guests sit at tables on a quiet inner patio.

I made my way to La Coronela for both dinner and breakfast, and although the service could be maddeningly inattentive, the food was superb. Cabrilla, a local sea bass, was pan-fried and served with a Vera Cruz preparation - a sauce of fresh tomato and basil, studded with green olives. An appetizer of poached scallops with grapefruit and orange wedges from local orchards was divine.

Between this restaurant and Cafe Santa Fe, it was strange to spend four days here on the cape and not eat a tortilla until I got back to Cabo San Lucas.

The Hotel California's rooms are not air conditioned, though some of them will catch the stray waft of sea breeze. When the weather turns hot and steamy in late summer - the town sits squarely on the Tropic of Cancer - it's wise to have a room booked at the Todos Santos Inn, which offers the only air-conditioned lodgings to be found here.

The inn is housed in an 1872 brick home, originally the domain of a sugar baron, and has been thoroughly renovated to evoke Old Mexico - with modern comforts. A courtyard boasts a small heated pool, lush greenery, a fountain and La Copa Wine Bar. The guest rooms open onto this tranquil setting.

The owners, Los Angeles transplants Craig Sinel and John Stoltzfus, have been gradually adding new suites, constructed to resemble the original building.

It's a relaxing place to return to at the end of the day, especially when you can plunge into the pool after wandering the dirt back streets of Todos Santos. The rooms have tall ceilings, red-clay tile floors, comfortable four-poster beds hung with mosquito netting, and hand-carved armoires and other rustic furniture.

My stay was also marked by misfortune, though. No one on the hotel staff bothered to tell me that the inn's heavy iron gate and double wooden doors are locked up at 9 p.m., and that there is a side security door with keypad lock for guests returning late. (There is no caretaker on the premises overnight.) I learned this the hard way. After enjoying a late night listening to a blues trio on the patio of Santana's, I returned to find the gate and doors sealed tight.

Faced with the prospect of spending the night on the back seat of my rental car, I had to pry open a gap in a chain-link fence that protected the hotel's remodeling project, then crawled through the construction site in pitch darkness and ultimately made it back to my room.

I also learned that rooms in the original part of the house are positively stifling in warm weather; specify one of the new suites.

As for the fact that I never had so much as a drop of hot water in either of the rooms I stayed in ... well, it was so steamy outside, I would have felt like an eccentric gringo if I'd complained that only cold water streamed from the shower head. I later learned that this problem was owed to disconnected pipes at the construction project, which is scheduled for completion in the next few weeks.

When it gets warm and sticky in Todos Santos, relief is just a short drive away. Three terrific beaches stretch out just south of town: Playa Los Cerritos, Playa San Pedrito and Playa Las Palmas (also known as Playa San Pedro).

Signs don't point the way, and the roads to the coast are rutted dirt washboards. Once there, you won't find restrooms, lifeguards, trash cans or any other services. But the beaches themselves are spectacular - long arcs of sand, with remarkably clear blue water, and some legendary surf breaks.

The swimming can be a little treacherous, especially when there is a hefty shore break, but there is a gentle swimming area at the north end of Cerritos, sheltered by a long, rocky headland.

The dirt roads to the beaches are indistinguishable from farm roads that crisscross the countryside. I discovered this while trying to make my way to Playa Las Palmas, having decided to follow what appeared to be a local beachgoer.

Soon the road narrowed and the ruts grew ever deeper. Our two-vehicle convoy passed a vegetable patch. Then a tethered milk cow. And ultimately came to a stop in what was obviously this family's front yard. They all looked at me as if I was an alien who'd dropped in from a distant planet.

I said in tentative Spanish that I was looking for the beach with the palm trees. I received in return a torrent of indecipherable Spanish, accompanied by animated gestures. And smiles all around.

Yes, we weren't in Cabo anymore.

Eric Noland, [phone]

eric.noland(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: If you fly into the modern airport at Los Cabos, the car you rent will be calibrated in kilometers. The well-marked drive to Todos Santos on Highway 19 is 124 kilometers, and for this you should allow close to two hours. Plan your flight arrival and departure for daylight hours - this is a treacherous highway even in the middle of the day; driving it at night is nothing short of reckless. Be further advised that your U.S. car insurance is not good in Mexico, so you'll have to buy coverage when you rent the car.

LODGING: Hotel California, on Calle Benito Juarez at Calle Morelos, has 11 rooms. Rates range from $75 to $150. (011-52) 612-145-0525; hotelcaliforniareservations(at)hotmail.com. The Todos Santos Inn, at Calle Legaspi and Avenida Topete, has four air-conditioned suites, with two other suites under construction, and two standard rooms in the historic building. Rates range from $95 to $135. (011-52) 612-14-50040; www.todossantosinn.com.

GALLERIES, ARTISAN SHOPS: Recommended establishments include Galeria Logan, corner of Juarez and Morelos; Galeria de Todos Santos, corner of Legaspi and Topete (housed in the Todos Santos Inn); Hotel Todos Santos Gallery, Legaspi on the plaza; Mar y Sol, Juarez at Hidalgo; Charles Stewart Gallery, Centenario between Topete and Obregon.

BEACHES: There is a highway speed bump at the southern limits of Todos Santos. Drive south 12 kilometers from this point to reach Playa Los Cerritos. You'll see a dirt road angling off toward the coast. There is no sign. ... To reach Playa Las Palmas (also called Playa San Pedro), drive south a little more than four kilometers from the speed bump. Look for a white building on the inland side of the highway called Campo Experimental. The unmarked dirt road to the beach is directly across the highway from this building. ... The entrance to Playa San Pedrito, eight kilometers south of the speed bump, is marked with a broad masonry arch. There is a campground and RV park at the end of this dirt road. Day use fee is about $2.

OFF THE SHELF: The Automobile Club of Southern California recently released a new driving guide for the entire peninsula. Titled ``Mexico's Baja California'' (AAA; $18.95), it is an informative, full-color guidebook with nine pages devoted to Todos Santos - including a detailed map of the town. Available at many AAA offices in the Bay Area, and also at Borders and Barnes & Noble. ... While in Todos Santos, you might want to pop into El Tecolote Libros, a shop that carries an extensive selection of English-language books and magazines. They're like old friends when you've been wrestling with Spanish in conversation, on signs and on the radio for a few days. It's on Calle Juarez at Hidalgo.

UPCOMING EVENTS: The town will host an art festival Feb. 5-12, a film festival March 3-6.

INFORMATION: Todos Santos' official tourism Web site is www.todossantos.org.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box, map

Photo:

(1 -- 4 -- color) The leisurely pace in Todos Santos is evident at the town's central square, top, home to the mission-style church Iglesia Catolica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar, in the brightly painted buildings and dirt streets, above center, and at the nearby Playa Los Cerritos beach, above, where swimming is relatively safe inside the shelter of rocks. The village's artistic side is shown at Hotel California, above right, where metal sculptures of mariachi players greet patio visitors.

(5 -- 6) Artist Jill Logan, left, who moved from Laguna Beach six years ago, stands in her Todos Santos gallery alongside one of her paintings, ``Vendedora de Flores.'' She is one of many U.S. ex-patriates who now call Todos Santos home. The town has an abundance of art galleries, including Mar y Sol, where brightly painted ceramics grace the front wall, right.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor

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IF YOU GO (see text)

Map:

TODOS SANTOS

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist