County Wexford lies in the south-east corner of the Republic of Ireland, known as the "Sunny South-east".  John Banville was born in this part of Ireland.

 

Rosslare Harbour is a little more than 10 miles from Wexford Town, and from here there are connections to Fishguard, Pembroke, Cherbourg and Le Harve.  The town of Rosslare sits beside a long sandy beach.  The Irish Ros Lair means "the middle peninsula". For over a hundred years, it has been a favourite holiday destination for Irish holiday-makers because it is considered to be the sunniest place in Ireland.

The Sea is largely set within sight of the beach at Rosslare.

 

                        all Byzantine coppers and golds under a Tiepolo sky enamelled blue

 

 

Station Road features more than a dozen times in The Sea.  The summer chalet that Max and his family rented during the summers was most likely off Station Road. 

Station Road ends at the Rosslare Strand Road which runs parallel to the sea.

Fair Isle jumpers (sweaters) originally come from the remote island of the same name in the northeast of Scotland.  The sweaters are knitted in a traditional manner using several colours.  They were made popular by the dashing Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) in the 1920s.

 

Antoine Terrasse, Bonnard's nephew, writes in his book Bonnard: The Colour of Daily Life that Bonnard "bought the house in Le Cannet in 1926, christened it 'Le Bosquet' (the grove)" and lived and painted there until his death. 

The house is on Avenue Victoria.

Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete.  She fell in love with Theseus, and it was she who helped him slay the Minotaur by providing him with a sword and a ball of thread to find his way out of the Labyrinth.

She eloped with Theseus, and sailed for Athens with him.  They stopped on the island of Naxos where, for reasons that are not entirely clear, Theseus abandoned her, sailing away while she slept.  Some versions of the story suggest Dionysus (Bacchus), god of wine, appeared to Theseus and told him that he wanted Ariadne for himself.

Whatever the reason, Ariadne awoke to find herself deserted by her beloved, hence the "poor demented" descriptor.  Dionysus promptly arrived to claim her, although not before she could curse Theseus, causing him tragically to forget to change the colour of his sail... but that's another story.