Inspiring Travel Writing from Martin O'Brien
Martin O'Brien is the author of the 'Daniel Jacquot' detective series based in Marseilles: 'Jacquot and the Waterman'; 'Jacquot and the Angel'; 'Jacquot and the Fifteen'; 'Jacquot and the Master'; and, just published, 'Confession'. "Rich, spicy and served up with unmistakable relish" - Literary Review "O'Brien creates a sexually-charged atmosphere that is as chilling as it is engaging" - Sydney Morning Herald.
Under the pseudonym, Jack Drummond, he has written 'Avalanche' ("big high-pitched disaster plots don't come much more thrilling than this" - Daily Mirror) and the recently published 'Storm'. He has also written '60 Years of Travel in Vogue'; and 'All The Girls', described by Auberon Waugh as "a classic among travel books."
Under the pseudonym, Jack Drummond, he has written 'Avalanche' ("big high-pitched disaster plots don't come much more thrilling than this" - Daily Mirror) and the recently published 'Storm'. He has also written '60 Years of Travel in Vogue'; and 'All The Girls', described by Auberon Waugh as "a classic among travel books."
Articles by Martin O'Brien
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Cities of the Rhone Alps
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Martin O'Brien
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France
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Rhone Valley
An hour east from Lyons the flatlands of the Rhone Valley begin to fold and crease and the roads, flat and straight until then, start to rise and fall, weave and curve as the landscape changes. I was on my way to Annecy, capital of the Haute Savoie...
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Bouillabaisse
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Martin O'Brien
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France
Thanks to a host of second-rate "soupes des pecheurs" and "Bouillabaisses a notre facon" which unscrupulous restaurateurs pass off as the real thing, few visitors to France get to taste an authentic Bouillabaisse. Those who do never forget the...
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Favourite Hotels Outside Athens
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Martin O'Brien
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Greece
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Mainland Greece
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Athens
In Athens, Fridays are like the end of term at school. Offices empty early, bags are packed and houses and apartments shuttered and locked with a speed one would normally associate with the threat of plague or the approach of an invading army. The...
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Favourite West Coast Hotels
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Martin O'Brien
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United States
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California
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Santa Ynez Mountains
When Wuthering Heights' Heathcliff and Gone With The Wind's Scarlett chose San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito for their midnight nuptials, they made the kind of mistake that no self-respecting Hollywood screenplay-writer would ever have countenanced. As...
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Paxos
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Martin O'Brien
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Greece
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Cyclades (south)
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Naxos
So what fish you want tonight? asks Mihalis Dalietos. It is early morning on the Greek island of Paxos and a bearded Dalietos has just returned from the harbour with a carrier bag bulging with fish. His blue eyes gleam with delight at what he has...
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Western France 2
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Martin O'Brien
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France
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Loire
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Amboise
Cycling in the Sologne There is simply nothing like it. The fresh-air freedom of cycling the open road, the exhilaration of spinning wheels and wind in the hair and, every day, somewhere up ahead, the softly seductive prospect of a picnic lunch....
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Luxurious Railway Journeys of the World
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Martin O'Brien
Not so long ago a new train service was inaugurated with due pomp and ceremony. In air-conditioned splendour the exquisitely accoutred Eastern and Oriental Express pulled out of Singapore's main station bound for Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. The 1200-...
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Favourite Hotels Outside Munich
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Martin O'Brien
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Germany
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Bavaria
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Munich
In Munich, capital of the Free State of Bavaria and Germany's third-largest city, you face a dilemma: to stay in town or surrender to the beckoning lure of the southern alps and some of Germany's most dramatic and unforgettable landscapes....
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Favourite Hotels Outside Montreal
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Martin O'Brien
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Canada
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Quebec
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Montreal
It is a fact, not universally known, that after Paris, Montreal is the largest French-speaking city in the world. It is also the capital of a French-language province, Quebec, which is eight times the size of France. You have only to look at the...
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Favourite Hotels Outside Milan
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Martin O'Brien
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Italy
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Lombardy
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Milan
It's been one of those weeks, the kind Milan is so adept at providing. The only city in Italy where business always comes before pleasure, Milan takes its role as the commercial and financial heart of the country very seriously indeed. From ready-to...