Over the centuries, Paris has given us a lot to be thankful for. And now, for design lovers, there’s one more reason. Merci (that’s me telling you the name of a store, not saying “thanks”). A ten-minute walk north from Place des Vosges, Merci is the new hotspot for contemporary design. It’s mildly easy to miss given that […]
There’s a theory that suggests you must do something for 10,000 hours before you really master it. By conservative math, Trufflepig co-founder Jack Dancy has been planning trips to France for about 30,000 hours. Ooh la la. This partly explains why he’s so good at it and why he was once again named to Conde Nast […]
The bachelor in question here is one George Clooney. Whilst visiting Rye recently I was shown the suite where he stayed at the excellent, and appropriately named lodge, the George in Rye. It’s a gorgeous suite, above a great inner courtyard, and was shown to me by a lovely member of the team who was clearly […]
Okay, so you haven’t quite gotten around to planning that late December holiday getaway. You don’t need more guilt heaped on your work-weary shoulders. But you do need some help. The Christmas to New Year’s travel window is a busy one, so there’s no more time to waste. Here’s a rundown of of what could […]
It’s 3:00 pm in Toronto, on a grey and quiet Friday afternoon. In Spain, it’s 10:00 pm and somewhere in some small bar in some small town a guitar is about to catch fire. Or so it seems. A moment ago our Spain & Morocco trip planner, Sebastian Lapostol, sent me this brief but compelling […]
When people coined the phrase ‘New World’ in the 15C, I wonder if they expected those impertinent New Worlders would one day repay the favour and start referring to them as the ‘Old’. The Older the better, we say. The Old World wasn’t always the Old World. In the 15C, Europe and Africa was less […]
Barbarossa is the best sort of simple Greek ouzeri/taverna, in the picturesque little port town of Naoussa, on the island of Paros in the Cyclades. How do you know it’s any good? It’s easy: the locals come here. Unfortunately (or not, depending on your point of view) in order to discover this, you have to […]
There are rich pickings in the countryside north of Uzès, where Provence meets the Languedoc, and combines the best of both. Villages, vineyards and views; lavender fields, rivers and mountains; cafés, restaurants and chambres d’hôtes… It’s almost an archetypically French mini-region, of which there are so many to explore, and which are always so hard […]
If the measure of a great walk is how much better the Guinness tastes at the end, then Striding Edge in England’s Lake District is possibly the greatest walk in the world. One of the things I love most about the Lake District is that every path, rock, fell and valley has a name to […]
The huge food markets of Tbilisi are not for the squeamish. Vegetarians look away now. I’m interested in how food reaches big cities from the countryside where it’s grown. In Paris, much of what we eat comes through the vast food market of Rungis, just outside the city, where all the buyers for the markets […]
Stand aside, Mister Merlot. Here come Lord Ondenc, Sir Len de l’El, The Earl of Prunelart, and the Count of Mauzac Roux. If you’re bored of wine that tastes more like processed blackberry tart, it’s time to discover the weird old wines of the dustier corners of France. First up: Gaillac. If Willy Wonka was […]
We’ve invented a new sport: extreme art appreciation. In this case, viewing Andy Goldsworthy Land Art in the remote hills of North Provence, by helicopter. A new concept of the term day-trip for the art-enthusiast staying in Provence or on the riviera. Since 1995 Andy Goldsworthy, the British-born ‘land artist’, has been coming to the town […]
Welcome to Villefranche-de-Rouergue, a hard-to-say town with a not-to-miss market and a resolute refusal to enter the 21st century. Nowhere better to see what Autumn has to offer the curious cook than the Thursday morning market here. I’ve visited all the markets in this part of France (the South-West), and this is hands down my […]
Cornwall is a ruggedly beautiful, curious and varied land, and, with the exception of its interminably windy little roads, presents the curious traveller with a perfect fortnight’s exploration. Cornwall is the toe of Britain—the south-western tip beyond the river Tamar and the English county of Devon, jutting out towards its point at Land’s End. The […]
Sometimes the internet takes all the fun out of travelling. Happily, the best stuff is still not, and probably never will be, available online. You can Google-streetview your hotel before arriving and surf down the narrowest backstreets of the smallest village atop the ghastly google car. Read endless blogs to find out what the hottest […]
The first in a series of posts on the best of the many thousands of farmers markets in France, this one’s on the Thursday morning market in the South-West town of Auch. Auch is the capital of the Gers region, a pretty old town on the banks of the river Gers about 90 minutes west […]