As promised, I shall be trying to post every few days now, keeping a record of my research trip through France and England and hoping that you’ll make the journey with me. I’m currently over in the UK on a writer’s residency working on the sequel to I, Morgana. My new book doesn’t have a title yet, so I’m just calling it Camelot for the time being, and it’ll follow the life of Marie (de France), Morgana’s daughter, and also a teenage dropout living some time in our near future, and I’ll be looking at the question: can an ancient prophecy come true? Is it possible that Arthur might return one day to save Britain from the fate that awaits her people? Photo left is an artist’s impression (the date somewhat later than I’m writing about) of the Ile de Cite, ruled over by King Louis Capet of France to whom Eleanor of Aquitaine was married before she managed to divorce him and marry Henry II instead. Below left: the captivating stained glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle, built by Louis IX to house the relics he’d purchased on his first crusade: the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus at his crucifixion, as well as nails and pieces from the True Cross and a few drops of Christ’s blood, paying almost three times more for them than the entire cost of this beautiful chapel. Next to it is the imposing facade of Notre Dame, also on the Ile de Cite. I love that musty, ancient, incense smell, but this photo doesn’t do it justice I’m afraid.
Notre Dame
