In 2008 I, along with my husband and two friends, took a trip to France to research the setting for Wake Unto Me. We spent over a week in the Perigord Noir region, hiking trails from village to village and castle to castle along the Dordogne River. Some days we hiked as far as 16 miles in 90 degree heat; other days, we stayed in place and enjoyed the good food and local sights.
I can always find out a lot of what I may need to know to write a story by using books, the internet, and the occasional DVD. It’s much more fun, and much easier, however, to travel to a setting myself. In five minutes of standing on a trail in the woods, I learn a hundred things about the setting that it would have taken me hours and hours to discover in a book. Even more important are the accidental discoveries: the pieces of history that are revealed; the unexpected village and farm scenes I come upon; the people I meet; the food I eat; the surprise view of a creepy scarecrow in someone’s back garden, or of witch dolls in a store window… the list is endless.
Here’s some of what inspired me in France.

A woodland section of the Grand Randonee trail system we followed on our hike. This section may have been part of the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella. Photo copyright Karla Thomas.

Balcony in Sarlat la Caneda, France. This is the closest real town to my ficitonal 'Chateau de la Fortune'. Photo copyright Karla Thomas.

In the town of Les Eyzies, 'troglodyte' homes were built into the soft limestone. Sometimes, unfortunately, the overhead cliffs collapse. Photo copyright Karla Thomas.