Paul Shawcross Travel Writing and Photography

Summer 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to this belated edition of my Summer 2013 Newsletter. The weather is warming up everywhere now, even here in the UK and, as I'm writing this, the south of France is back to its usual warm and pleasant self.  I'm hoping to escape down there soon for a few days before too long!

There may be fewer visitors to France this year, thanks to this never ending Recession, but Francophiles from all over the world are arriving in numbers in all the French Regions now, especially the warm South, the Dordogne, Burgundy and of course ever popular Paris.

The future of the travel guide?

The prerequisite of any trip is a good guide. Many more travellers are opting for the electronic kind these days, ie the travel app, which they can download to their smart phone or tablet. Why an App? Travel Apps list entries for the most fascinating places in a city or region, describing  them fairly briefly and quickly providing the user with insights and information which would require hours of trawling through guide books, websites or tourist offices. There are website links which provide further (in-deth) information where required and cross references to other attractions so that there is no need to scroll through all the entries to find what is needed. There are also entries for places to stay and restaurants located mostly (but not exclusively) in the main centres and cool web links. Recreational activities and other attractions are also listed. All this at the touch of a screen, no more thumbing through pages and peering at indexes!

How to find these apps?

Well, you can do a search on the Apple Store and Google Play or quickly find some great French travel apps by following the 'click-thru' links on Jeff Steiner's website. Kimberley Lovato's French Riviera Roaming app will help with the Côte-d'Azur while for the rest of La Belle France,  Jeff's own Southern Burgundy Explorer, my Provençal Roaming, Dordogne Explorations, Nice & Beyond (see below) and Lynne Morgan Sullivan's Alsace Travel Guide will all enhance your travels. There are apps on Paris of course, but for something different check out  Earl Steinbicker's Beyond Paris which features the City itself and excursions to nearby  Reims and Amiens amongst others. If you want all of France in one app, then the comprehensive France Discovered, created by the award winning travel writer Terry Marsh, is also available here.

Travel Apps by Paul Shawcross

I have written and revised many print travel guides extensively for Michelin, Thomas Cook and DK as well as several leading travel and lifestyle magazines and I'm currently drawing on this experience to write a series of travel apps.  In production now is a  comprehensive new app featuring the Languedoc-Roussillon which will be followed later by apps on Corsica and Normandy.

Hot off the Press: Nice & Beyond  Released in June this year Nice & Beyond (see icon below) is only available on iTunes at the moment (£1.99) but will soon be appearing on Google Play.

The exciting and fascinating City of Nice lies along the shores of the Baie des Anges in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located in the Alpes-Martimes département of the Région Provence-Cote-d'Azur on, what English speakers often call, the French Riviera but which the French know as the Côte d'Azur. Its delights were discovered by the English during the mid 19 C but the secret eventually got out and the Riviera later established itself as an international playground.

However, the Nice and Beyond travel app is about much more than this! It also covers the beautiful mountainous territory to the north known as the 'L'Arrière Pays Niçois', or as some call it 'Nice Beyond' plus some nearby sights along the hilly coastal region to the east including a little bit of Italy for good measure! I have also included a few towns and villages just to the west of the Var River because they are easily reached and too good to miss.

The app enables the user to explore not only the City and its old town, Vieux Nice, but also the hinterland which many people miss. It suggests places to visit and sights to see, including a few surprises, which appear to be quite remote but which can be reached within an hour or so from the coast.

Provençal Roaming is available for both the iPhone/iPad (£1.99) and Android (Price £1.88) platforms.

Why Provence? Provence is one of those magical destinations with blue skies, warm days, balmy evenings, healthy cuisine, splendid architecture, a fascinating heritage and the wonderful sing-song accent of the local inhabitants, the Provençaux. It is almost as much a state of mind as a geographical area.
But where exactly is Provence? Technically it is contained within the Région of Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur but for these purposes, I have followed many Provençeaux and include the territory on both sides of the River Rhône before and after it reaches the massive delta beyond Arles. It is around here that Nîmes, Aix-en-Provence and Avignon are found, as well as the amazing Regional Nature Park of the Camargue. To the north-east and east it extends beyond the Grand Canyon like Verdon Gorges into the Alps and on to the border with Italy. The Côte d'Azur is not included here (see French Riviera Roaming by Kimberley Lovato (also on Jeff's site - see above) and the author's forthcoming app about Nice and its hinterland).
Apart from all the  usual cities, villages and attractions, Provençal Roaming includes an entry on Brennand' Buildings featuring the beautiful artwork of Catherine Brennand  http://www.catherinebrennand.co.uk including architectural studies of Aix-en-Provence. There is also an entry on artist David Welsh, whose impressionist paintings of Provence are featured too. Also featured is a fantastic activity holiday in Hidden Provence organised by Mel Jones and Liz Lord of Space-Between based in the old market town of Forcalquier in Haute-Provence which includes guided walks along the long ridge of the Montagne de Lure, down into the fabulous Verdon Gorge, up the Mourre Negre, the highest point in the Luberon and into the amazing red ochre Colorado de Rustrel.

Dordogne Explorations This was my original travel app and it has been consistently one of Sutro Media's best sellers on iTunes.

Why Dordogne? France has many beautiful regions but the author's favourite has to be the Dordogne with its beautiful meandering river valley stretching from the Massif Central in the east, through the départements of the Corrèze and the Lot before entering the Dordogne département on its way to the Gironde in the west. Imposing medieval castles from which the English and French conducted the long running saga of Hundred Years War during the middle ages and fascinating prehistoric sites where there are cave paintings dating back to the beginning of life in Europe.

Within this App you will find fascinating medieval towns, fortified bastides, prehistoric sites and charming sleepy villages not to mention several cool places to eat, drink and rest. One of the most popular app entries  'The French Paradox' can be viewed on the following website: http://www.guide2aquitaine.com/news/362/Dordogne-Feature-The-French-Paradox-or-why-the-French-live-longer

Dordogne Explorations can be downloaded from the Apple Store for £1.99 or $2.99 or from Google Play for Android priced at £1.88.

Finally, enjoy your travels wherever you go and don't forget to and visit my website soon!

Tel: +44 (0) 191 4885313 Mob: +44 (0)7708 952044

Paul Shawcross Travel Writing and Photography