Barcelona. November, 2012

The fabled La Boqueria, though filled with stalls (and tourists), is not the only market in town by a long shot. A short walk east, just beyond the cathedral, brings you to the Mercat Santa Caterina, a calmer, more neighborhood-y market where you can find just about anything you’re looking for. Even charcuteria spelled with a Catalan X.

Barcelona. November, 2012

Barcelona is a city of light and shadows. Especially in late-autumn when the sun casts its raked shafts of light. Especially in the narrow paths of the medieval section of the city. Especially in the early morning.

Barcelona. November, 2012

Communal biking has caught on in so many cities now (including Boston and New York), that it’s caused me to remember that several years ago Barcelona was the first place I’d seen such a novel endeavor. Happy to see it continuing to thrive on a recent visit.

Cannes. November, 2012

On a 1972 visit to the French Riviera, I remember having a grilled dorade meal at a tiny, family-run restaurant overlooking Monaco’s harbor. Long gone that lovely restaurant, and the stretch of seaside street where it lay is now super-developed into high-rise, pricey real estate. But the dorade lives on, or maybe lives isn’t le mot just. Here are some on offer in the central marché in Cannes seen on a more recent Riviera visit. Sauvage no less.

Monaco. November, 2012

After we’d signed up for our now-annual Windstar cruise, we learned that it was (somewhat embarrassingly) called “Glitter and Glam of the Riviera.” This photo of Dr. Blake against the lights of Monte Carlo may explain why. I’ll leave it to you to decide which is glitter, which glam.

Monaco. November, 2012

I had last been in Monaco in 1972, 40 years earlier! No wonder I was so disappointed that the place had become so developed and built up. Disney-fied to a certain degree in its clean and precise regularity. All of it conveying extravagant wealth. Look at this pretty harbor tucked away in a private cove behind the royal palace. These folks don’t want their yachts mixing with the general riff-raff of the main harbor. Oh, I shouldn’t think so.

Monaco. November, 2012

My friend James dislikes cyclamen, so I took this photo in Monaco’s big public market just for him.