Joyeux Noël!

In an unseasonal gesture, I thought I would write a little more about the Camargue and why I would like to set a novel there.
It’s a wild place that’s different from anywhere else. There are big exotic birds that fly overhead at sunset, matching their colours to the sky and yet standing out against it. There are lots of waterways, large and small, great piles of salt, long empty stretches of flat land, long enticing beaches and a little fringe of very small towns along the coast. There is Aigues-Mortes with its ancient walls, views in all directions and cramped little souvenir shops. On the coast, the pyramids and minarets of La Grande Motte form a strange, alluring skyline, while sleek white catamarans skim to and fro on the sea. The small town of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer sits on its own, miles from anywhere, its existence based on a legend and sustained by tourism. I am not sure if the story I would write would be a mystery – the landscape lends itself to ghost stories and fantastic quasi-medieval tales. But then, I suppose the same could be said about Scotland! Maybe that’s why the Camargue fascinates me and yet I know I will never understand it.