Is there anything better than a summer holiday in winter?
While it is winter in the southern hemisphere, those of you in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the summer months. This month, we escaped the South African winter to spend a few glorious weeks in the south of France. The heat was intense and the cigales (cicadas) deafening, just as it should be.
It was the perfect summer holiday with not much to do except rise late to eat light breakfast of espresso and pain au chocolat (which we do not call chocolatine in this part of France!), eat lunch en famille before taking a nap in the heat of the day. In the cool evenings, we watched some theatre at the Avignon Theatre festival, or enjoyed the fresh air with friends at a restaurant.
One of the other great pleasures of taking a summer holiday during winter months is the opportunity to catch up on some reading. For this issue of the newsletter I have collected a few of my favourite summer readings, a video, and a podcast for you to enjoy at your leisure.
Fans of Disney’s much awaited Lion King movie, released earlier this month, might also like this short film on the declining lion populations in Africa, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio.
If you had the great pleasure of watching the exciting Wimbledon men’s final, you might enjoy reading this interview of Roger Federer by Simon Kuper.
Ed Yong wrote a wonderful profile on the biologist David Sischo. The article is about extinction of a species, in this case, a snail. He writes, “When animals die out, the last survivor is called an endling. It is a word of soft beauty, heartbreaking solitude, and chilling finality.”
And finally, the inspiring Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love fame talks to Conde Nast Traveler on solo female travel, among other things in this podcast.
Northern Hemisphere readers, remember that we have a summer holiday waiting for you during your winter later this year!
Happy travelling!
Diana
P.S. Congratulations to England on winning the Cricket World Cup in a thrilling finish at Lord’s.
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