I left Como in the morning the way you leave a room you have been happy in, quietly, without turning on the lights, and I went north. It is not far. That is the strange thing about this part of…
Lake Como – How You Leave a Place You Love
The last morning of anywhere has a particular light to it, and Como saved its best for me. I woke before the house did and did not get up. I lay across the bed with the shutters half open and…
Lake Como – His Two Great Loves
Some mornings the lake gives you back your whole childhood before you have even finished your coffee. I woke early at the villa, before the light had properly settled, and went out onto the terrace in a swimsuit and one…
Lake Como – The Sound of a Riva
There is a particular sound that means summer to me, and it is not birdsong or church bells but the low, patient burble of a wooden Riva easing out of its boathouse while the water is still the colour of…
Cannes 2026: The Films I Keep Thinking About
The last night of Cannes has a quiet that the rest of the fortnight never has. By the time the awards are read inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière, the crowds along the Croisette have thinned, the tenders have stopped crossing…
Varenna – The Town That Climbs
The lake is crossed differently than it is arrived at. Yesterday Bellagio assembled itself out of the haze, slow and uncertain, a town deciding whether to appear. Today it was only a matter of crossing to the other shore. The…
