Chanel travel tips

I shower and wash my face with La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermo Milky Cleanser. I like to use body washes that I bring back from my travels to remind me of those trips: I have this Kokum Almond Cleansing Shower Oil that I got on a trip to India that smells so good. Because I dye my hair, it’s quite thirsty — I use L’Oréal Professionnel Purple Shampoo to keep the yellow out, and Davines Oi Conditioner. I always use Davines Minu Hair Serum when I blow dry my hair and finish with Oi Oil.

For years I had been hearing about the island of Pantelleria, the craggy, hard-to-get-to Eden with middle-of-nowhere tranquillity that sits 89 miles southwest of the island of Sicily and about 50 miles east of Tunisia. Luca Guadagnino’s 2015 film “A Bigger Splash” painted a seductive idyll of mud baths, romantic ruins and secluded swimming coves. Celebrities like Madonna, Sting and Julia Roberts visited, drawn to the striking, Africa-meets-Italy ambience, along with Giorgio Armani, a part-time resident since 1980. The fact that nobody was impressed by them added to the allure.

Steps away from the glistening Victoria Harbour sits the Peninsula Hotel.

As Morocco continues its recovery from last month’s earthquake (which devastated many of the rural communities in the High Atlas Mountains), life in Marrakesh carries on largely uninterrupted, especially in the city’s economically vital tourism sector. That includes the opening of a clutch of new hotels, like Farasha Farmhouse, a four-room boutique property. Formerly an artist’s private retreat, Farasha, which lies 30 minutes outside of the city center, is the vision of Rosena and Fred Charmoy. The Marrakesh-based couple are the founders of Boutique Souk — a local high-end events company popular with visiting celebrities and fashion brands (their client list includes Chanel and Saint Laurent) — and are known for their theatrical, over-the-top parties and weddings. Farasha, though, is a more tranquil endeavor. “We loved the mountain views on both sides of the property,” says Rosena, referring to the Atlas and Jbilet ranges that appear to envelop the acres of olive groves and herb gardens. The two-story main building, which holds three suites and the soaring, open-plan common space, is complemented by a neighboring stand-alone cottage. To furnish the place, the Charmoys turned to local creative friends: floors are laid with custom tapestries from Beni Rugs; sculptures were installed by the Moroccan contemporary artist Amine El Gotaibi; and the book collection comes from the family estate of Diana Vreeland, the legendary former editor of Vogue, donated to the hotel by her son Freck, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Morocco. Food here is similarly considered, overseen by the chef Aniss Meski. The olive oil is made on-site, most vegetable dishes use the farm’s produce and a flock of chickens provides a daily supply of fresh eggs. And if the prospect of snagging one of only four guest rooms seems like a tall challenge, fear not: six more will be available to book starting next year.

The butcher was the only place in the Auvergne village of Courpière that showed any signs of life when I visited on an August afternoon. A handful of half-timbered houses and shuttered windows, this sleepy little place was allegedly once home to one of the world's most famous fashion designers: Coco, née Gabrielle, Chanel. Tracking down anything concrete was proving difficult, however, and records of her early life were no more substantial than a whiff of her No. 5 in the breeze. 

This weekend, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), pioneer of global art, design and performance, celebrates the unveiling of Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto. This exhibition is the UK’s first dedicated solely to Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, the iconic French couturière, who redefined the art of fashion. Spanning styles from her first Parisian boutique in 1910 to her last collection in 1971, the exposition vividly traces Chanel’s evolution and unparalleled contribution to fashion.

Who doesn’t love the look of Chanel?