BLUE SKIES, BROWN STUDIES

Travel pieces these which wander from Norway and the Sogne fjord, to London, Vienna, Salzburg, Minorca, the Cote d'Azur. Vincenza, St. Tropez, Capri, Baden Baden, and evoke the special quality of the place and its people. There is a chapter on fine eating at La Bonne Auberge, beyond Nice; the siesta in Spain; the architecture of Vincenza; a hotel that vanished in a blizzard; the colorful celebration of The Bravade; the mountains and Semmering; the dreariness of homewood journeys. There's an imaginary island, bits from a writer's notebook and the tour from Cannes to Menton. Filled with sights and sounds, out of the way incidents, and favorite spots, this is in tune with the author's ""Impatience is the ruin of good travel"", with its leisurely word pictures, shared enjoyments and civilized, clearcut style.