When Jewish businessman, Wolff Lévitan founded his namesake department store on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin, Paris, in the early 1930s, he couldn’t have imagined where the future would lead. In June 1940, Nazi troops invaded France, soon capturing the city of Paris. …

Bookworms, rejoice! As of tomorrow, bookshops will be reopening in the UK. Once more we can browse a greater choice than that provided by Tesco’s feeble book aisle, which seems to consist of three genres; thrillers, “chick lit”, or celebrity autobiographies. God, I can’t wait. Another thing permissible as of…

Studies have found that regularly watching foreign films and TV shows is one of the most successful means of studying a language. Even if at first you can’t understand a word, you’ll soon enough start to pick up whole sentences. Personally, I’m a huge fan of this method of language…

Is there a better lockdown companion than Jane Austen? Who better to spend a lockdown evening in than the queen of cosy, satirical romance? And so, with staycations soon to be a possibility as we finally emerge from hibernation, I’ve compiled a selection of Jane Austen-related locations to visit to…

Studies have proven that there are many benefits of a life by the sea. Coastal dwellers enjoy improved mental health, respiratory health, quality of sleep, and a bigger dose of Vitamin D. …

Books. I love them. I love them so much, I’ve been a live-in volunteer in more than one bookshop, and I loved every second. As an avid bookworm, indulge me while I take a moment to share my favourite reads of the past month. Oh, there were some goodies! The Witchfinder’s Sister, by Beth Underdown

As there is already a country called Colombia, this may seem like an obvious question. Yet, as school history lessons continue to teach us (wrongly) that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, then where on earth did the name America come from? In truth, the naming of both the…

This year, I’ll be celebrating the big 3–0. 30. Three whole decades. Holy moly, I’ve been both looking forward to and dreading this milestone for a long time. Like many of us, I’ve been in a reflective mood for this past year. A global pandemic and several lockdowns will do…

Is there a graduate of the British education system anywhere with positive memories of their school uniform? I beg to differ. I remember all too well, the shapeless, baggy polo-shirt, the evident class divide between the kids who rocked up at the school gate in their well-fitting, new uniforms, embroidered…