SPECIALITIES
DESTINATIONS
ARTICLES
PICTURES
AWARDS
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I
am a full time travel
writer and photographer, bilingual (English/French), contributing to a
range of magazines in the UK and worldwide. Regular outlets include
francophile and property magazines, in-flight and travel publications,
women’s and over 50s magazines (travel pages) and niche markets such as
BBC History magazine (cultural attractions).
I love the challenge of writing in different styles and take my own
pictures, people and scenery, which have been widely published,
including front covers of in-flight magazines.
. . . . .
I was honoured to attend
the 2008 coronation in Bhutan of the Fifth Thunder Dragon King, Jigme
Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk.
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SPECIALIST TOPICS
I am definitely a butterfly who enjoys hovering here and there.
Most of my work is magazine features although I recently
contributed to Journeys of a Lifetime and Sacred Places (National
Geographic books) and wrote a 5000 word introduction on Paris 1909
for Bookcraft. Topics include winter sun worldwide, offbeat
destinations (Bhutan), France, Mediterranean resorts,
self-catering holidays, city breaks, activity holidays, from
painting to trekking (Himalayas, Isle of Man, Madeira), and hotel
reviews.
Insatiable wandering instincts have taken me from hidden corners
of France to Everest Base Camp. I visited a lepers’ colony in
Vietnam, met the rebels in Nepal and was scrubbed lobster red in a
Tunisian hammam. But don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind roughing it
now and then but I can cope with five star luxury.
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DESTINATIONS
Africa
Egypt,
Tunisia, Morocco, Gambia, Kenya, Mauritius,
South Africa
Americas
Boston, Grenada, Peru,
Cuba, St Lucia
Eastern
Mediterranean
Crete, Cyprus,
Turkey (Bodrum, Lycian Coast)
Middle East
Jordan, Oman
Asia
Nepal,
Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong
Europe
 Britain
- S.E. England, Wales, Isle of Man, Scotland
Croatia
France - South, hidden
Paris, Alps
Germany
- Northern Bavaria
Gibraltar
Iceland
Italy
- Amalfi Coast, Sardinia, Sicily, Sorrento
Maltese
Islands
Poland
- Bydgoszcz, Torun
Portugal
- Madeira, Algarve
Slovenia
- Lake Bled
Spain - Costa Calida, Costa Daurada,
Costa del Sol,
Granada, Majorca, Canaries
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RECENT
ARTICLES
Suite101.com - 45 features
(Feb-May 2009)
BBC History - Great Days Out (6 articles: Summer 09)
Holiday Villas - Lanzarote (May 09)
Tashi Delek - Eastern Bhutan (Apr 09)
Soul and Spirit travel - Bhutan (Apr 09)
Holiday Villas - Cuisine of Provence (Mar 09)
National Geographic Traveler UK - Phnom Penh (Mar 09)
BBC History - Rochester Castle (Mar 09)
Real Travel - Bhutan Coronation (Feb 09)
Living France - Cooking in the Dordogne (Feb 09)
French Property News - Cévennes (Jan 09)
Tashi Delek -
Bhutan Coronation (Feb 09)
BBC History - St Augustine's Abbey (Jan 09)
Holiday Villas - St Lucia (New Year 09)
Holiday Cottages - Brecon Beacons (New Year 09)
Living France - St Nicolas (Winter 08)
Weissmann - Nepal online guide update (Dec 08)
French Property News - Dordogne (Nov 08)
French Property News - Vosges (Oct 08)
South China Morning Post - Bhutan (Sep 08)
French Property News - Poitou-Charentes (Sep 08)
People's Friend - Amalfi Coast (Aug 08)
BBC History - Anne of Cleves House (Aug 08)
World Travel Guide -
Bhutan online update (Aug 08)
AllWays online - Poland (Jul 08)
Holiday Cottages - Kent for Kids (Summer 08)
Holiday Villas - Lanzarote (Summer 08)
Tashi Delek - Trashiyangtse (Summer 08)
Weissmann - Bhutan online update (Jun 08)
Elite online - Kew Gardens (Jun 08)
People's Friend - Grenada (Jun 08)
BBC History - Arundel Castle (Jun 08)
Holiday Villas - Costa Calida (May 08)
People's Friend - Lorraine (May 08)
Tashi Delek - Bumthang (Spring 08)
BBC History - Peru (Apr 08)
Portugal - Walking in Madeira (Apr 08)
French Property News - Lorraine heartlands (Mar 08)
BBC History - Canterbury Cathedral (Mar 08)
Real Travel - Bhutan (Mar 08)
Isle of Wight
Visitor Guide - 2008 (contributor)
Morning Calm - Grenada (Feb 08)
BBC History - Hylands House (Feb 08)
Holiday Villas - Lycian Coast, Turkey (Feb 08)
Tashi Delek - Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan (Jan 08)
BBC History - Carreg Cennen, Wales (Jan 08)
Portunus - Vietnam/Cambodia (Jan 08)
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK
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AWARDS
St Lucia Travel Writer of the Year (April 09)
ABTOP Travel Features Awards, finalist 2007.
WWN / Thomas Cook Archives and TNT travel writing competitions.
WN Freelance Journalist of the Year.
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BY SOLANGE
HANDO -
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK
Bhutan – Fire
Blessing
Draped
in silk and hand-woven gowns shimmering like rainbows, town folk
and farmers came from all directions, women with babies bobbing on
their back, old people leaning on bamboo staffs, men in
knee-length chequered gho and sweeping white cuffs and sashes, and
garlands of children whose dark eyes sparkled with excitement. …
Read full article
...
(first published: Tashi Delek)
Snowdon
– Three Generations to the Top
‘Which one is Snowdon?’ asked my 10 year old grandson.
‘The one you can’t see, up there in the clouds,’ said my daughter.
We’d been waiting for three days but whenever we stepped out of
our cottage, Snowdon remained out of sight, teasing us now and
then with just the briefest of glimpses.
…
Read full article
...
(first published: Holiday Cottages)
Burgundy Canal
Cruise
‘We’re being followed,’ said Alan, ‘take a look.’
A pretty blonde in skimpy red shorts was fast catching up with the
boat, riding her scooter along the tow path.
‘That’s the lock keeper,’ explained crew member Tiffany
…
Read full article
...
(first published: Living France)
Bhutan – Land of the Thunder
Dragon
It was festival time and luckily we all had shoes. If you don’t,
the policeman at the gate waves a bunch of stinging nettles.
‘Lack
of respect,’
he warns. Draped in their finest clothes and chunky necklaces of
turquoise and coral, villagers arrived from afar for five days of
merit-making and fun. There were women with babies on their back,
old men leaning on bamboo staffs, little girls with their shiny
black hair in a bob, monks, farmers, dignitaries. Soon the eerie
call of horns made from human thighbones echoed across the
mountains and masked dancers pounced on the flagstones to chase
away evil…
Read full article
...
(first published: Spirit & Destiny)
Morocco- Desert Dawn
‘Good morning, wake up call please’. I glance at my watch, four
o’clock, time to leave Erfoud and our snug Kasbah-style hotel.
Outside the sky is full of stars, the night almost chilly. A
mini-convoy stands on the alert, three Land Rovers spluttering in
the dark.
Yawning, unsteady, we squeeze aboard and head for Merzouga on the edge of
the desert. As we rattle and swerve over the stones, tumble grass
hurtles out of the way like an army of frightened hedgehogs…
Read full article
...
(first published: Travel Africa)
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CONTACT
ME
. . .
EXAMPLES OF
PUBLISHED WORK
. . .
PHOTOGRAPHY
SELECTION
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