If it’s Friday, it must be France …
Greek writer and philosopher Nikos Kazatzakis (18 February 1883 – 26 October 1957) and his wife settled in Antibes in 1948. The beauty here reminded him of Greece and inspired him to write his most famous novels including Zorba The Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ.
I do share a lot of photos of Antibes on my blog (you know how that breathtaking town inspires me too …), but this is one of my favourites. I climbed up on the ramparts to include the palm in the foreground. Nikos’ house is just a few minutes walk from this point.
Coming upon this simple memorial to him, just outside their former home, is both touching and inspirational. I think he would be pleased. Don’t you?
I’m spending a lot of time in my own “writing cave” at the moment. The deadline for my current manuscript is June 1. I think I can … I think I can …
It’s easy to be motivated in Antibes as the ghosts of artists come to you in the narrow streets lined with shuttered houses, many hundreds of years old. As early back as 1500 BC, writers left their work in caves in the area. In the last few centuries a long list of influential authors, beside Kazatzakis, found inspiration here, including Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, DeMaupassant, Edith Wharton, Somerset Maugham, Graham Green, James Joyce, Nabakov, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pound, Sylvia Plath. No doubt, I’ve missed some names. Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, Renoir, Chagall, Picasso, Bracque, Miro are just a few of another equally long list of painters and sculptors who found the special light and air of the south of France irresistibly inspiring.
In June, I’ll be back in Antibes for a refill of the kind of inspiration Nikos and other writers treasured there. I’ll spend some moments sitting on that bench. When it’s not possible for me to be there, I lose myself in my photos. Is there a significant place where you find inspiration? Can you physically go there or is your special niche something spiritual? What works for you?
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