The Turkish coast of the Black Sea, Karadeniz, with its incredible natural environment, its historic sites, its magnificent lakes, its mountains, its wooden houses and its high plateaux, is an infinitely peaceful place, with a refreshing climate and a coastline of rare beauty. It is relatively little known by tourists, but it is splendid! If paradise had a name, once again after this trip I’m convinced it would be “Turkey”….
Located in the village of Bresala, in the middle of an exceptionally fine area of jungle, the Kayon Jungle Resort had everything to make our stay a total “get away from it all” experience. I couldn’t even have dreamed a better environment for relaxing and taking my first flower bath. Or a more magical place to do a yoga course. How could anybody not go overboard about the luxuriant vegetation,…
I’d dreamed for a long time of going to Bali, island of the Gods. It’s so named because it’s a Hindu land in the middle of Muslim Indonesia, and also because the gods must have favoured it specially to make it so beautiful. Here you leave everything behind you, and lose yourself in what is essential. I went there with a girlfriend, and we booked via a travel agency so…
This is the chain of chilled food storage and distribution. Micro-organisms multiply rapidly in food at room temperature so the solution, to avoid food poisoning, is to make sure that the cold chain isn’t broken. Bacteria are everywhere in the environment, and some can affect the quality of products and be dangerous to health. Below 5°C, their growth is slowed down or even stopped. Maintaining standards for temperatures makes it…
As soon as I entered the Ritz-Carlton Istanbul, on this sunny Monday, I knew at once that this hotel would enchant me just like the other Ritz hotels. Ideally located in the very heart of the city, the hotel offers a magnificent panorama of the Bosphorus. How could anyone resist the magic of the place? When you’re surrounded by its Turkish-themed decor, it’s very easy to drift away amongst the…
For some months I was in a club with a very big membership – people who have difficulty sleeping. I’d been having trouble getting to sleep, and I’d been waking up in the middle of the night and then not being able to get back to sleep again. Being a supporter of gentle methods, that’s where I started to try to deal with the problem, with transformational breathing, meditation, herbal…
I’m having an interesting sports experience that I’d like to share with you. For the last three months, I’ve been doing Pilates on a ‘Megaformer’ machine at Community Megaformer studio. I take two courses per week, on top of my usual routine. The Megaformer is often confused with the ‘Reformer’, but the Lagree method is different. (Lagree is the name of the Megaformer designer and coach). With Lagree, you do,…
Do you know Vienna? I’ve just spent a few days in the Austrian capital. I walked in the footsteps of Empress Sisi and Crown Prince Rudolf, and I admired the fabulous palaces and magnificent gardens. I also had the good luck to see Madame Butterfly at the Vienna State Opera. In Vienna, the grand story of Europe is still ever-present in the 21st century. If you’re planning a romantic/cultural getaway…
Located right next to China, Hong Kong and Macau have led their own lives for nearly two centuries in the one case and four in the other. Hong Kong was a British colony, more or less, for 155 years; and Macau was under Portuguese administration for four hundred years. About twenty years ago, they went back to being – almost – Chinese, as Chinese administrative regions enjoying a special regime,…
Santorini has a reputation for being the romantic destination par excellence. I dreamed for a long time of its villages of white houses and its blue domes, perched high above steep cliffs, and the laid-back lifestyle shown in so many Instagram photos. I wanted it to be my turn to immerse myself in this much-hyped world; I imagined myself tasting cheap and delicious Greek cooking every day, experiencing the authenticity…