Yesterday a friend asked me what Scotland looks and feels like through my eyes and heart as a French person settled here. That felt like such a profound question, that no one had asked me before. I loved taking some time to reflect on that.
When I first arrived in Scotland 17 years ago, the gentle sense of peace and belonging I felt were totally new to me. It was the gentlest, deepest knowing and alignment with what my soul longed for—being here felt immediately natural.
I have lived in Argyll ever since, and love that it means “Coast of the Gaels.” Could this be why I feel so at home here?
My connection to Scotland is rooted in its natural beauty and the comfort that it gives me. The wild gentleness of the glens holds me in its loving palm and nourishes my soul with the perfect balance of amazing wonder and healing rest.
The Scottish weather, which is the bane of many’s existence, is perfectly suited to me. It rarely gets ridiculously cold, it rarely gets unbearably hot, we tend to be in the temperate, moderate sort of weather and that suits me well: coming from France, a land of drastic extremes in terms of weather, I find the moderate climate of Scotland much friendlier and easier for me, and I thrive in the predominantly grey and wet climate.
Drizzly, moody days are my favourites. To me that is when the mystical quality of Scotland is most present. Everything looks veiled in wise mystery. The drizzly, misty landscape is at once stimulating and deeply soothing, each drop a little kiss on my face. As the gentle mist curls around the hills and the treetops, the view is reinvented ceaselessly throughout the day. Every time I glance at it, I see a new scene where I expected a familiar one.
I love rainy days, which I find calming and steadying. It’s always been very hard for me to resist going out when it’s bucketing down. When I was able to walk longer distances, my greatest joy was to go for a long, slow rainy walk until I was soaked. As long as I could move, I would never get cold. There is something so cleansing to the spirit when getting soaked in this way.
In Spring the bees are wonderfully busy in my tiny garden. Each year I make sure I offer them more delicious flowers. They love the heathers, the nasturtiums and the succulent alpines, so I grow more every season. A great simple pleasure of mine is to sit in the garden surrounded by bees. They are such good company, and I always look forward to their visit.
In the field just by the garden, new lambs emerge each day like big fluffy daisies, their beatific smiles bringing instant delight to the heart.
The Summer is lush and abundant in wild flowers. The hedgerows are an impressionist canvas. The bees are busier than ever in the linden trees, the carpets of daisies shine like thousands of stars and the buttercups are luminous in their innocent simplicity.
The horses and donkey look so poetic, lazily grazing amongst the buttercups and standing at length to admire the view over the glen.
Autumn is a glorious festival of colours and gentle triumph. One of the nicest ways to enjoy it is to find a tree-lined, single-track road along a coast and receive the best of both worlds: waves and trees, coppery leaves flying into the sea, vibrant green grass and steely skies… a marvel of atmospheric contrasts and glorious light.
Although I always enjoy Spring and Summer, my favourite seasons are Autumn and Winter because I naturally favour introspection, creativity, rest, silence and solitude, and I find these seasons conducive to my preference.
Through Winter the landscape is muted pastels, fields of pale green and silver gold, trees shiny black and matt grey, branches singing together in the storms, leaves swirling in the piercing cold wind. Occasionally, the surprise of snow…
Winter is very good for my brain, the keen cold and refreshing air, seeing the bare bones of a landscape, being able to go slow. Very long and dark nights give me all the time and focus I need for real rest and self-care, long evenings offer me enough hours to create as much as my heart desires.
I love sitting by the crackling fire and enjoying the stormy days throughout those darker months, while the earth is resting too, preparing many surprises for the next Spring.
