Camille Yolaine’s postcard from Marseille

Camille, your poetic and retro world transports us every time. Can you tell us about your inspirations and creative process?

Camille Yolaine: I’m very receptive to colors, scents, light, words, and the little everyday details that give texture to moments. I tend to jot everything down in my journal or on my iPhone notes so I don’t forget anything and can revisit a memory as if it were a photo, which then allows me to write about it later and keep the inspiration alive.

A lover of beauty and detail, which places inspire you?

Camille Yolaine: Paris, where I live, even though I tend not to leave Montmartre anymore (shame on me) after having lived in so many different neighborhoods. Île de Ré, where I wrote my novel three years ago and still return to regularly. La Drôme, at my aunt’s house, a heartfelt place that always reconnects me with my childhood memories. The Giens Peninsula at Hôtel Provençal, my ideal spot for writing or escaping with friends. And, more recently, Marseille, which I’m discovering little by little but find incredibly charming.

What were the highlights of this trip, and which spots did you discover in Marseille?

Camille Yolaine: It’s always, of course, a huge pleasure to relax at Les Goudes when the weather is nice. The current exhibition on the stars at the Mucem is a real gem. As for restaurants and other addresses, I really loved the vibe at Les Deux Moulins and Saint Esprit in Le Panier—the first for its village-café charm where you quickly feel at home, and the second for its beautifully crafted dishes.

If Marseille were a postcard, what would yours show?

Camille Yolaine: That first aperitif with friends on the terrace at Domino Trois at sunset, after cooking together and singing at the top of our lungs, before ending up by the pool reimagining the world.