A fine Meze to get into
Our stylish, comfortable apartment in Paphos, is marred only by its misleading distance from the town and the noisy building site it sits within, with its empty swimming pool – not a great introduction to Cyprus but salvaged in part by one of our fortunate choices of restaurant. Luckily we have a hire car and don’t intend spending much time in the apartment – but we’ve fallen foul of misleading marketing....
Ferme Favourite
La Petite Ferme in South Africa’s Franschhoek winelands not only offers high quality homely accommodation but great cuisine and stunning views. ‘The Little Farm’ is named, not as an affectation but as a reference to the 17th & 18th Century Huguenot exiles from France, who escaped persecution by Louis XIV, bringing their vines, crafts and skills with them, at the invitation of Dutch Protestant settlers in the Cape. As the story...
Effervescence personified
Jean-Michel, with his wife and business partner Agnès are filled with an effervescence for their Paul-Etienne Saint Germain creation – only eclipsed by their very own elegant Grand Cru champagnes. Walk the length of the world famous Avenue de Champagne in Epernay and you’ll be among some of the greatest known champagne brands – from Mercier at one end to Dom Perignon and Perrier-Jouet at the other. If you’re...
Colombo – Food Detective – but no Mac
With the old Hollywood detective, ‘Colombo’, you’d always see him with a Mac – and whilst Colombo in Sri Lanka isn’t short of the creeping malaise of fast-food, you can still get an excellent meal without resorting to a Mac. The last thing we’d expect to suggest in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, is that you should go to an hotel restaurant, to enjoy some of the best Sri Lankan food you’ll find anywhere. What city restaurants do exist...
Hong Kong – Chun Yeung’s magical Street Market
Markets are always colourful places but we’ve become a little jaded by the repetitious nature of many – especially the more Western ‘Farmer’s Markets’ where quality often comes at a high price. Not so, with Chun Yeung Street Market in Hong Kong’s North Point – a short tram ride away from Causeway Bay. We’ve hopped on the North point tram and clattered our way for about twenty minutes from Causeway Bay to the North Point Road tram...
You would; at Rosewood
London isn’t short of swanky, expensive and imposing hotels with presence – but Rosewood excels with – as its own publicity states – ‘a sense of place’ This landmark Edwardian architectural leviathan reposes in splendour in High Holborn, very much a part of the establishment, yet with a youthful rebelliousness and edgy persona that makes it ideal for the avant garde traveller who doesn’t like to be outwardly ostentatious...