Magazine
Writing about the places our addresses take us, without flattery and without advertorial.
Bali by region, not by beach
A chain of volcanoes crosses the island, and everything follows from it. What choosing between the hills, the south and the east coast changes.
A house in Andalusia, patio included
The patio is not an ornament: it is a device, and it decides how a house feels in July. What to look at.
Renting in Tuscany, direct from owners
A landscape before it is a list of places. What a Tuscan farmhouse really is, and where to stay between Florence and the sea.
The French Riviera outside the full months
Two landscapes that turn their backs on each other, and ten months in twelve when you can get about. What not coming in August changes.
A house in the Périgord, below the cliffs
Four Périgords, four colours, and whole villages built under a limestone overhang. Where to stay depending on what you came to see.
A mas in the Alpilles, between Avignon and Arles
A limestone range short enough to cross in a day. The three ways in, and what the mistral changes.
Renting in Corsica: coast or interior
The island is a mountain in the sea, and distances deceive. What you gain by staying on the water, and what you give up.
Renting a villa in the Basque Country, from Biarritz to the mountains
Thirty kilometres of coast, and the mountains less than an hour away. Where to stay depending on what you came for, and what the rain changes.
A house on Arcachon Bay: north shore or south shore
Three kilometres of water separate the two shores, and sixty kilometres of road. The choice decides the whole stay: access, beaches, traffic.
Renting a mas in the Luberon
The word means a farm, not a style. What it actually covers, how a mas differs from a bastide, and the three questions worth asking before you book.
Writing to the owner, and getting a reply
There is no "book now" button here. There is someone to write to — and how you write changes what you get back.
The Luberon when it is not August
Eleven months out of twelve, the hilltop villages belong to the people who live in them. That is also when you can rent a house there.
Choosing a house when there are no stars
Stars rate hotels. A holiday house has none, and that is just as well: they would have measured the wrong thing.