Menton - Countdown to Departure


In three days I will travel to the town of Menton in the South of France, to spend three months completing my third novel.

I chose Menton not only because it is a beautiful place, but on the occasions that I have visited I have felt calm, relaxed, happy. So far all my visits have been short, the test will be whether this feeling of peace continues when my stay is longer.

It is impossible to define why some places have such a profound effect upon us. We think that we can explain the feelings that we have, by relating them to the scenery and landscape or by remembering an event— a party, a wedding, a concert, a birth, an argument, an accident but these things happen in our lives anywhere, without the place taking on a particular significance. 

We examine the present and the past for explanations for our feelings  but it is often impossible to pinpoint their origin, simply better just to acknowledge them.

Occasionally, a place can evoke an immediate feeling of comfort, horror, dread, love... before we even know it, before we have had chance to experience anything, good or bad. This is what happened to me as I arrived in Menton for the first time, I felt as though I had come home.

March 2013






Location: 06500 Menton, France

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