SESTRIERE, ITALY October 25, 2009 Sestriere is perhaps the most famous Italian resort – a place with history, style and fantastic slopes. With its neighbouring resorts it is part of the “Milky Way” ski circuit, which includes over 400km of pistes in a truly magnificent setting. The resort was purpose-built in the 1930s by the Agnellis, the family behind the [...]
COURCHEVEL, FRANCE October 25, 2009 Sitting close to the Swiss and Italian borders in southeastern France, Courchevel is a resort made up of five villages known by their metric heights – 1850 at the top, down to 1100 at the lower end of the valley. Predictably, the higher you go the more upmarket and expensive things get, but you can [...]
TRAVEL NOTES October 25, 2009 Christmas in Bora BoraThe weather’s getting cold and the nights are drawing in. Imagine, then, an escape to the South Seas and days spent in over-water suites or beachfront villas, the sun beating down as you watch sea turtles paddle by and, later, seeing the sun set over the island’s dramatic Mount Otemanu. That’s the [...]
A not so fantastic version of Roald Dahl’s kids’ classic October 22, 2009 FilmFANTASTIC MR FOXCert: PG NOW that it’s pretty much de rigeur for animated kids’ films to be 3-D, computer-generated spectaculars, a Roald Dahl adaptation made with traditional stop-motion photography seems so quaint as to be genuinely original. It may take some getting used to, but the careful characterisation of the animal heroes here and lovely [...]
OUT THIS WEEKEND REVIEWS October 22, 2009 DVDLE DONK & SCOR-ZAY-ZEE Terrific low-budget comedy from Brit director Shane Meadows. MONSTERS VS ALIENS Animated fun about friendly monsters battling daft aliens. MUSICCHERYL COLE The X Factor judge’s debut album is called 3 Words. MORRISSEY Swords is an album of collected B-sides from the quiffed miseryguts.
Goodbye to the pinstripe: City boys embrace a subtler style October 22, 2009 THE pinstripe might be the fashion statement for which the City is best known, but it’s not a statement people are making too stridently this winter. A couple of years ago, when markets, banks and bonuses were flying high, a loud-as-you-like striped suit was pretty much a required part of every true City boy’s wardrobe. [...]
BEWARE BAD COLLARS October 22, 2009 Sara HollambyStyle Counsel More and more men are discarding their ties at work. You may feel more comfortable, but business casual can too easily become “business untidy” if you’re not careful – and the key is the shirt collar. A quality collar will have good interlining – that’s the fabric between the layers – that [...]
A helping hand to lift you on to the property ladder October 22, 2009 GETTING on the property ladder is notoriously difficult in London. But if you’re one of the thousands of young professionals earning a decent salary – but still not able to fork out the post-credit crunch minimum deposit of 20 per cent in order to attain a mortgage- then you may have more options than you [...]
OTHER AFFORDABLE HOMES October 22, 2009 THE HOMEFIELD, SM4Price: £199,950 At less than £200k, this three bedroom flat on the first floor is great value. With two double bedrooms and one single, a private balcony and access to a communal garden and off-street parking, this is an ideal first home. At the southern end of the Northern line, Morden is well [...]
Q&A: INTERIORS October 22, 2009 ALAN WAXMAN MANAGING DIRECTOR AT DEVELOPER LANDMASSQ.Dear Alan, I have just bought a wreck of a house and have a budget of £1m to do it up so that I can live in it. Where do I start?A.When developing a property you need to decide whether you are going to oversee the project yourself or [...]