I am socially isolating in a cave in France
This Provençal village clusters around the base of a cliff 300 feet high and a kilometre wide surmounted by two…
My love affair with Hannah Arendt
The three of us — me, Catriona and her daughter Skye — were having a wash and brush-up before going…
The joy of Xanax
The greater the enervation, it is said, the greater the appreciation of a work of art. There was no place…
Shrieks, shots and broken china: a visit to my rural French GP
On a hard chair next to the waiting-room door, I sat for an hour defusing thoughts of my own demise,…
The film that shaped my vision of the world
Joyce Marriott of Pyrton, Oxford, has written a letter to the Times on the subject of how a person’s imagination…
How to sample your own urine
Seven round the table for dinner. Wild mushroom risotto. I was told to sit next to Michael. Good. Michael makes…
How I found salvation in a church in Torquay
Last Tuesday a Mistral wind blowing across the Bay of Angels jerked the plane all over the shop as it…
Is gluttony no longer a sin?
I’ve no interest in food. None. But for the three other journalists on our press trip, eating was a consuming…
The horror of Heathrow
There are no stairs or escalators to take you up to Terminal 4 from the underground Heathrow Express platform. Beyond…
Whisky and striptease: stories from an old people’s home
For the last four years of her long life, this upstairs room and this magnificent sea view belonged to Mrs…
War has broken out between me and my siblings
Last night I watched a boxed set. Parade’s End is a small box set as box sets go, and quite…
The death of my desert-island fantasy
I was on the back seat of a golf buggy being driven down to the marina from my beachside villa…
A young Rwandan scholar left a profound impression on me
In the Rwandan Genocide Memorial gift shop I bought a handy Kinyarwanda–Kiswahili–English phrase book. The tipping point in the decision…
Smoking opium with Mr Nazim – and a gecko
‘I used to go to India for a few months every year. A couple of times we even drove there.…
Hell is an expat dinner party
I just don’t understand it. Emigrating from Britain to France is a big step. Shifting from one culture to another…
When Brexiter meets Catalexiter
After the hostel breakfast, I stood on the tropical grass lawn smoking the first fag of the day and mulled…
The lessons I learned cycling across Rwanda
The backmarker of the peloton was Eric, a tall, stick-thin Rwandan. Under his cycling helmet he wore a baseball cap…
The joy of a Rwandan airport
Our plane touched down in Rwanda at 7 p.m. Stepping outside on to the metal steps, I smelt that unmistakable…
My image of the young Jeremy Corbyn is not a flattering one
I found the stone and the key underneath and let myself into the cottage — brr! I immediately made a…
![[Photo: John Heseltine / Alamy Stock Photo]](https://spectatorau.imgix.net/content/uploads/2019/10/2Novlowlife.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=410&h=275)
My journey to the heart of prehistoric England
‘Can I get a taxi around here?’ The man standing behind the counter of the convenience store looked at the…
![Friedrich Nietzche [Photo: Roger-Viollet/Shutterstock]](https://spectatorau.imgix.net/content/uploads/2019/10/26Octlowlife.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=410&h=275)
The divine comedy of Friedrich Nietzsche
I’ve come back to the empty house for the second time in the six weeks since my mother died. The…
The truth behind those Airbnb snaps
Catriona and I had agreed that a terrace for smoking, eating, drinking and painting was a necessity rather than a…
What had the chambermaid made of my penis vacuum pump?
Fumbling outside my door in dripping swimming trunks for my room key, I was hailed cheerily by the maid from…
Will mindfulness turn me into a Remainer?
Mindfulness at our all-inclusive Turkish beach resort began at 11 o’clock. Our mindfulness teacher was a tiny, smiley, flexible-looking woman…
Why Sodom and south Devon are a million miles apart
We gathered around in the sunshine and watched the coffin being lowered into the freshly dug trench. Stratifications visible on…
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