4 h. ago I visited the French city you won’t have heard of with surreal hotels, unique art museums and 800

MEET Metz. It’s a French city you may not have heard of – but with impressive history, great food, and world-beating stained glass and art, it’s worth putting on your radar.   It has Luxembourg and Germany as neighbours and has been at Europe’s crossroads since Roman times. My discovery began with checking in at the surreal Maison Heler Metz hotel,...

Politics

18 h. ago My cultural awakening: an Eddie Izzard routine inspired me to learn French – and get a job with the EU

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...

Events

65 h. ago Andy Warhol would have hated safe spaces. So why keep dragging dead artists into today’s culture wars?

Critics and curators are reframing great artists, from Gentileschi to Soutine, to fit with modern ethical narratives. But this ignores the glorious ambivalence of their creationsOne rainy afternoon last winter, sitting under a blanket with a cup of tea, I found myself Googling paintings by Chaïm Soutine. It’s a pastime I’ve indulged ever since visiting an exhibition of his portraits of hotel staff on the French Riviera during the 1920s – paintings that combine such a mixture of tenderness and debasement that it’s as if his brush is kissing and beating his subjects at the same time.I flicked through images of hopelessly innocent cooks and bellboys, with complexions the colour of raw sausage and ears that look as if they have been brutally yanked. And as I did, I came across a review of the very show where I had first encountered Soutine’s works. Ah, I thought, looking forward to luxuriating in literature about his particular genius for kindly sadism. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago 'Major toxic incident' as huge 'explosions' heard at city factory

Firefighters are tackling the blaze at a factory

Events

3 d. ago Explosions heard across city after 'major toxic incident' at factory fire

Residents say they heard 'explosions' before seeing smoke billowing into the sky this morning.

Events

3 d. ago Wolverhampton fire LIVE: Huge factory fire triggers explosions heard across city

A fire has broken out in Wolverhampton in the west Midlands as local residents report that they heard 'explosions' before smoke filled the sky this morning

Events

9 d. ago 'I've heard': Liverpool 'hijack Antoine Semenyo deal' after Man City booked medical

Reds are said to have launched a late move to sign the Bournemouth star

Economics

1 week ago Wild Antoine Semenyo to Liverpool claim live on Sky over Man City hijack – 'I've heard tonight'

Antoine Semenyo looks set to join Manchester City, but one Sky Sports pundit claimed, live on TV, Liverpool may be set to hijack a move for the forward

Politics

2 w. ago Forget Paris and Versailles and visit 'underrated' French city that's 'breathtaking'

If you were planning to visit Paris of Versailles this year, one travel content creator has recommended an 'underrated' and 'breathtaking' French city you should visit instead

Politics