Barcelona. November, 2012

Don’t mess with the Catalans. And especially don’t mess with Catalan musicians. Someone obviously disagrees with the ban on playing music in this plaza and has made a few adjustments to the text.

Cannes. November, 2012

I don’t know why, I just like this photo. Our sailing yacht in the distance. These barefoot kids on a pile of dried up seaweed. The color of the sea. The wind. The bleached-out sky. The red of the little girl’s outfit. All the colors of the French flag.

Cannes. November, 2012

A beach town off season. Never mind that the attendants put out those lounge chairs. These Europeans respect the calendar and its “end of season” rules. I’ve seen it in Italy. I’ve seen it here in France. In Spain, not so much. Anyway, most of the folks here in Cannes this day seemed like tourists, more eager to pose for photos on the steps of the Palais des Festivals than to put their toes in the Mediterranean.

Cannes. November, 2014

Splendid. What a great word. And what a beautiful, old hotel here in the seaside, cinema-centered town of Cannes. One of a handful of “great ladies” that house the celebrities (and businessmen) who come to wheel and deal at the film festival each year. So elegant. So French. How nice it would be to have one of those balconied rooms looking out over the Mediterranean.

Watertown, MA. June, 2012

Every year on June 3, I try to reproduce (within reason) the Turkish breakfast that Nick and I enjoyed on our first morning in Istanbul on June 3, 2007. Each year it’s a little different but still honors the spirit of the original. Here’s the five-year anniversary entry. And here’s the original 2007 breakfast.

Cannes. November, 2012

I’ve long gotten over my suspicion that once word gets out about my travel plans, all of the countries on my itinerary quickly decide to start major construction projects and send all of their important paintings out for restoration. Still, the coincidence of the appearance of scaffolding and the time of my arrival is higher than average. So I was happy to see this compromise in a church being restored in the old city section of Cannes. The protective barrier cloths that hang on each side of the church interior feature photographs of what you’d see if there were no construction happening. Nice touch.

Cannes. November, 2012

I am always amazed and touched at the importance Europeans place upon flowers. Especially southern Europeans. Each market seems to offer a wonderful variety. And I love watching people carrying their flower purchases home with them. I’m surprised each time when I see again Roman matrons carrying their flowers with the lower stem ends in their hands and the blossoms pointed downward toward the pavement. Just the opposite of how we tend to carry flowers here.