Au bord de la mer

Now that the summer has returned after all that grey, wet weather here in the UK is it time to think of going down to the sea? I intend to return soon to the Royal Academy's superb exhibition of 19th Century representations of the northern coastline of France from the 1860s and 1870s when Parisians descended on places like Trouville with their parasols and highly unsuitable clothing. There are a couple of stunning Whistlers and others by Monet, Manet, and Renoir. Hurry because it finishes on 30th September.

I seem to have received a lot of invitations to private views over the next seven days (watch this space) so this literary blog will have a flavour of the visual arts for the coming week.