The book I’m writing was conceived in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southwestern France, an hour inland from Biarritz by car.

My caravan sits in a privileged location and every day, I'm aware of the weather, reading the clouds by their colour and direction. There are horses, chickens, and geckos that scurry away when I approach. A mottled toad shelters in the awning.

I lead a life here of simple pleasures and achievable challenges, and a life for the most part free of pain. In the mornings, I walk to the showers in my dressing gown, I cook for myself and shop when I need to, choose when I wake and when I sleep, what I read and what I do.

When I found Domaine d'Esperbasque, I knew this was the right place to start thinking about a project that will soon take me from here to the ancient world.

The story I want to tell begins on another hilltop in another country altogether, and another time - the 2nd century CE – and the first clue in the form of a monumental inscription of 25000 words in Greek, hand carved into blocks of stone that once made up a wall eighty metres long and three and a half metres high.

The inscription, said to be the longest to have come down to us from antiquity, describes a way of life that brings with it pleasure, freedom from pain, and peace of mind. It was written around 120 – 130 CE and the letters were picked out in red paint for all to see. The message is a promise to reveal the secret of how to live like the gods…and keep your feet on the ground.