La Mer

Mary: star of the sea, dew of the sea, bitterness of the sea (depending on who you ask)

A painting of me playing in the Maine coast by my mother

Despite (or perhaps because of) growing up in a land-locked state, I have always loved the sea. During my childhood, my family visited the Maine coast every summer. We stayed in my grandmother's cottage by the sea and I would fall asleep to the sound of the waves breaking on the rocky shore. Through these summers, I learned to love the smell of salt water. This love and fascination was strong enough that I adored even the beaches of Galveston (a mere hour from my university). While a lot of my classmates had had great experience with California or nicer Gulf beaches and dismissed Galveston as dirty -- they're not wrong, it is dirty -- I still loved the feel of the sand and the taste of salt in the air.

Galveston does have its moments

While watching TF1 the other day, they started a report on les phares (the lighthouses) of Brittany. They now have automated lighthouses that don't require people to live in relative isolation. Unfortunately, these lighthouses are falling into disrepair. I've never been to Brittany, but the images I've seen of its coast line (particularly the Côtes d'Armor -- armor means coast in Breton and côte means coast in French) recall my wonderful summers in Maine. I can't wait to get there. Though I won't be living on the coast, I'll be less than an hour away and that's close enough for me.

Lighthouses in Cannes (2010), Marseille and the Chateau d'If (2008)

Nice at Night (2010)

By the way, my current background is a painting by Berthe Morisot of the Lorient harbor (Image source: wikipedia) in 1869.