Holidays

Andrew Marr’s diary: Seeing shadows of Syria in Limousin’s ghost village

30 August 2014 9:00 am

No, no, no, you don’t want a house abroad — the paperwork, the taxes, the piping, the cost of the…

Dear Mary: Is it an insult to be given anti-ageing cream?

30 August 2014 9:00 am

Q. When someone gives you anti-ageing cream as a present, is that an insult or a compliment? — A.O., Provence…

The word ‘holiday’ has become a political taboo

16 August 2014 9:00 am

It’s August in Tuscany, and the market towns are eerily quiet, presumably because most of their inhabitants are off on…

You’ll mock me, but I have to ask: why don’t any of my friends have holiday homes?

9 August 2014 9:00 am

This is to be one of those columns that makes the writer faintly wish there wasn’t an internet. It would…

Four gadgets to take on holiday — and two to leave behind

2 August 2014 9:00 am

One inarguably good thing about electronic publishing is that it solves that old quandary about what books to pack for…

Dear Mary: How to accept wine refills at parties without getting drunk

2 August 2014 9:00 am

Q. At a drinks or a dinner party, when very attentive waiters are hovering, I tend to let them keep…

Why I no longer want to live in America

10 May 2014 9:00 am

A few years ago I would have quite liked to live in America. I’m not sure now. For one thing,…

Andrew Marr’s diary: Holidays after a stroke, and what the Germans really think of us

31 August 2013 9:00 am

It’s been a strange summer. After a stroke, holidays are not what they used to be. We went to Juan-les-Pins…

Jeremy Clarke: The day I walked into a postcard

31 August 2013 9:00 am

This time last year the postman delivered a picture postcard depicting a village square in Provence. The photograph on the…

You’re never really on holiday with a smartphone

10 August 2013 9:00 am

Why not give your smartphone a holiday?

Will Melissa Kite’s former Italian waiter boyfriend stir up trouble again?

27 July 2013 9:00 am

‘Piccolo problemo.’ Luigi, the hotel manager, delivered the fateful news as he served me my first lemon soda of the…

Dear Mary: What must I do to reclaim the best poolside chair?

27 July 2013 9:00 am

Q. I know this seems petty but last year, on our villa holiday, my brother-in-law always took the best chair…