SPECIALITIES
BEST TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
ARTICLES
PICTURES
AWARDS
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Strange
how life so often turns out right for the wrong reasons. I trained as a
bilingual PA at the Institut Français in London and worked for a variety
of multinational companies whilst writing – and selling - articles as a
hobby.
In 1980, I was unexpectedly made redundant so I took the plunge and went
freelance – if it didn’t work, I could always brush up the French
shorthand – but fortunately I never looked back. I was soon writing
regularly for women’s magazines - general features, celebrity
interviews, parenting articles and occasional travel pieces – as well as
regional publications and various corporate newsletters. In 1989, I
became a regular contributor to a new launch - Writers’ News magazine -
and, almost 20 years later, I’m still compiling their magazine market
news.
Then in 1998, a couple of chance conversations led me into travel
writing full time, contributing to the My Travel online magazine – now
closed - and to Living France magazine. Now I’m also a regular with
Destination France, The Traveller in France, Holiday Villas, Holiday
Cottages, and Yours, as well as selling occasional pieces to a range of
other titles (see Articles).
In 2007, I featured in an episode of the BBC2 series Return to
Lullingstone Castle, interviewing Tom Hart-Dyke, founder of The World
Garden of Plants.
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SPECIALIST TOPICS
France, the UK, European city breaks, and European islands.
I average a dozen trips to France each year and have travelled
round most of the Hexagon. Areas I know particularly well include
Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Rhône-Alpes, Normandy, Limousin, Auvergne, the
Dordogne and Corsica.
European city break destinations have included Helsinki and
Tallinn, Rome and Florence, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Brussels,
Amsterdam, and Vienna, plus my all-time favourite, Lyon. Trips to
European islands have included Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Mallorca,
Skiathos, Corfu, Cyprus, and Corsica, with Malta and Gozo coming
up early in 2008.
Closer to home, I’ve travelled from Cornwall to Yorkshire,
Herefordshire to Suffolk, as well as to Eire, the Highlands of
Scotland, and Edinburgh.
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BEST
TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
Every trip delivers
something good, but highlights for me include watching brown bears
in the forests of northern Finland, paragliding in the French
Alps, and riding over the lava fields of Iceland on a horse with
five-speed gearbox. I’ve enjoyed luxury hotels and relaxing spas,
but have also spent some of my most enjoyable evenings in
atmospheric B&Bs.
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RECENT
ARTICLES
In 2007, I had 57
travel articles published in national magazines, most of them
between 1500 and 2000 words long and illustrated with my own
pictures:
Living France
- Access all Areas
(disabled travel in
France)
- Walk on the Wild Side
(walking the Robert Louis Stevenson trail with a donkey)
- Wonders never Cèze
(exploring the
Gard’s Cèze valley)
- A Stitch in Time
(stitching holidays
in the Vendée)
- Festival Fever
(summer events around the Alpine lakes)
- Rick Stein on Corse
(interview about
Corsican food)
- Secret History
(the hidden
treasures of Arras)
- Blazing a Trail
(eastern Vosges)
- The Long Arm of the Loire
(exploring the
Roannais)
- Time Out
(leisure activities
in France)
- High Time
(the Pays du Buëch in northern Provence)
- Breath of Fresh Air
(mountains and
volcanoes of Ardèche)
- Let’s do Manche
(Manche department
of Normandy)
Destination France
- Destination ... Tarn-et-Garonne
- Destination ... Nord-Pas-de-Calais
- Destination ... Corsica
- Destination ... Aveyron
- Destination ... Franche-Comté
- Discover ... paragliding at Le Collet d’Allevard
- At a glance guide to … Sospel
(Alpes Maritimes)
- Lyon in Lights
(the annual Light
Festival)
- On the Trail of the Templars
(Templar villages of Aveyron)
Holiday Villas
- The Pistes off-peak
(summer activities in the Alps)
- Peak Pleasures
(discovering
Tenerife)
- Rick’s Best – from the Med
(interview with Rick Stein)
Holiday Cottages
- The Town at the end of England
(Penzance and SW
Cornwall)
- Herefordshire in Black & White
(the B&W village trail)
- Fun on the farm – and beyond
(Farm Stay East
Anglia)
- Peak Performance
(Buxton and its
festival)
- Silver in Somerset
(wedding anniversary
party in National Trust cottage)
- Highland Fling
(Highland 2007 celebrations around Inverness)
- Cotswold Classics
(the N Cotswolds and Stratford)
My Weekly
- Trip of a Lifetime
(profile of the
Family Holiday Association)
Classic Stitches
- Embroidery in France
(residential
holidays in the Vendée)
The Traveller in France (French Tourist Office magazine)
- Happy Families
(taking children to
France)
- On the Water Front
(water-based
activities in France)
- Bags full of Memories
(cross-Channel
shopping)
Voyage (Brittany Ferries onboard magazine)
- Missing Manche
(Normandy)
- Discover Asturias
(northern Spain)
Yours
- Islands Close to Home
(Guernsey, Ireland
and the Isle of Wight)
- A Walk on the Wild Side
(wildlife watching
holidays in Europe)
- Winter Wonderland
(London; Lyon Light
Festival; Mousehole lights)
Take a Break
- Walking on the Moon
(the volcanic
landscape of the Auvergne)
Active Life
- Florence city break
- As You Like It
(Shakespeare
Country)
- Pottering around the Lake District
(Beatrix Potter
country)
- Water Day Out!
(British days out
with a watery theme)
- The Peak of Perfection
(well dressing
events around the Peak District)
- Tenerife
(surprising reasons
to visit)
- Waltzing Destination
(Vienna)
The Italian Magazine
- Finding your feet in Florence
(city guide for
first time visitors)
Altitude (Nationwide airlines, South Africa)
- Strolling the Stalls in Lille
(the annual Braderie street market)
- O’Beautiful Highlands
(Inverness and Loch
Ness area)
- Windsor
- Lyon Light Festival
Travel Magazine
- Helsinki & Tallinn Shop Stops
(shopping break to two capitals)
Teddy Bear Scene
- Just Brown Bears
(brown bear watching
in Finland)
Room for Romance website
- General copy on regions of France.
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK
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PICTURES
I take high
resolution digital images to accompany my features and also have
an extensive back catalogue of colour slides. Several shots have
been used as double page spreads and I have had cover shots on
Living France and Destination France in recent months. Pictures
can be provided on disc.
PHOTOGRAPHY SELECTION
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AWARDS
In 2004, I was judged Runner-Up in the ABTOF Best French Travel
Article of the year, with an article on Burgundy’s blackcurrant
trail published in Living France, and also shortlisted with a
feature on Corsica, published in Holiday Villas. I am also an
honorary Chevalier de la Commanderie du Saulte Bouchon Champenois–
the Champagne guild of Aube-en-Champagne.
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TO CONTACT ME
Contact me by
email or by telephone on 00 44
(0)1582 468771 or – mobile - 00 44 (0)7831 275889.
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BY GILLIAN
THORNTON -
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK
Finding Your Feet in
Florence
On a scale of one to
ten, the Duomo in Florence scores a resounding eleven for sheer
in-your-face impact. Turn out of any side street into Piazza del
Duomo and you’re suddenly confronted with this ornate confection
of pink, green and white marble embellished with geometric
carvings, angelic figures, and sculpted foliage.
I first visited Florence as a student, eager to try out my A-level
Italian on the unsuspecting natives ... Now, more than two decades
later, I was making a long overdue return. But would the city live
up to my rose-tinted memories?
Read full article
...
Arras
- Secret History
Whether you’re on
the ground, high above it or far below it, Arras has all the
ingredients for the perfect short-break.
Think about a city break in Nord Pas de Calais and most people
automatically head for the bright lights of Lille or the historic
old quarter of Boulogne. But if you fancy a town that combines
stunning architecture with great restaurants, fascinating heritage
sites with modern retail therapy, start thinking Arras instead.
Read full article
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Suffolk
stress-buster
Early afternoon on
Southwold sea front and you can hear a seagull’s feather drop in
the Sailors’ Reading Room. A lady rustles quietly through the
daily papers on the table whilst deep in an armchair, her partner
enjoys a post-prandial snooze, a copy of Warship Technology
abandoned on his knee. Meanwhile, the rhythmical tick of the wall
clock reminds readers that outside at least, time marches steadily
on.
Read full article
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Walk On The Wild
Side
The long,
steady climb to the rounded summit of Mont Lozère is a popular
route with both hikers and mountain bikers – not just for the 360º
views but also because you don’t have to be super-fit to tackle
it. Highest point of the Mont Lozère ridge is the Sommet de
Finiels, some 1700 metres above sea level and an hour’s
comfortable tramp from the tiny ski resort of Le Bleymard/Mont
Lozère.
You’ll frequently find families following the menhirs up the sandy
trail or pausing for a picnic at the summit, but you may also run
into a very different kind of traveller.
Read full article
...
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CONTACT
ME
. . .
EXAMPLES OF
PUBLISHED WORK
. . .
PHOTOGRAPHY
SELECTION
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