Expat profile: Carolyne Kauser-Abbott, ‘Edible Heritage’

Carolyne is a regular writer for Ma Vie Française™, who is based in Provence. We became aware of an app that she and her business partner are currently developing, which gives an audio-guided tour of the area. Thinking this might be useful for locals and tourists alike, we asked Carolyne to tell us a bit more about the app…

Personal information

Name: Carolyne Kauser-Abbott
Nationality: Canadian
Role: Partner
Product name: Edible Heritage
Website: http://www.edibleheritage.com

Professional questions

Carolyne, can you please describe your app to us?
An audio-guided walking tour of Aix-en-Provence, offering a blend of history, Provençal traditions and foodie-related tidbits.

Who are your customers?
English-speaking visitors to the city of Aix-en-Provence and Provence.

When did you decide to develop this product?
My partner Laurence Bry and I started talking about the idea in September 2011.

Why did you decide to develop this product?
We both love the region, we are foodies and cultural explorers, but most of all we want to share our experiences.

What was it like making an app? What were the challenges?
It was more complex and time consuming than we had imagined. We started with a very rough outline of a concept and had to work with a developer and voice team to pull the content together into a functional product. During the development process, Laurence and I were physically separated by several thousand kilometers and an eight-hour time difference. This certainly created some challenges.

What is the most exciting thing currently happening with your product?
We are able to offer a great self-paced tour for visitors to Aix-en-Provence at a fraction of the cost of a book or a guide. We are also really excited about a growing social media following.

How would you improve the app?
Ideally we would like to offer the same tour in more languages in the future.

Where do you see your product in five years? What’s next for you?
We hope to have a suite of tour apps available. Some initial thoughts are for other popular destinations in France.

Favourites in Provence:

Place to eat: La Table de Ventabren
Place to drink: Place des Cardeurs in Aix-en-Provence
Place to shop: The markets in Aix-en-Provence
Place to play (nightclub, park, museum etc.): Hiking around Mont Sainte-Victoire near Aix-en-Provence
Day trip location: The town of Cassis and La Route des Crêtes to La Ciotat.

Thank you Carolyne for taking the time to speak to us at Ma Vie Française™. We’ve enjoyed getting to know more about you and your product.