Le Journal

Thirty years after she first visited, our writer is relieved to discover that the town has managed to swerve the worst excesses of tourist developmentMy favourite memory of Akyaka? The second evening of our most recent visit: the beach floodlit by the last embers of a flaming sunset, the mountains that stand sentry around the town softening into deep purple hues. Before our eyes, all was transformed: sunloungers stacked away, waiters whisking back and forth with tables, menus and small rechargeable lamps. A little further along, in one of the bar areas on the beach, a trio of Turkish women, their hair in shades of pepper and smoke, sat with their toes in the sand, happily knitting. I recalled other beaches in Turkey, where oligarchs and influencers preen and pose, and thought – yes, this is exactly where I want to be.Akyaka – a small town, huddled on the eastern end of blue-washed Gökova Bay – is an old friend of mine. Thirty years ago, working as a holiday rep, I visited on a weekly basis, popping in to see the handful of clients who were staying at simple pansiyons (small B&Bs) in the town. Back then … well, actually, back then it wasn’t that different from today, which is something that can’t be said about many of the Turkish villages and small resorts I knew in the mid-1990s. Continue reading...

From Clarissa Strozzi and Charles V to Tom Parker and Walt Disney, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz1 What did LA plumber George Holliday videotape on 3 March 1991?2 Named after a Greek god, what is Earth’s largest land biome?3 Abigail, in November 2015, was the first what?4 Which literary character says, “Come not, Lucifer! I’ll burn my books!”?5 Which Play School presenter sits in the House of Lords?6 What cricket fixture was played from 1806 until 1962?7 Which rescue organisation is based in Poole, Dorset?8 The Kanneh-Mason siblings are famous names in what field?What links: 9 Babington; Parry; Ridolfi; Throckmorton?10 Bleu; saignant; à point; bien cuit?11 Basilisk lizard; fishing spider; jacana; pond skater; Clark’s grebe?12 Virginia (8); Ohio (7); New York (5); Arkansas, California, Hawaii (one each)?13 Enhanced Fujita; Modified Mercalli; Saffir-Simpson; Torino?14 Ben Bradlee; Walt Disney; Jim Lovell; Colonel Tom Parker; Chesley Sullenberger?15 Clarissa Strozzi; Charles V with a dog; Philip II; Pope Paul III and his grandsons? Continue reading...

Being able to understand the comedian talking in French in his Dress to Kill show led to me learning several languages and working on the continentUntil the age of 13, I had never taken much interest in school French lessons. I had visited the country a couple of times, on family driving holidays to Brittany and Normandy, but my parents did all the talking and I didn’t see the point of learning le and la, soixante-dix or quatre-vingts. It was just something on the curriculum that I had to do.Then, one evening at home, in Stirlingshire, Scotland, with everyone else in bed, I sat on the sofa and put on a VHS of Eddie Izzard’s standup show Dress to Kill. My parents were fans and I’d caught a glimpse on TV and thought it looked funny. I was young and some of the material was probably too rude but I enjoyed the surreal and absurd comedy, impressions and mad tangents. Continue reading...

In historic speech to mark UN’s 80th anniversary, secretary general makes impassioned plea for multilateralism and international law amid drastic US funding cutsThe United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, will warn on Saturday of the peril posed by “powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation” in an address to mark the 80th anniversary of the UN’s first major meeting.Speaking in London’s Methodist Central Hall – the site where eight decades earlier delegates from 51 countries came together for the inaugural session of the general assembly – the UN head will make an impassioned plea for the virtues of multilateralism and international law to prevail during a period of deepening global uncertainty. Continue reading...

...