And the renowned port of Venere,
safe under any wind and capacious enough
for all the fleets that under heaven exist
———Francesco Petrarca,
Itinerarium breve de Ianua usque ad Ierusalem et Terram Sanctam (1358)
See the wall encircling the town? The houses on the waterfront were laid as homes, but designed to function as city wall when the Republic of Genoa took over the city in 1139. July 19, 2016, iPhone 6 Plus.
A fortress, first recorded in 1080, organised by the marquesses of Genoa under the Holy Roman Empire, to defend the coast against Moor pirates.
Now in the heart of the Cinque Terre, and assaulted, not by Saracens, but by tourists.
Peregrinus lies on a mooring buoy, slightly to the left, off-camera. Photo taken from the 15th-century Doria Castle, an enlargement of the pre-existing fortress. 17 July, iPhone 6 Plus.
Down the stairway I have come, hand in hand with you, at least a million steps
And now that you are absent there is a void in each stair
Like one, so our trip has been all too short
——— E. Montale, on a plaque on the staircase to the cemetery,
Monterosso al Mare
In Monterosso al Mare, when the fat lady sings, the aria concert right in the middle of the street is only getting started. Peregrinus laid on a park buoy just in front of town. 10:16 pm, 16 July 2016, iPhone 6 Plus.
Amid the general decay of Genoa, a large church stands at the end of formerly grandest via Balbo. There is an impressively large Neoclassic portico, obviously tacked in front of a Baroque façade that would otherwise look exactly like every other 16th century church in Spanish America. All in all, not very promising for the tourist. But early on a Sunday morning, this is the first open building the visitor finds after a certain walk from the train station, and so one goes inside.
And what a find! The Santissima Annunziata del Vastato basilica's spectacular decoration by the best artists of Genoa during its golden age in the 17th century was sponsored by the Lomellini family, vastly enriched by a concession granted in 1543 by King Charles of Spain: the exclusive right to mine the red coral on Tabarca Island. Used to make jewellery, coral was sold in Europe and much exported to India as well, making the Lomellini among the wealthiest of Genoese. The concession ended in 1741, when the Moors invaded Tabarca and enslaved the 69 Genoese families for 27 years; their freedom was, in the end, purchased by Charles III of Spain in 1768 who then gave the 394 former slaves the island of Nueva Tabarca in Spain.
The Lomellini used the basilica as family chapel from 1591 and in 1783 got Pope Pius VI to formally declare it as family parish (parrocchia gentilizia), but the family became extinct in 1794.
Genoa, 10 July 2016, while Peregrinus remained at anchor at Santa Margherita Ligure. iPhone 6 Plus.
The Strada Nuova was laid out in 1550 and most of its buildings were completed by 1588. For a Europe that had lost most of its straight Roman streets, this one was revolutionary; for a civilization re-discovering all that had been lost during the Dark Ages, its neoclassic residences were a revelation.
Rubens traveled south to draw it, and for centuries afterwards, this was the most famous street in the world, a required stop in the Grand Tour.
The Baron Haussman studied it before re-making Paris, and by the second half of the XIX century the principles of urbanism launched at the Strada Nuova had become the norm everywhere, and so the neighborhood reverted to relative obscurity.
The street is now full of museums and public buildings and there is a bit of deja vu as one walks it: Paris, Buenos Aires, New York, Berlin, these all feel a bit like this old, yet newest of streets.
Peregrinus was left at anchor at Santa Margherita Ligure and its crew enjoyed a day exploring the decaying hulk of the Most Serene Republic of Genoa. iPhone 6 Plus, 10 July 2016.
Listen: how at Portofino the silver cords of the sea, trembling, caress the Molo
———Maria Konopnicka (1842-1910)
Since Roman times people have been coming here and falling in love with it.. iPhone 6 Plus, 7.35 am, 7 July 2016.
The Anse de l'Argent Faux is a favorite spot for the local kids. We had a fun afternoon looking at their antics and walking around what the WSJ calls "relative bargains."
Peregrinus from Villa Eilenroc, designed by Charles Garnier in 1860. iPhone 6 Plus, 30 June 2016
The place is ridiculous. In the morning, the megayachts leave St Tropez, Cannes and Antibes and race to anchor in front of this 3-mile beach. From further afield, i.e., Cap Ferrat and Monaco, fast boats in the 30 to 80-ft range zoom in at 20 knots-plus to make it before lunch time. And for the people unwilling to lounge on a fully crewed yacht for an hour to make the trip, the helicopters come in all day from Monaco, Menton, and other points.
The beach then hums with activity, but it is crowded. Think Central Park on a sunny late spring weekend.
Then in mid afternoon, everyone commutes back to their harbours and villas, and only a handful of boats remain at anchor to watch the sunset, there where were hundreds of vessels laid at anchor just a few hours before.
And this is what we saw each day for three days at Pampelonne. And let's not even talk about the nudist sectors of the beach.
Pampelonne before noon, only about 3/4ths full, looking south from Tahiti Beach. Each flag marks a different "beach." 27 June 2016, iPhone 6 Plus.
In the two months we spent on the Côte d'Azur, we saw evidence of la dolce vita everywhere. Even in the refuse bins.
When we took out Peregrinus' household trash at the Port d'Antibes-Vauban marina, the container was nearly full. Some harried yacht crewman had dumped his trash in front of the dumpster, and we just had to pull our iPhone camera out. The remains of a bit of shopping spree laid there for the trashman to pick up: 24 bottles of Louis Jadot, 2 boxes of Chanel, 9 of Hermés, 3 of some fancy Italian apparel thing, and a few shoe boxes.
Antibes, 24 May 2016. iPhone 6 Plus.
Huc usque Italia ab hinc Gallia.
———Antonine Itinerary, early III cent. (Wesse:206)
The Triumph was originally round. Only four columns out of 12 have been restored.
Built in the year 6 before Christ at the point the Romans considered the southern end of the Alps, the mountain immediately above Monaco, this monument celebrated Octavian Augustus' victory over the alpine peoples.
Forty-nine meters high, it marked at the time the border between Italy and Gallia. It was built across the Via Iulia Augusta and was visible from the coastal sea routes to Spain.
The Tropaeum Alpium from Peregrinus' anchorage at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. 19 June 2016, Leica Typ 114
