What's in My Bag: A Long Weekend in Cannes

I am on my way to Cannes today for a long weekend at my parents' apartment. My main holiday this year was to Mexico, but June and July were insanely busy at work and I've been in need of a little sunshine, sea and poulet rôti. I booked a hand-luggage only with BA and I'm travelling super-light, taking only my trusty small and large Longchamp Le Pliage totes.

This is what I'm bringing — the only things missing are my blazer for the plane, fedora and DLSR. I keep a few things at my parents' place, including a spare pair of running shoes, a few tops and some toiletries, which helps a lot when I'm travelling light. My things are laid out on a Hammamas towel; I won't be taking it with me on this trip, but I've had the turquoise version for about five years and love it so much that I've just bought this pink one to keep at my office. They are lightweight, absorbent and very chic; great for those who like to travel light.

I will be in Cannes for four days, so as well as my purple Havaianas flipflops, my favourite black Banana Republic ballet flats, my & Other Stories bikini, undies and my running kit, I'm bringing: two pairs of shorts (khaki are from Miss Selfridge circa 2004, indigo are J. Crew); five tops (smart black lace tank from Banana Republic, pink textured tank from J. Crew, Uniqlo striped tank, pink American Eagle tee and indigo J. Crew tee); a lightweight cardi; and two dresses (pink and green dress from TopShop and navy dress with floral pattern from Aqua). There are a few toiletries and make-up items here too, but I have more at the apartment.

It isn't hard to guess that my three favourite colours are pink, turquoise and purple, is it? Most of these items, apart from my laptop and chargers, will go in my smaller 'handbag-sized' bag. I've downsized my wallet to a teal Lonchamp coin-purse and a pink card-holder from Kate Spade Saturday. My favourite fossil sunglasses and Kate Spade passport holder will also accompany me. My jewellery and a few first-aid-type items live in my aqua J. Crew pouch. I recently acquired a S'Well bottle, which is great at keeping liquids cool — I even brewed some coffee last night and decanted into the bottle so that it was ready for my early start this morning. My iPad Mini is loaded up with e-books and my waterproof camera is also ready for some action. Then there's just my sleep mask and my amazing Bose SoundTrue headphones, which fold down really small for travel.

J'arrive, Cannes! A plus tard!

July Favourites

1. Honest Burgers Karma Cola special. It's no secret that I think Honest Burgers' signature burger — the eponymous Honest Burger — is one of my top three burgers in London. They also do monthly specials, but the Honest Burger is so near-perfect that it takes a good 'un to tempt me away. This month's special is a cola-boration with Karma Cola and sounded so epic that I couldn't say no. For £11.50 (£12.50 if you order a Karma Cola too) you get an amazing burger with smoked cheddar, Karma-Cola-braised beef, pickles and chilli coleslaw. Oh, and the standard Honest rosemary chips (NB, standard isn't the right word, because they are awesome).

Unsurprisingly, the result is delicious. But if that isn't motivation enough, £1 from every burger sold is being donated to the Karma Cola Foundation, the proceeds of which go to support cola nut growers in West Africa. Everybody wins.

2. Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. Regular readers will know that I'm a regular reader—I'm currently reading my 93rd book of the year—and I'm always looking for inspiration for the next book on my e-reader. This means that when I discover a writer I like, I tend to make my way through their back catalogue. There are five books so far in French's series about the (fictional) Dublin Murder Squad. Each book is narrated by a different detective and involves a contemporary crime that also links back to the detective's past. The narrator will often have been a minor character in the previous book.

I actually read the latest book in the series, The Secret Place, last year, but have since been working my way through in chronological order. My favourite so far is The Likeness, in which Detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover to try to work out who killed a woman who looked just like her. She goes to live in the house of the murdered woman—a graduate student with friends that evoke Donna Tartt's The Secret History—but finds her objectivity wavering as she becomes more involved with her doppelgänger's life. French combines compelling plots, engaging and flawed narrators, and beautiful, suspenseful prose. Be warned, though, because she isn't fond of endings where everything is tied up neatly.

3. Southerden SE1. I've walked past the tempting windows of Southerden's Bermondsey Street café and patisserie many times, but by the time I make it to Bermondsey Street on a Saturday, I've already had at least one doughnut as part of the SoLoDo running club. Luckily for me, though, Southerden also occupies one of the arches on Dockley Road, as part of the Spa Terminus Market on Saturday mornings.

It took me a while to choose among the delicious-looking sweet treats, but in the end, it had to be a doughnut and I loved the sound of the pineapple doughnut, topped with a dried pineapple ring. It didn't quite have the sinful ooziness of Bread Ahead and St John doughnuts, but it was bloomin' tasty nonetheless. Get them straight from the oven at Unit 11, Dockley Road.

4. Chinatown. I've now watched enough films on Netflix for its movie recommendations to be halfway decent. I was pleased when Chinatown popped up as a suggestion because I haven't seen it in years and I'd forgotten how much I liked it. Great performances from Faye Dunaway and especially Jack Nicholson, great plot, great twists: this is gritty noir at its best.

5. Futurama. Most of the TV shows I watch are pretty dark, or at least dramatic, so I like to keep a lighter show on the go too. After I rewatched all of Friends, I moved on to Futurama, of which I've probably seen a handful of episodes over the years but I never really got into it. Several of my friends are big fans, though, and I keep missing out on their jokes, so I'm binge-watching my way through the archives. A couple of seasons in, I think it's great! I'm very late to this party, I know, but if you like witty, sharp animated sci-fi shows, you won't be disappointed. It's set in the 31st century, so it doesn't matter that it first aired in 1999—it's aged very well!

The Caffeine Chronicles: London Velo (CLOSED)

UPDATE: London Velo has now closed permanently.

When a fun cocktail bar—the Job Centre—sprung up on Deptford High Street last year, I knew it would only be a matter of time before third-wave coffee weaved its way into SE8. London Velo opened at the end of May and I had been meaning to stop by, so I was grateful for the reminder in this week's Time Out, which dropped in the G-word but had nothing but praise for the new café and bike shop.

London Velo serves coffee, bagels, sandwiches and salads by day, but there are also cocktails, including the LV espresso martini, for the evening crowd (it's open until 10 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays). The weather was atrocious on Sunday morning—it was pretty chilly and pouring with rain—but London Velo was still pleasingly bustling when I arrived.

The décor is Scandi-minimalist, with plenty of light wooden furniture with pink and grey accents (disclaimer: pink and grey is one of my favourite colour combos; my outfit even matched that day). There are plenty of tables and the café is refreshingly spacious. The one slight mis-step is that the wooden bench that lines one wall is too high for the tables, but I didn't mind moving round to the pink chair to eat my food.

There aren't any hand-brewed filter coffee options on the menu, so I ordered a flat white (£2.40) and then considered the breakfast menu. The LV breakfast (£7.50), which has all of my favourite things (salmon, egg, avo, spinach, tomato and toast) and none of my least favourites (mushrooms), sounded great, but I also knew the bagels were sourced from Brick Lane, so I ordered the bacon and avocado bagel (£5) instead. In a world of sourdough and rye, bagels feel almost retro, but I'm not complaining.

I was given a numbered bike gear to identify my table and went to take a seat. Meanwhile, the dog-in-residence, Maurice, came to say hello.

The coffee is independently sourced—at the moment, they are using Union's Bright Note blend, which I've tried before and which is sweet and nutty and works very well as a flat white. My drink was smooth, rich and tasty. The bagel was great too—it almost felt like I had been whisked away to New York—and came with a generous helping of avocado, back bacon and a side of rocket. Delicious enough to feel like a treat, but healthy enough that I didn't feel too sinful.

There is a bike mechanic and a bike shop at the back of the café and there's also a small art gallery downstairs (the info isn't currently on the London Velo site, but there are some details about the current exhibition here).

London Velo is a great addition to the often sparsely populated south-east London coffee map, and does a great job of covering the four Cs: coffee, cycling, culture and community. If you're in the SE8 area, you should drop by!

London Velo. 18 Deptford High Street, Deptford, London, SE8 4AF (Deptford Bridge DLR, or Deptford or New Cross rail).

"Everything You Have Ever and Never Done"

I missed Nick Payne's play Constellations during its 2012 run at the Royal Court and I was even more disappointed to just miss its Broadway incarnation with Jake Gyllenhaal and the always excellent Ruth Wilson this spring. I like going to the theatre but I'm never very good at keeping on top of what is on, so I was pleased that I scanned the theatre section of last week's Time Out and noticed that Constellations was back for a limited run at the Trafalgar Studios and even happier that I managed to score some cheap tickets for the Saturday matinee.

Constellations tells the story—or, rather, stories—of Marianne (Louise Brealey), an astrophysicist, and Roland (Joe Armstrong), a bee-keeper, who meet at a barbecue. Marianne tells a weird anecdote about elbow licking, but Roland isn't impressed and they don't click. But then they meet at a barbecue and they do click. Above the stark black stage hang dozens of white balloons and every few minutes, different balloons light up and we see a different version of the same scene. The story moves along, sometimes incrementally and sometimes with long time-jumps, and we start to see different versions of their relationship that could have happened.

As in any relationship (or any possible version of any relationship), sometimes things go well, and other times, sad things happen. Intermittently, we also get snapshots from a time much further in the future. We see the same scene several times, but each time, there is slightly more dialogue and slightly more context, which allow us to gradually piece together what is happening.

It is a beautiful play, only 70 minutes long but extremely intense. It's often sad and moving, but it's also funny in places, particularly in some of the variations early on in the relationship. "I f*cking love honey," one Marianne tells one Roland; it's her delivery that's key. Constellations is also very philosophical, and Marianne's job as a physicist allows her to introduce questions of time and of infinite possible worlds. She talks about "everything you have ever and never done," and then later tells Roland: "We still have all the time we've ever had."

Marianne gets the best lines and she is, perhaps, the more interesting character, but Roland makes a great foil. The chemistry between Brealey and Armstrong is fantastic and essential for such a production to work. In some ways, the play reminded me of Patrick Marber's Closer; in particular, the scenes when Marianne and Roland argue made me think of the devastating break-up between Larry and Anna (portrayed wonderfully on-screen by Clive Owen and Julia Roberts). The work with which I drew most connections, though, was Laura Barnett's novel The Versions of Us, which I read recently. Both look at all of the ways characters and relationships could have developed—and maybe have even developed in other possible worlds—and highlight questions of fate, love and what forever really means.

I mentioned the minimalist set design further up, but the play is also visually impressive. It was a nice touch to have the black floor printed with a hexagon grid, which seemed to be symbolic of Roland's beekeeping work (which also proves relevant to the story), whereas the white flashing balloons represented, to me, the infinite universe that Marianne studies.

By the end of Constellations, I was feeling emotionally exhausted but curious. If you're in the mood for a beautiful and thought-provoking play about love, life and even theoretical physics, then do try to get tickets. Unfortunately, this run ends on 1st August, so you'll need to act pretty swiftly.

The Caffeine Chronicles: The Proud Archivist

It was far too nice a morning on Sunday for breakfast in bed. The sun was shining and I was in serious need of brunch so I hopped on a bus to Haggerston for some casual, canal-side dining at The Proud Archivist, a café, gallery and event space.

The Proud Archivist is right on the canal towpath close to the Kingsland Road bridge, but my bus dropped me off a little further west, near the lovely and aptly named Towpath café. There are plenty of shiny new apartment buildings along this stretch of the canal — in fact, The Proud Archivist occupies the ground floor of one — but there is still plenty of character.

Given the pleasant weather, I was worried that the café was going to be full but I must have arrived early enough to beat the brunch rush and I snagged one of the long sharing tables on the towpath and in the sunshine. The view over the canal was very pleasant and it was fun to people-watch as the many joggers, cyclists and passersby went about their Sunday morning.

There weren't any hand-brewed filter coffees on the menu, although they do serve a single-origin batch-brew filter; instead, I ordered a piccolo. I had brewed an iced Aeropress coffee before leaving home but was starting to feel the need for my second caffeine hit of the day. The coffee is from Caravan and my piccolo was very good: smooth and creamy, even if the latte art had started to deconstruct on its way to my table.

Choosing what I wanted to eat was a little harder — the shakshouka (£9) sounded great and it doesn't usually take much persuasion to talk me into a bacon sarnie (£7), but regular readers will probably guess that I went for the poached egg and avocado on sourdough toast (£9). Seriously, brunch menu creators: all you need to ensure happiness in your patrons is to offer a dish that includes at least two of the holy trinity of poached egg, avocado and bacon.

The food was, of course, delicious: the eggs just the right consistency, the avo seasoned just so, and a big dollop of chilli jam on the side to keep things interesting. I rather liked the orange, star-shaped sunglasses that served to mark my table number too; it's a good thing that they weren't pink or I might have borrowed them!

The Proud Archivist is pretty big with long sharing tables inside and out along two sides of the building. They are open all day and have a pretty epic-looking cocktail menu — next time I'll have to try a Halley's Gimlet or, partly because of the name, a Bittersweet Symphony. There is also a revolving and evolving collection of well-curated art exhibitions, cultural talks, workshops and other events. It's the kind of place you to go for brunch and then spend the whole day there; unfortunately, though, I had other plans on Sunday. Another time, though...

The Proud Archivist. 2-10 Hertford Road, London, N1 5ET (Haggerston Overground). Website. Twitter.

The Lambeth Country Show

Growing up in an Oxfordshire village, I used to get my fill of country shows and fairs. In London, however, they are a little harder to find. There is the Bermondsey Street Festival, of course, but that's more smart village fête than a rural affair. The Lambeth Country Show, an annual two-day event that takes over Brockwell Park in south-east London, is rather different.

One of my friends lives near Brockwell Park, so we met at her place, had a few drinks and then wandered over in the late afternoon. It was a lot bigger than I was expecting, with a couple of stages for music acts, and then different zones for food and drink, wildlife, shopping and even 'complementary therapies. We had, it seemed, missed the jousting, but there was some kind of sheep demonstration taking place — they were really putting the 'lamb' in Lambeth Country Show.

Next, we headed for the horticultural zone, where there were quite a few competitions in progress, including the classic 'best rose', as well as what seemed to be the 'best punny fruit and vegetable construction'. Jon Snowbergine for first place!

There was a good selection of plants and flowers for sale too, which was nice, given how hard it is to buy decent plants in central London. I picked up a few succulents and some cheery sunflowers, which I will probably kill promptly.

There was quite a lot going on in the wildlife areas too: with owls on hand, if you could stand the long wait, bees, and some animal representatives from Vauxhall City Farm. Perhaps most entertaining was the sheep shearing event, where a cheerful Kiwi gave us a brief history of the selective breeding of sheep (more interesting than it sounds), with live representatives from each of the breeds. This was followed by a sheep shearing and then a little sheep boogie to the sound of Abba's Dancing Queen — each of the sheep had its own dance move, and it was pretty impressive.

I hadn't heard of the headline act, Odyssey (perhaps they were looking for Jason's Golden Fleece), but the soul disco music seemed to go down very well with the happy show attendees. There were also plenty of rides and slides to keep the kids (and adults) entertained. It didn't hurt that the weather was near-perfect on Saturday. Best of all, though, there was just a really nice, chilled-out, family-friendly atmosphere you don't often see at London-based events. I'm keen to go back next year, although I think I'd probably go earlier in the day so the queues for the more popular activities aren't so bad.

The Caffeine Chronicles: St David Coffee House

I take a bus bound for Honor Oak most days, but beyond pondering the U-less spelling of Honor (it seems to date to the 17th century, before British English exiled its Us to the colonies), I hadn't given the southeast London area much thought. On Sunday, though, I rode the bus all the way to its end point: about halfway up One Tree Hill in Honor Oak. I was headed for Forest Hill, and yes, it is pretty hilly in that part of London. The clue is in the name, but central London is so flat that it's easy to forget about that little thing called altitude.

Before long, I arrived at my destination: St David Coffee House, a cheerful neighbourhood café near the Forest Hill Overground. I had heard that they served great coffee and even better brunch, and I wasn't disappointed. You know the brunch menu is on point when you read the first menu item and know you don't need to read on. Don't get me wrong; the other brunch dishes would have been great too, but how could I not order the poached egg, avocado and bacon on toast (£6.50)? Good brunch joints never make you choose between eggs, avocado and bacon. The food was excellent: the bacon was crispy and plentiful, the avo creamy and the egg the perfect consistency.

The coffee is from Square Mile and hand-brewed filter fans will be pleased to note that both Aeropress and V60 brew methods are available (£3); an iced version was also on offer for the same price. My Aeropress brew was very good, and I saw some nice-looking flat whites being carried out to other customers.

I almost caved and ordered a macchiato too, but it was time to move on and so I settled for one of Kooky Bakes' slices of awesomeness (I'm not sure the real name, but what else do you call a blondie-like cake with a pretzel base, chocolate, and various nuts?) to go.

St David is a friendly, cosy café with artfully mismatched wooden furniture and eclectic, retro décor. There are a couple of tables out front, but on drizzly days, you're better off sheltering indoors. They also serve dinner on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and often hold pizza nights; check out their Twitter for more information.

If you're looking for a way to walk off your brunch, the wonderful Horniman Museum & Gardens is only half a mile away. The museum is free and houses a whole host of weird and wonderful natural history, art and anthropological objects, while the gardens have a lovely view over the London skyline.

St David Coffee House. 5 David Road, London, SE23 3EP (Forest Hill Overground). Website. Twitter.
Horniman Museum & Gardens. 100 London Road, London, SE23 3PQ (Forest Hill Overground). Website.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Notes King's Cross

I've sung the praises of Notes — a small but growing collection of London-based cafés that serve coffee by day and wine by night — several times before, but although their newest branch in Pancras Square has been open several months and is only a few minutes' walk from my desk, I have managed not to visit. When a co-worker invited us to go with her to a jazz night there on Wednesday, which I was unable to attend, I decided to rectify this omission.

Pancras Square is a buzzy little public space with plenty of seating, trees and water features located in the gap between King's Cross and St Pancras stations. There are several good restaurants there now (including the excellent Granger & Co) and Notes, with its all-day casual charm fits right in. There are a few tables outside, a couple more on the ground floor of the café and more still on the loft-like mezzanine. The design is classic indie coffee shop: plenty of wood, black metal, exposed brick and quirky light fixtures.

The coffee is roasted at the Notes roastery, just up the road at the Tileyard location (which seems no longer to be open to the public). They serve all the usual espresso-based drinks, but there is also a special summer drinks menu, including various iced coffees and the 18-hour cold brew that I had my eye on. If you don't have to go back to the office — or, depending on where you work, even if you do — there are various craft beers and an excellent wine list.

I ordered a cold brew (£3.50), a piccolo (£2.60) and a blondie and went to take a seat near the sleek black twin La Marzoccos that sit proudly on the counter. While I waited for my coffee, I dug into the blondie, which was very good, and just about the right size for a post-lunch treat. If you haven't already eaten, there is a selection of nice-looking sandwiches and salads in the fridge.

The coffee arrived and I soon realised why the £8 bill had been so cheap: a batch-brew filter coffee had been dispatched instead of the cold brew. Eek! Luckily, they quickly swapped the long drink for a bottle of the Kenyan Kamwangi Ab cold brew. Yesterday was a pretty warm day and I was grateful for the refreshing cold brew, which was complex and fruity but none of the bitterness you sometimes get with rushed and otherwise poorly created cold brews. I almost bought a second bottle to keep in the office fridge but the coffee in our office is so bad, I didn't think it would last long.

I've had Notes piccolos and macchiatos many times before, but this one was particularly good: its creamy smoothness contrasted nicely with the sharper acidity of the cold brew. I was obviously tired because even after my fourth coffee of the day, I wasn't exactly bouncing off the walls, my colleagues were probably relieved to observe.

If you have time to kill at King's Cross or St Pancras and are in need of caffeination or a nice place to chill, do not be put off by the many chain coffee shops inside the stations: venture outside and grab a seat at Notes. You won't regret it. And if you really like them, you might like to consider crowd-funding their next location.

Notes King's Cross. 1 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG (Tube: King's Cross); other locations here. Website. Twitter.