Your Google Maps Guide to Paris

If you want an alternative to The Guardian's Google Maps city guides then you need look no further than the New York Times. The NYT's Travel section provides Google Maps based guides for many of the most popular tourist destinations around the world.



Each of the city guide maps allow you to select different categories of markers to view on the map. The categories are hotels, restaurants, attractions, shopping and nightlife.



As well as using the map as a guide to the city you can use the links in the map sidebar to click through to the New York Times' recommendations in each category.



NYT Travel Guide to Paris Map



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Hiking in France with Google Maps

Randonee dans l'Ain is a really nicely designed website promoting hiking, horse riding and bike trails in Ain, an area of the region Rhône-Alpes in France.



Each of the trails can be viewed on Google Maps. The route of each selected trail is displayed on the map and you can select to view restaurants, activities, photos and accommodation along and near the trail.



Each trail also comes with an elevation chart and with information concerning the route's length and the approximate time it takes to complete.



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Street View Arrives in Monaco

Google Maps has added Street View for the principality of Monaco. As well as this new Street View imagery for Monaco the Street View trike has been busy in Switzerland.

As the second smallest country in the world (after Vatican City) it probably didn't take the Street View car too long to capture the latest imagery on Google Maps. Despite its size, however, Monaco has a lot of interesting sights.

Now you can follow the route of the Monaco Grand Prix in glorious panoramic Street View. If cars aren't your thing then you can take a virtual stroll around Monaco's quays and ogle at all the expensive yachts.



In Switzerland the Street View trike has visited the inside of Château Chillon.



It has also invaded the Three Castles of Bellinzona.



It then went on to capture Château Gruyères.



Via: Le blog officiel de Google France, Zorgloob and Street View Funny

Live Tour de France Map

It has taken a while but I have finally found a live real-time map of this year's Tour de France.

The map shows the real-time position of 13 of the riders. The map sidebar shows the current speed of each rider and their current heartbeat. Beneath the map is an interactive elevation chart of the current stage.

SRMLive

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Ride the Tour de France on Google Maps

Cycling the Alps has created a number of Google Maps and Google Earth tours for each stage of the Tour de France.

Each stage comes with four options:

1. You can view an animated tour of the stage in 3d with the Google Earth browser plug-in.



2. You can view an animated tour with Google Maps Street View (created with the TripGeo application).



3. You can view a Google Map of the route with an interactive elevation chart.



4. You can play a Google Earth browser plug-in game that lets you pretend you are a cyclist in the race. In the game you have to use the arrow keys to follow the route of the stage in 3d.

The embed codes for each of the maps is provided by Cycling the Alps. So if you want to showcase a stage of the Tour de France on your own website you can just cut and paste the code.

Cycling the Alps - Tour de France 2011

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Follow the Tour de France on Google Maps

Bikemap.net has created Google Maps for every stage of this year's Tour de France.

Each map shows the route of the selected stage with an elevation chart and details about the route stage length, vertical climb and category. The map has Street View enabled so you can even get a first person view of what the cyclists will be seeing as they frantically pedal across France.

bikemap.net

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Special Offers for Students

Transparent School Map

The Mapize team has created a Google Map of higher education institutions in and around Paris, displaying nearby venues with special offers.

If you click on any of the map markers you can view details about the selected educational institution including its full address. To help impoverished students stretch their limited funds each mapped institution also displays nearby Foursquare tips and special offers.

The Transparent School Map is Mapize's entry into Europe's Open Data Challenge.

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Electric Car Charge Points on Google Maps

ChargeMap

ChargeMap can show you the location of charging stations for electric cars in France. The application is available for iPhones, Android and from the desktop.

If you enter your current location into the desktop application ChargeMap will show you the nearest charging stations on a Google Map. Your location is shown by a red marker on the map and the charge stations are indicated by blue markers.

Each charge station includes information about the distance from your current location, the number of charge points available and its exact address.

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French Shopping Deals on Google Maps

This year there has been a spurt of English language websites using Google Maps to show you nearby shops and restaurants offering daily deals and coupons. Coupon sites are also proving very popular in France.

Ohmydeal

Ohmydeals is a French website for daily deals and coupons. Ohmydeals uses Google Map to allow users to find their nearest deals.

It is possible to search the map by location and by category of deal. The categories include 'restaurants and bars', health and beauty', 'sport' and 'travel'. As well as searching for deals by Google Map it is possible to receive deals via Twitter, Facebook and mobile phone.

Plyce

Plyce is another French website that delivers daily deals and coupons. Again Plyce lets you search for the latest deals by location and by category.

If you share your location with Plyce you can then search for the nearest deals in a number of categories, including 'restaurants', 'technology', 'fashion' and many more. Once you select your location and category the deals are displayed in list form. When you select a deal Plyce shows you the location of the selected shop / restaurant on a Google Map.

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Custom Street Views Brings You Shop View

118 218

French online directory 118 218 has started adding custom Street Views to its Google Maps of shops.

With custom Street Views it is possible to seamlessly add your own panoramic images to Street View with links from Google's own Street View imagery. 118 218 has started adding panoramic 360 degree imagery from inside shops.

Where the custom Street Views are available a small red door icon is added to the Google Street View of the exterior of the shop. Clicking on the icon will take you to the interior panorama.

Currently you can view custom Street Views for the florist Daniel Guittat, the restaurant La maison Géorgienne and the institut de beaute Shyms Nail.

Via: Le blog officiel de Google France

Other Custom Street View Sites

• Kerken Kijken met Street View
• Sherubtse College Campus Map and Virtual Tour
• Bonne Annee 2011

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The Colosseum in Street View

Google have added new Street View imagery in Italy and France. This latest imagery has been captured by the Street View trike that allows Google to go off road and obtain imagery from historical sites, such as inside the Colosseum in Rome.

If you want a quick tour of the Colosseum check out this animated pan of the arena in Street View.


The Colosseum

Other highlights in Italy include: the birthplace of Rome, the Palatine Hill, the Appian Way, the Thermae (Baths) of Diocletian and the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

In France you can visit the beautiful château of Fontainebleau.

Via: Google LatLong

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French Open Data on Google Maps

État Civil Paris

Paris has created an open data portal called ParisData. Bluenove and Mapize have created a Google Maps mashup of the data for births, marriages and deaths in the 20 districts of the French capital for the years 2004 to 2009.

Using the map it is possible to view the number of births, marriages and deaths in each of Paris' districts. Visualising the data geographically presents some interesting results. For example, the number of deaths in the 15th arrondissement is far larger than in other districts.

Via: GeoinWeb

SIC

SIC is a Google Maps interface to explore open data from the French city of Rennes. Using SIC it is possible to select and view local points of interest on a map.

The application uses an interface optimised to be accessible from mobile phones. From the menu you can select from a number of points of interest, such as public buildings, parks, sports facilities and bike stands. It is also possible to view the points of interest by neighbourhood.

Rennes is currently holding an application development contest for its open data. If you want to vote for SIC you can do so here.

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Google Map of France's Diplomatic Blunders

La Carte des Echecs Diplomatiques

French political party Parti Socialiste have used Google Maps to produce a map highlighting the 'diplomatic mistakes' made by French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his government.

The map seems to have been inspired by the recent resignation of Michèle Alliot-Marie from her position as Foreign Minister. However the PS claim that "the failure of French diplomacy for the past five years is not only due to the blunders and mistakes of Michèle Alliot-Marie."

If you click on the map markers on the map you can read about the 'blunders and mistakes' of French diplomacy around the world. Obviously supporters of the UMP may not agree with the views expressed on this map.

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Cycle the Alps with Street View

Cycling the Alps

Cycling the Alps is a Google Map with a lot of information and some very nice features for anyone who is interested in cycling the Alps.

The application has featured on Google Maps Mania in the past but has recently added some nice Street View tours using the Directions Map widget wizard.

If you fancy a relaxing virtual Sunday cycle ride through the Alps then check out these two trips:

Galbier
Bonette

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Street View Happy New Year Card

Bonne Annee 2011

Digitas France have created an interactive Happy New Year greetings card with Google Maps Street View.

Using the new Custom Street View Panoramas function of the Google Maps API v3 Digitas France have added their own 3d panoramas to Street View to create a Happy New Year greeting.

The application inserts signs into the custom panoramas to give you clues as to the direction you should take. Follow the clues correctly and you will arrive at the Digitas France greeting pictured above. Digitas France even seem to have created an English language version.

Surprisingly Custom Street View Panoramas haven't proved as popular as I thought they would. Kerken Kijken met Street View is a great example of what can be created with custom Street Views. Kerken Kijken have created seamless links to their own panoramic images of the interiors of churches in a map of Utrecht.

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Something for the Weekend on Google Maps

SoWeTrip

SoWeTrip is a French website that provides a guide to user created weekend trips. Each of the trips is designed to highlight a number of activities that can be undertaken during a short break in a European city.

The home page of SoWeTrip features a Google Map that animates through the locations of the weekend guides submitted to the site. If you click on any of the displayed locations you are taken to a page featuring the guides created for that city.

Each individual guide also features a Google Map showing the location of all the suggested venues that you can visit as part of the user created guide. Each suggested venue, whether it is a museum, gallery, shop, club or other activity, includes a detailed guide to the venue.

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Gothic France on Google Maps

Mapping Gothic France

Mapping Gothic France is a joint project between the Visual Media Center in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, the Visual Resources Library at Vassar College, and the Columbia University Libraries.

The project uses the Google Maps API and custom map tiles to present the locations of France's Gothic buildings. Using the map it is possible to browse the listed buildings geographically. It is also possible to view buildings by the approximate date of their construction and view historical maps of the period overlaid on the main map.

Mapping Gothic France also contains a number of essays and stories of France's Gothic buildings. The essays also use the Google Maps API to illustrate the referenced Gothic buildings.

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Get on Your Bike with Google Maps

Cycling the Alps


Cycling the Alps is a Google Map with a lot of information and some very nice features for anyone who is interested in cycling the Alps.

If you right-click on any of the map markers you can view details about the selected mountain pass, view photogrpahs or videos, view a tour of the pass with the Google Earth browser plug-in, or post a comment.

Using the menu bar at the top of the map you can select to view passes by height, select layers showing webcams, Wikipedia, YouTube or Panoramio photos and you can even view camp-sites.

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Tour de France Elevation Charts

Wall Street Journal -Tour de France Map

The Wall Street Journal are using Google Maps to show the route of the stages of the Tour de France. The map is particularly impressive at the moment as the race enters the mountain stages.

The WSJ's map includes an interactive elevation chart. This means the user can click on the steepest climb in the stage or the steepest downhill sections and find out exactly where they are on the map.

The WSJ map also includes a nice map animation when you click on each stage of the race. On the initial load of each stage the map animates the stage's route, whilst also highlighting the elevation at each point of the stage.

Also See

• Follow Team HTC
• Ubilabs - Tour de France 2010

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The Tour de France Real-Time Tracking

Follow Team HTC

Last week I reported that Google and the HTC/Columbia Professional Cycling team were releasing a Tour de France API. The API allows you to grab real-time data of the nine riders from Team HTC - Columbia and see their exact locations and real-time telemetry data.

Google have put together an example Google Map of what you can create with the data. The Google Map shows the real-time location of all nine riders. You can select any of the nine riders and track them individually on the map. You can also view real-time speed, power, cadence and heart rate.

Ubilabs - Tour de France 2010

Don't forget you can also track the riders in real-time using Ubilabs Tour de France Google Map. This year the map works with the iPhone, Android phones and the iPad, so now you can get race updates where ever you are.

Via: Official Google Blog

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