Staff

Carole was born on the outskirts of Paris and raised in the French countryside. As a young girl, her family frequently embarked on journeys across France, which included camping and kayaking adventures. She recalls one particularly memorable trip to the Cirque de Gavarnie, a National Park in the Pyrenees, that ignited a curiosity in her to explore the world.

Unusual at the time in rural France, Carole’s primary school class included children from immigrant families and she became friends with three from Ireland, the UK and Sri Lanka. One of their mother’s began extra curricula English classes, which was Carole’s introduction to the language and was the spark that grew into a wide interest in other nations and cultures. She then began studying Spanish and dreaming of travel beyond France’s borders. In high school, Carole was introduced to modern Japanese culture through manga and drama, which led to an interest in Japanese history, social customs and the Japanese kanji character writing system.

In 2007, Carole relocated to France’s wine capital to attend the University of Bordeaux majoring in English and Japanese with minor studies in international trade and wine tourism. During this time she elected to spend a year at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan’s southern Okinawan islands to study the distinctive local culture and language. Carole relates how she found this a particularly enriching experience that has left her with a lasting affection for Japan. On returning to Bordeaux, she undertook an internship  organising travels for foreigners visiting Bordeaux, providing her with her first experience of the travel industry.

Carole began her career working in wine import and export in France and Switzerland, but upon achieving a master’s degree was recruited by a local destination management company. Working as a tour operations manager she planned and ran onshore excursions and programs for cruise ship passengers from all over the world visiting Bordeaux’s vineyards and France's southwest Atlantic Coast. Frequent visits to wine estates for work gave her a passion for wine tasting. She obtained a Wine and Spirits Education Trust certificate in 2015.

Carole never forgot about her love for Japan and continued to travel whenever she could to the nation. On one of these journeys, she discovered Walk Japan and joined its Customer Service team in 2019. Since then, Carole has been attending customers’ needs, with a recent focus on Custom and Private Group Sales.

Carole currently divides her time between Japan and Europe. During her leisure time, she enjoys life drawing, exploring Japan on bicycles and in kayaks, never missing a chance to visit here favourite coastal regions of Kanagawa Prefecture and the Izu Peninsula. Her apprectiation of wine is complemented by her penchant for great cuisine.