The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
GUY CHAMBERS MY LIFE IN TRAVEL
The songwriter recalls rowing the Danube with Robbie Williams, diving in Jamaica and a boys’ trip to Rhodes gone wrong
MY GREATEST MELODIES have taken root while travelling around the world. I’m always looking for new chords and new harmonies, and being in different countries, particularly France, Austria and Hungary, can be inspiring. My job has taken me all over the world – though I’m still hankering to visit mainland China – and I get to travel a lot.
I’M TRULY RELAXED WHEN holidaying or visiting Sussex. As a child, I used to go every year with my family and we would spend the entire summer there. Each year my dad, a flautist, would play at Glyndebourne and we’d spend long days paddling at the beach in Seaford. We have a country house in Lewes and I find spending time in our garden there is the perfect antidote to work stress: It’s my favourite place in Britain.
I’VE LIVED IN LONDON SINCE I WAS 18 and have no inclination to move. I’ve grown up in the capital, surrounded by the most amazing museums, galleries, theatres, concert halls and parks – the Hampstead ponds are a must for visitors. There are endless opportunities to have fun.
ALMOST EVERY YEAR WE TRUNDLE DOWN to Cap Ferret in France. We rent a house in this stunning location, looking out over the peninsula. It combines the best things about France – the food, the wine and that “je ne sais quoi” style. Everyone is always out cycling, too, which suits me just fine.
I LIKE TO HAVE A PIANO wherever I travel in the world. I do a lot of writing when I am away. For instance, Robbie Williams’s Go Gentle track, which was released as a single a few years ago, was penned in the house we rent in Cap Ferret.
ROBBIE AND I HAD THE BEST TIME at a festival in Budapest. It wasn’t your Glastonbury-style experience. We actually stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace, and in between sets Robbie rented a boat which we took out on to the Danube river. It was a lot of fun. Budapest is such a delightful city. It has lovely outdoor baths, a magnificent opera house and amazing “Ruin Bars” which are unlike anything you will find anywhere else in Europe. The buildings are semi-derelict shells that have been taken over and refurnished with old junk. They are very atmospheric.
THE BEAUTIFUL HILLTOP TOWN OF BAROLO in Italy is a magical place to play a gig. I had an amazing time when I visited the town’s festival. I’m a big wine nut and I always like to buy a bottle of local wine when travelling, but people there were stocking up on the stuff like it was going out of fashion. PEOPLE THOUGHT I WAS THE HOTEL PIANIST in Venice. My wife and I have visited the city for the past 20 years and we always stay at the Belmond Hotel Cipriani, which has the most remarkable view of St Mark’s Square. One of the first things I do each time is head for the piano. On our last visit, I decided to try out some of the songs on my new album. They went down well but did leave my fellow guests a little confused…
BUDGET TRIPS AREN’T MY THING and nor are adventure holidays – too stressful. I always go luxury. My favourite thing to do is to flop out on a sun lounger with a book. I tend to read about six books over a fortnight, which is a real score compared with my London average.
MY FAVOURITE HOTEL IN THE WORLD must be The Hôtel Costes in Paris. It’s dark, glamorous and has a beautiful underground swimming pool in the old cellar. I was one of the first guests to play there back in 1997 and I’ve returned for the odd long weekend many times since.
IT’S A TREMENDOUSLY UGLY CITY but Las Vegas actually has another, more foodie-focused side to it. I visited a few years ago and was
SUNGLASSES
PERFUME
I take handy 30ml bottles of Atelier Cologne aftershave with me on my trips. I love the smell and the blend of the citrus oils. They are hand luggage-friendly, too.
£55; johnlewis.com I always wear Cubitt shades. They are made in England, they don’t break easily and they are really well designed. From £125; cubitts. co.uk surprised to discover that I actually enjoyed the experience.
GRACE JONES WAS OUR NEIGHBOUR when we rented a villa at the GoldenEye hotel in Jamaica. I have four children and we had the most amazing holiday there last August. When we weren’t sleeping or eating, we were scuba diving and deep-sea fishing. It was bliss.
A BOYS’ TRIP GONE WRONG stands out as my most calamitous holiday, ever. I went to Rhodes with my brother and one of our mates, on an “allocation upon arrival” package holiday before I got married. I didn’t like the first place we stopped at, so we moved to another. Then we moved pretty much every day. It was the last time I ever did that.
My job has taken me all over the world – though I am still hankering to visit China
MY BEST ADVICE FOR COPING WITH JET LAG? Resist the temptation of an on-board beverage, keep your laptop out of reach, try not to work, and sleep as much as possible. And then exercise as soon as possible after you arrive. Guy Chambers’s album
is out now on BMG