Thanks to the Teachers with Apps site I have just discovered Beware Madame la Guillotine, an interactive bilingual StoryApp which tells the story the French Revolution through the eyes of a young murderess as she awaits being sent to the guillotine. The journey takes you through Paris from the Palais Royal to the Conciergerie.
The following video provides a demonstration of the application:
iTunes description
In addition to Charlotte’s compelling audio narration, Beware Madame la Guillotine also features:
- Travel Tips
- Text-read Options
- Dedicated Maps
- Map Challenges
- Trivia Challenges
- Optional “More Info” Historical Explanations
- And more than Two Dozen Treasure Hunts!
Beware Madame la Guillotine offers adults, youth, families and school groups -- whether residents or visitors to Paris, alike -- a vivid and engaging way to explore and really get to know the museums, monuments, parks, boulevards, cafés and other locations of relevance to the French Revolution.
The application was created for those over 12 but reading the reviews it sounds like it will have wide appeal to those looking for something a little different when visiting Paris. I would love to try the application but unfortunately I don't own an iPhone or iTouch. I see the app can be downloaded on to a PC but I really want to be able to walk the tour. Perhaps they will release an Android application (fingers crossed). If you decide to try the app I would love to hear your thoughts. I am hoping that my favourite Paris blogger, Fraussie from Aussie in France, will provide some feedback on the app. Living in the Palais Royal she won't have far to go to start the tour.
Well, I have downloaded the app and listened to about half of it. Very interesting and well-documented. It's a little strange hearing Charlotte Corday speaking with an American accent but that's only because I'm an Aussie! Some of the French pronunciations are a little American too. It's a good idea to have her being the narrator though. It makes it come alive more. Sometimes it cuts out and you have to get it going again. The print is a little small unfortunately and sometimes the pages are a bit long and you have to scroll down to find the red dagger. You can choose to digress or not, which is a good feature. I'm not too keen on the challenges though, particularly as it's not obvious how to get back to the previous commentary. But all in all, it is definitely worth getting, particularly at such an attractive price.
RépondreSupprimerThanks Fraussie for your feedback. It is great to have this information. It defintely sounds like it is worth getting. I love the idea of the historical narrative.
SupprimerHey All!
RépondreSupprimerThanks so much for the awesome shout out and feedback re: Beware Madame la Guillotine.
Fraussie, I'd love to get together with you to pick your brain a little more as I embark on making app #2 (a trip to the Napoleonic era) and hope to keep improving the model. Please ping me through my website anytime. I'm always happy for an excuse to get to the Palais Royal :)
Femme francophile, our current project (while I work on the spec doc for app #2) is porting Beware Mme la Guillotine to Android. It's not as easy as you would think as there are now several droids, all with different screen sizes and other programming challenges. Will let you know as soon as we've got something to share!
Thanks again for your post! Most appreciated!
All best,
Sarah
It is exciting to hear that not only are you working on porting Beware Mme la Guillotine to Android but are working on another Paris app. Thank you. I will be in France for 3 months from the beginning of May so perhaps I can borrow an iPhone to try out the iPhone version. It sounds amazing and I am very eager to try it out.
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