Be Wallonia

Early in December 2020, I began a new, two-year project on narrative knowing using literary travel writing as a method of inquiry to explore the southern, mainly French-speaking region of Belgium, known as Wallonia. The initial aims were to take further the research that I had completed with tourism management knowledge on the French cities of Nantes and Cherbourg, and to extend my completed doctoral publications on the seaside town of Concarneau. A further aim was my preparation for the conference in May 2021 with Cornerstone Heritage and Maribor University on Narrative Knowing in Heritage and Travel. You can find my publications on ResearchGate.

From an eco-travel and tourism point of view, my interest in that part of Western Europe was because it offered a lower-carbon holiday route for visitors outbound from the UK. The cross-channel ferries, and more directly, Eurostar gives UK residents a transport link that is greener than flying and removes the necessity to take a car or campervan onto the European mainland. Please look out for my next post on Be Wallonia, in which I try to find a direct francophone portal through the Belgian border in:  'Lille to Liège' … Dr Charlie Mansfield, Travel Writers Online.