
Unlawful Killing: Gangsters in Tiaras and Shrinks in Armchairs
In short - “They murdered ‘er and then they covered it up.” You can bet that this phrase featured either in Private Eye’s ‘Great Bores of Today’ or ‘A Taxi Driver Writes’ and, if the latter, was followed by “I ‘ad that…

We Have a Chest: Cheryl Cole hits Cannes
It's true that you've never got your camera to hand when you really want one, and I kicked myself earlier in the week as I happened upon DeNiro, Jude Law and Linn Ullmann exiting the back of the Majestic Hotel, where the Festival…

Welcome to India
"What's that smell?" I asked my neighbour as the airgate connected to our plane, and local air seeped into the cabin. We'd struck up conversation during the closing credits of True Grit, and chatted sporadically throughout the eight-hour…

Fountains, frozen, the Louvre Paris
And not a drop to drink…
This edit was inspired by an extremely severe bout of winter flu during which I lay parched and feverish with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, yet strangely nauseated by the taste of water. Hydrophobic,…

Love is…in the air
Moments before swooping to their roosts as the sun set on 2010, the last starling murmuration of 2010 formed a heart that beat twice before dispersing into the evening air.
A number of theories attempt to explain the birds' behaviour:…

Santas’ Secrets: caption competition
At first glance, two jolly old Santas climbing a wall above Sorrento's night market. Closer reading of the image poses some interesting questions: why are they wearing those tiny (and empty?) manbags - rather than the usual over-the-shoulder…

When the Moon Hits Your Eye
To mark the unusual (every half-century or so) occasion of a total eclipse falling on the Winter Solstice.
The chances of your reading this and seeing another are relatively slim; the next will be in 2094.
See Nasa's lunar eclipse…

Full of … Grace
Grace Kelly – The Monaco Years, an exhibition marking the 25th anniversary of her death, eclipsed attempts by all others to do the same, which was, of course, the point.
Her dresses were later passed to London's Victoria and Albert…

A little drop…of belle epoque
Although the Carré d'Or lacks the almost medieval charm of Vieux Nice, its turn of the (19th) century architecture has its own appeal.
At left, the Boulangerie Multari, a chain of bakeries selling extraordinarily delicious tartes and…

Cherpumple: If I knew you were coming…
The Cherpumple, where cherry, pumpkin and apple pie join forces in one dish, to make you fat. In Americana, where necessity is not always the mother of invention, you really can have it all, all at once. Even if it tastes kinda weird.
On…