This morning, the Nice-Cannes Marathon was held. It started at the Jardins Albert 1er in Nice, on the Promenade des Anglais. I left early this morning to try to photograph a colleague who participated, but unfortunately, I arrived a few minutes too late and only caught the end. However, I made the most of the closed Promenade, free of vehicles and drenched in a beautiful morning sun, with wintry clouds still around. This photograph of the Negresco is my favorite. The sepia-toned sunlight is natural, no photo editing, and the wind obliged with a nice gust for the French flag. There are more pictures in my Architecture of Nice set, near the end.

To see the difference light makes, compare the Negresco above to the photo below, taken mid-June 2009:

 

A third cat post in a row (with opera!) – I’m still resting after the marathon of doing my Masters degree while working full time! Kanoko and Susu continue to build their friendship, and spend most of their days napping together, with the rest of the time spent play-fighting.

Last Sunday I went to the first Monte Carlo Opera performance of the year, Arrigo Boito’s “Mefistofele“. Erwin Schrott was excellent in the title role, and the orchestra played beautifully.

I have a subscription for the full season, but oddly enough, the MC Opera doesn’t have detailed seating diagrams, so I didn’t quite know what my seat would be like until attending “Mefistofele”. Happily, it’s as good as I was told over the phone: orchestra level, on the side but near the more expensive central seats, and just where the rear section begins, so I don’t even need to use binoculars! “Mefistofele” was performed in the more modern Grimaldi Forum, so I haven’t yet seen how my seat will translate to the original opera house, the Salle Garnier, but am looking forward to it. Will have to wait until January for the next opera, however! It will actually be two shorter, single-act pieces: “La Navarraise” by Massenet, and Ravel’s “L’Enfant et les sortilèges“.

Susu (the new black kitten) has been shadowing Kanoko since her second day with us. On her first day and night, she cried constantly – it was clear that she missed her birth family. She continued crying on her second day, but noticed there was a big, fluffy, calm cat around. She has since made it her singular mission to win Kanoko’s heart, and as you can see, she’s made good progress towards her goal!

I feel very lucky, since it’s rare that cats get along so well so quickly, even when one is an adult and another is a kitten. Susu was clearly socialized well, because even as a mischievous kitten (all kittens are full of mischief!), she behaves wonderfully and still hasn’t gotten into any trouble, not even at night nor when I’m out of the house. Kanoko has been around other cats all his life, and is also well-behaved. Their personalities go well together, and it’s a delight to see them both happy to play with one another.

Susu was a bit wary of cameras at first, but lately has let me take more pictures of her. Especially after I photographed Kanoko sitting on the ADSL modem.

She then jumped up next to him, and once finished grooming, finally let me take more shots of her.