Inspiring Travel Writing from Claire Gervat
Born in London to one English and one French parent, Claire Gervat was captivated by tales of explorers at school, but a not-quite-brief-enough foray into the City meant she didn't follow in their footsteps until her late twenties.
She has been a freelance writer for the past eight years, contributing travel articles to many national newspapers and magazines, including Conde Nast Traveller, the Independent and Independent on Sunday, the Evening Standard and Bella. She loves islands and odd places, and would rather windsurf and dive than lie on the beach - though she has spent many happy hours just hanging around in tea shops all over India and cafés elsewhere.
When not wandering and writing in far-flung places, Claire has turned her hand to a variety of other subjects. "The Trader", her humorous weekly column about the life of a fictional City girl, in the Independent, ran for nearly four years. Her first book, a biography of the eighteenth-century beauty and bigamist Elizabeth Chudleigh called "Elizabeth: the Scandalous Life of the Duchess of Kingston", was published in June 2003 (Century, £17.99).
She has been a freelance writer for the past eight years, contributing travel articles to many national newspapers and magazines, including Conde Nast Traveller, the Independent and Independent on Sunday, the Evening Standard and Bella. She loves islands and odd places, and would rather windsurf and dive than lie on the beach - though she has spent many happy hours just hanging around in tea shops all over India and cafés elsewhere.
When not wandering and writing in far-flung places, Claire has turned her hand to a variety of other subjects. "The Trader", her humorous weekly column about the life of a fictional City girl, in the Independent, ran for nearly four years. Her first book, a biography of the eighteenth-century beauty and bigamist Elizabeth Chudleigh called "Elizabeth: the Scandalous Life of the Duchess of Kingston", was published in June 2003 (Century, £17.99).
Articles by Claire Gervat
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Before You Die: The Coromandel Sea
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Claire Gervat
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India
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Kerala Region
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Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram, India. Watch the sun rise over the Coromandel Sea, lighting up the curious, wind-weathered spires of ancient shore temples; then lazily explore the rest of this laid-back village of stonemasons. Claire Gervat
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Before You Die: Salamanca
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Claire Gervat
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Spain
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Castilla-Leon
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Salamanca
Salamanca, Spain. Sit in the cathedral square as sunset performs its alchemy on the ornately figured stonework of the ancient colleges and churches of this university town, turning them a fiery copper. Claire Gervat
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On a wind and a prayer
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Claire Gervat
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Greece
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Lefkas Island
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Vassiliki
Gliding happily across the bay, the wind in my sail, the breeze in my face and my hands steady on the boom, I realised it was time to turn. Otherwise I’d end up in the harbour and have the ignominy of being towed out by the rescue boat. Trying to...
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A Walk on the Weird Side
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Claire Gervat
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Netherlands Antilles
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Curacao
Blinking in the sunlight, I stared at the row of gabled houses across the harbour. Something strange was going on. I had travelled nearly 5,000 miles to a Caribbean island just off the coast of Venezuela. So what was this Dutch town doing here?...
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Lessons in Island Hopping
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Claire Gervat
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Croatia
The crowd clustered round the sandy square was yelling encouragement at the players, who frowned in concentration in the fading light. You could see how much the match meant to everyone. Every so often, the roar would drop to a murmur, only to swell...
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A Guide to the Best Art Galleries in Venice
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Claire Gervat
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Italy
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Veneto Region
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Venice
Standing at the back of the motorboat, wind-blown and happy, we knew we’d made the right decision. Arriving in Venice by water taxi may not be the cheapest journey in the world, but it’s certainly among the most memorable. As we skimmed across the...
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Aix and Cezanne
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Claire Gervat
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France
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Provence
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Aix-en-Provence
Lying on the table, I breathed a deep sigh of contentment. During the past two hours I had been bubbled, steamed and slathered in green mud, and the final flourish was a scented and supremely relaxing massage under a gentle rain of warm thermal...
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Treasure Beach
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Claire Gervat
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Jamaica
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South Coast
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Treasure Beach
The sky was heavy with stars. Every so often, one of them would break free from its mooring and hurtle in a silvery streak towards the sea. Then the terrier dozing at my feet would stretch and yawn, before settling back with his head soft against my...
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Locanda San Vigilio
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Claire Gervat
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Italy
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Italian Lakes
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Lake Garda
Sublimely elegant and tranquil, Locanda San Vigilio is a tiny gem of a hotel, part of a small peninsular estate belonging to the Counts Guarienti on the eastern shore of Lake Garda. Those arriving by land enter the grounds along an avenue of cypress...
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The Alluvian
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Claire Gervat
Sleek, stylish and thoroughly modern, the Alluvian’s most surprising feature is its location – in a gently rundown cotton town in the rural heart of Mississippi’s Delta region. It owes its existence to the Viking Corporation, makers of America’s...