If it is at all possible for an Olympics to fly under the radar, the 2006 Winter Games in Turin came close. Nobody felt much sorry for the capital of Piemonte, Italy, however. After all, Torino has a famous Shroud, automobile icons Fiat and Alfa Romeo, a little football outfit by the name of Juventus, … More

The TGV is a brilliant way to get from point A to point B in France but to explore the country at large – every nook, cranny, côte and coin – your own set of wheels is the way to go. No, not a bicycle – you can certainly join the countryside and alpine pelotons … More

Few enclaves of the United Kingdom serve up charm of the achingly quaint variety quite like South West England. The foremost region is not all tidy hamlets of course but if you want it, the South West has cathedrals and throwback village architecture galore. What stands out most, however, are the contrasts. South West England … More

Countless reasons compel people to visit Montpellier, the capital of that foremost oenophile region, Languedoc-Roussillon. Demographic growth in the city of 250,000 is in overdrive and pace-wise, almost without precedent in modern-day France. Erudite, urbane and full of exquisite architecture and antsy, inquisitive university students, Montpellier is a compact jewel. Between the Mediterranean and national … More

Kate Moss – most recently seen at Splendour in the Grass and on a yacht in Saint-Tropez – is clearly one of those celebs we most associate with the high-roller, glam side of the UK capital. The press and public have a love-hate relationship with the model citizen that is often difficult for people across … More

Though the once-powerful Duchy of Normandy is no more, you can still patrol the north of France and take in venerable Norman culture. The modern regions of Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) and Basse-Normandie (Lower Normandy), smack between a Bretagne (Brittany) and Picardie (Picardy) baguette sandwich, roughly correspond to the traditional area of yore and command a … More