When Russia invaded Ukraine back in 2022, it gave Poland a “rare slice of geopolitical stardom”, says Mateusz Mazzini in The Guardian. Ordinary Poles opened their doors to millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russian bombs, while the country’s leaders advocated for the Ukrainian cause in the West, “with some success”. After decades of border disputes and tension over World War Two, the two nations seemed bound for an “iron-clad” alliance. “It has not lasted.” More than half of Poles now oppose their country accepting Ukrainian refugees, while a steadily growing number are becoming weary of supporting Kyiv, arguing that weapons transfers have depleted Warsaw’s own capacity to defend against an increasingly probable Russian incursion.

What Poland failed to realise was that Ukrainians would not remain merely helpless victims of Vladimir Putin, but would want to exercise their agency. Many refugees quickly set about moving out of their hosts’ living rooms and rented or bought apartments. Some set up now-flourishing businesses and created a robust community. With the Ukrainians no longer behaving as “grateful or passive recipients of Polish charity”, compassion dwindled. For the Russian propaganda machine that runs amok on Polish social media, “this is all great fodder”. Misinformation about Ukrainian “welfare queens” claiming benefits at the expense of hard-working Poles has fuelled tensions to the point of violence. Just a few weeks ago a young Ukrainian couple were attacked outside a supermarket as the alleged perpetrators shouted “go away to war”. Headlines trickle out almost daily about Ukrainian citizens being verbally abused or physically attacked in Polish streets. The honeymoon, it seems, is over.

Save for a single sheep, the Provençal island of Bendor was uninhabited when it was bought in 1950 by the aperitif magnate Paul Ricard, says Alexander Lobrano in Air Mail. Having made his fortune with the anise-flavoured liquor synonymous with southern French summers, Ricard built a chalet-style villa for his family and a hotel to accommodate his friends. He later added a theatre and, because he “fancied himself an artist”, a gallery, before building a sculpture garden, a glass-making workshop, the first international French diving centre and a mini zoo. It wasn’t long until the “arty crew of world-renowned fêtards” – Salvador Dalí, Josephine Baker, Jean-Paul Belmondo – were flocking to its craggy shoreline to picnic and swim.

Today, the heady paradise is once again open to the public following a five-year, $115m renovation. Its 93 bedrooms are spread across two luxury hotels and five old fisherman’s cottages, and there are four restaurants, three bars, an art gallery, pétanque courts and a crêpe stand. Hotel Delos, with whitewashed walls and terracotta tiles, is where stylish couples lounge by the pool with stunning views of the sea. Soukana offers “serenity and solitude”, with a 30-metre lap pool and rooms equipped with yoga mats and resistance bands. The 13,000sq ft spa, built in golden stone, houses indoor and outdoor pools, a hammam, a cold plunge and an infrared sauna. One of the restaurants serves a five-course tasting menu by 26-year-old Lucas Antoniotti, who cut his teeth working under Arnaud Donckele, “probably best chef working in France today”. Another is famous for its salade russe topped with half a lobster tail. Rich in history and freshly spruced, Bendor is undoubtedly “one of the most glamorous destinations anywhere in France”.