To speak of French cuisine is to speak of civilization itself. More than a collection of recipes, it is a language — one that shaped Western gastronomy, codified taste, and transformed eating into art. From Escoffier’s refinements to the humble baguette, French cooking balances rigor and romance, discipline and pleasure. Its cornerstones remain the foundationContinue reading “The Cornerstones of French Cuisine”
Category Archives: Explore
Raffles Singapore: A Legend of the East
There are hotels, and then there are legends. Raffles Singapore, opened in 1887, belongs firmly in the latter category. With its white colonnades, soaring verandas, and tropical gardens, it is less a hotel than a piece of living history — a place where literature, empire, and modern luxury converge beneath slow-turning ceiling fans. The ColonialContinue reading “Raffles Singapore: A Legend of the East”
Affordable Style: Guesthouses and Country Inns of Provence
Provence is a region of lavender fields, sunlit villages, and markets overflowing with olives, cheese, and wine. While it has no shortage of glamorous châteaux and Michelin-starred retreats, Provence also hides a network of intimate guesthouses and family-run country inns that embody the region’s essence. Here, the luxury is in the scent of rosemary carriedContinue reading “Affordable Style: Guesthouses and Country Inns of Provence”
Three Cinematic Villas in Italy
If Villa Malaparte is the most iconic villa on screen, it is not alone. Italy’s landscape of villas — patrician palaces, lakeside estates, country retreats — has long provided cinema with atmosphere and grandeur. 1. Villa Erba, Lake Como 2. Villa di Geggiano, Siena 3. Villa Albergoni, Lombardy TL;DRFrom Visconti’s Lake Como retreat to Bertolucci’sContinue reading “Three Cinematic Villas in Italy”
Villa Malaparte, Capri: A Modernist Monument on the Edge of the Sea
Perched on the cliffs of Capri’s Punta Massullo, its red walls blazing against the Tyrrhenian Sea, Villa Malaparte is one of the most arresting houses of the 20th century. At once austere and theatrical, it is both architectural landmark and cinematic icon, immortalised in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963). Few houses better embody the interplay ofContinue reading “Villa Malaparte, Capri: A Modernist Monument on the Edge of the Sea”
Affordable Style: Boutique Guesthouses of the Cyclades
The Cyclades have long been associated with dazzling whitewashed villages, blue-domed churches, and luxury resorts. Yet the soul of these islands often reveals itself in smaller pensions, guesthouses, and family-run boutique hotels. These are places where shutters open onto bougainvillea-filled courtyards, breakfasts feature homemade yogurt and figs, and hospitality feels effortless and personal. Here, authenticityContinue reading “Affordable Style: Boutique Guesthouses of the Cyclades”
Carmel-by-the-Sea: California’s Fairytale Coastline
There are places in California where time feels suspended — where the Pacific crashes against rugged cliffs, where cypress trees twist in sculptural forms, and where cottages look as though they’ve stepped out of a storybook. Carmel-by-the-Sea, perched on the Monterey Peninsula, is such a place: equal parts seaside village, cultural retreat, and gateway toContinue reading “Carmel-by-the-Sea: California’s Fairytale Coastline”
Affordable Style: Andalusia’s Guesthouses and Boutique Inns
Andalusia is a land of whitewashed villages, Moorish courtyards, and rolling olive groves. While the region is home to grand paradors and luxury resorts, its most authentic charm often lies in smaller guesthouses and boutique stays. These are places where history, atmosphere, and hospitality come together — without the need for extravagance. La Casa deContinue reading “Affordable Style: Andalusia’s Guesthouses and Boutique Inns”
Güstrow: Ernst Barlach Territory
On the map, Güstrow looks like a gentle pause — a modest Mecklenburg town tucked between lakes and flat winter fields, an hour south of the Baltic coast. But anyone who walks its crooked lanes or slips into the cool hush of its churches discovers a place vibrating with an unexpected intensity. Güstrow is notContinue reading “Güstrow: Ernst Barlach Territory”
A Life Lived in Service to the Planet: Iain Douglas-Hamilton
Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who peacefully passed away last night, aged 83, was the pioneering zoologist whose six-decade campaign for Africa’s elephants reshaped both science and global conservation policy. From his early fieldwork in Tanzania in the 1960s to his role in exposing the mass slaughter driven by the ivory trade in the 1970s and 80s,Continue reading “A Life Lived in Service to the Planet: Iain Douglas-Hamilton”
My World of Interiors 