A Dream of Castellane - Did you ever find yourself in a place that felt right? A place you know you have never been before yet you had the feeling that you had been there?

It was many years ago and I and some friends were traveling around Europe. We had rented a van and were hitting some of the more famous spots on the French Riviera like Cannes, and Monaco.

(The shoreline of Cannes on the French Riviera at night.)

Our next stop was Brussels in Belgium and instead of taking the highway we decided to take the lesser traveled route through the foothills of the Alps.

It was a beautiful day. The mountains were gracious and the roads long and winding. We slowly made our way up and through them on our way to Brussels.

Here is a picture of me somewhere along that road
in the foothills of the Alps.
Somewhere between Cannes and Castellane.

Somewhere along the trip we unexpectedly stumbled onto a little town called Castellane and it hit me like a thunderclap. The place was absolutely idyllic.

It was all cobblestone and bricks. The buildings were probably all hundreds of years old yet impeccably maintained. It was beautiful. I had a feeling in my soul that we had stumbled onto someplace special.

The people that lived here didn't worry about the quarterly reports, the ups and downs of mutual funds, the price of gas or anything else that really didn't matter. I had the feeling that they were living life in a different way and at a different pace than I had been accustomed to.

We had something to eat in a little cafe and we only stayed in this little village for a couple of hours but the effect it had on me was profound.

I was only there for a very short period of time yet Castellane has remained with me for many years. In my mind I have gone there many times.

I think that Castellane has touched me for one of two reasons. Is it possible that I had lived there or been there in a previous life? If so, a thread from this previous life has reached out and touched my current life.

I also wonder that maybe it has nothing to do with a previous life. Maybe it comes from my future life. I mean that for may years I have thought about Castellane and many times I have thought that I would buy or build a second home there. Maybe I will do this, and I will live there. And if this is the case then is it possible that my future life had reached back and touched me while I was there?

Either way I dream of Castellane, the life it represents, and the possibility it holds for me. One day I will build a house there.