Clik here to view.
Walkabout: Marseille, southern belle
Like its signature dish – bouillabaisse – Marseille is a feisty mix. From the push and shove of the Vieux Port to the tapering streets of Le Panier, with a detour through the chaos of the souk-like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Holy Ghost: Basilique Cathédrale de Saint Denis
Saint-Denis was one determined bishop or so goes the legend. Instead of collapsing in a bloody heap after his head was lopped off in Montmartre, he gathered it up and ambled off to another little...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Top Tenth
There were times when Paris’ disaffected and slightly decaying 10th didn’t have much to recommend it but times change… Ex-Racines chef Pierre Jancou has come back to roost in the 10th in a former...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the Deceiving End
Bananas matching Pantone colour 12-0752, aka “buttercup”, are more likely to end up in a shopping basket than the “vibrant yellow” (Pantone 13-0858) narnies. That’s because the buttercup babies have a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Holly Gone Lightly
The Eurozone is in crisis? Ok, I’m convinced. Not by the relentless media coverage but the lack of Christmas coverage…so few twinkly lights looped across streets, such a restrained use of tinsel,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Aesthetic Satisfaction Made to Measure
I’ve dragged raw silk from Thailand, Pima cotton from Peru, sheer wool from Italy into must-go-to-tailors with optimism, only to emerge looking like the Christmas tree fairy that’s been pawed by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eating by the Book: Grimod de la Reynière
Before Le Fooding, before Alain Ducasse’s J’aime Paris, before Michelin, food critic and bon vivant Grimod de la Reynière expounded Paris’ culinary charms in L’Almanach des Gourmands. Amid explaining...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crowning Glories: Estelle Ramousse
Parisian milliner Estelle Ramousse loves a bit of drama. The painted skull gracing her showroom window says so, along with the leopard-print and flower trimmed fedora, the enormous spangly blue...
View ArticleBottomline: Le Slip Français
Trust a Frenchman to christen his collection of low-rise briefs ‘Intrepid’, ‘Fearsome’, ‘Brave’, and ‘Triumphant’. Creator and business school graduate Guillaume Gibaut obviously paid attention in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Belgian Accent: Ghent
Ghent is a gem. Cobbled streets, canals, impressive architecture, great galleries and museums and cool design bits on every corner. Back in medieval days, it was Europe’s second largest city after...
View Article