The Mediterranean Series I My curated collection of Assouline Travel Books
Bem-vindo a Comporta!
Travel from home…. Insights into Portugal’s simplicity, authenticity and abundance of light and colour.
In case you are not familiar with where exactly Comporta, Portugal is, it is a vast 40 kilometre stretch of white sandy beach and rice fields on Portugal’s Atlantic coast just south of Lisbon, in the region of Alentejo - From Troia to Melides.
Comporta Bliss by Assouline is a favourite in my curated collection of Assouline Travel Books, The Mediterranean Series. It brilliantly captures everything that I love about Portugal in its colourful and captivating photo essay.
From my first visit to Portugal upon arriving in Europe, I fell in love. Portugal feels very different from the rest of Europe. Less grandeur, more colour, and a more casual elegance. There is an abundance of style in its simplicity, shabby chic, and slow living culture that feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s geography, feels far away and otherworldly at the south-western tip of Europe - even though it is just a short flight from anywhere in Europe, it exudes a sense of escape, a secret paradise.
While I was immediately drawn to the colour and brightness of Lisbon, it is Portugal’s countryside that I have grown to love even more. Nostalgically there is a feel of a cottage-like culture that somehow reminds me of the cottage culture of Canada’s lake region north of Toronto - and favourite memories from my childhood. Traditional homes are modest, and often filled with an eccentric mix of old and new. There is usually one main room, with kitchen and lounge, spilling over into large outdoor terraces and gardens that provide a playground for the senses.
Comporta Bliss by Assouline captures this Portuguese style cottage-like culture in nature perfectly - with a twist of endless holiday vibe that comes with proximity to the ocean, and amidst the hot Mediterranean climate.
Escape to Portugal’s lesser known and best kept secrets with Comporta Bliss - a beautiful collection of photographs of sand and sea, local architecture and style, creativity and simplicity that we can drink up like chicken soup for the soul…
My Review of Comporta Bliss by Assouline
“A paradise of slowness - The light, the quiet, the purity - Unspoiled nature, sun, peace, and the breeze of the sea - A perfume of freedom”
Browsing through the photographs in Comporta Bliss you find a colour palate of sky blues, sea greens, the neutral tones of straw hats, baskets, sea shells and ceramics, amongst tranquil white washed dwellings surrounded by savage gardens planted in the sand.
We are invited into an eclectic array of homes, bright with colour and collections of local azulejos, ceramics, textiles, bamboo, straw and woven furniture. We are introduced to o bom tempero portugues, fresh fish lemon cilantro, Ameijoas a bulhao pato clams garlic cilantro, and young Portuguese wine, vino verde. And we are flown over rugged and wild nature of local pine trees (pinheiro manso, stone pine and pinheiro bravo, maritime cluster pine), Yucca, Palm, Cacti, and Cork forests next to the beach and ocean.
The book reveals insights into the Portuguese lifestyle, a delightfully unpretentious, unpolluted, and authentic lightness of being.
Comporta Bliss is indeed pure bliss. It is both a beach house interiors dream, and gallery of heavenly landscapes. Each page, and collage of stunning photography, reveals something unique about Portuguese culture, and artisan style. True to Assouline Travel Books, the final pages of the book provide a directory of restaurants, shops, beaches and attractions for your next trip!
Final word:
"Comporta is the perfume of freedom and essential emotions, the perfume of life and gifts of nature, the perfume of promises.”
This is a book that dares us to dream and capture all that we love in life, everyday, in every moment, in every place and space.
Transport yourself to Comporta, Portugal at anytime, anywhere, with Comporta Bliss.
Thank you Assouline!
You can find Assouline travel books on their website: https://eu.assouline.com/
And at Amazon.com.
Jade
Lewon
Med
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