MY STORY

§-1 From sailor to amateur gardener

I have to begin with a story.

For a large part of my life, the sea held a central place. Sailing, boats, the wind, departures, returns… and that particular feeling you get when you leave the quay and are no longer fully in control.

The sea has taught me a great deal.

It taught me to observe, to anticipate, to respect the elements and, above all, never to believe that anything is ever truly guaranteed.

A very long time ago, I experienced a particularly difficult adventure at sea. A very big storm had blown up. Fortunately, before leaving, I had taken the time to check my VHF radio. When things became truly dangerous, it allowed me to call for help on Channel 16.

This experience is long past, but it is part of my story as a sailor.

Even today, when I look at the sea from Achillio, I find something of that life again.

§-2 Then came Achillio

And then one day, life brought me here, to Magnesia.

In Achillio, I discovered a different rhythm.

The sea is still there, in front of the house, but behind me there was now the land, olive trees, other trees, flowers, and a small garden that would gradually take on a much more important place than I could ever have imagined.

I was not a gardener.

Not at all. I started out as a complete beginner, watching, trying, making mistakes at times, and starting again.

I then traded my compasses and rulers for a spade and a rake.

And in the end, I got hooked.

§-3 Learning by watching

I learned by watching the garden live.

The seasons, the light, the heat, the wind, the rain, the plants that grow, those that endure and those that need a little more care.

Little by little, the garden became part of the house.

I am not trying to create a perfect garden.

I am simply trying to create a place where you feel good. A place where you can have your coffee in the morning, listen to the cicadas, look at the sea, pause for a few minutes in front of a plant that has just come into bloom.

A living place.

From sailor to amateur gardener

In the end, there is a lot in common between the sea and a garden.

In both cases, you have to observe.

You have to accept that you cannot control everything.

Sometimes you have to wait.

And above all, you have to respect what lies before you.

At sea, you learn to read the wind and the sky.

In the garden, you learn to read the soil and the seasons.

In both cases, time becomes a companion.

§-4 Why these Gardens of Achillio?

The Gardens of Achillio were born from this story.

From a sailor who discovered he could take as much pleasure in working the land as in sailing.

From a man who wanted to share a place to which he is deeply attached.

I do not want to show you a postcard version of Greece.

I simply want to show you the Greece I know, the one I look at every morning from my home: the Aegean Sea, the mountains, the villages, the paths, the olive trees, the gardens, and that special light that changes throughout the day.

If you come here, you may not discover a perfect Greece.

You will discover something simpler.

A real place, lived in and loved.

§-5 Welcome to the Gardens of Achillio

Whether you are passionate about gardening, love hiking, are fond of Greece or simply drawn to the sea, I hope you will find here a different way to discover this region.

A way of taking your time.

Of looking.

Of listening.

Of walking.

Of sailing.

And sometimes, quite simply, of doing nothing at all.

Salt on your skin, earth under your fingernails.

The Gardens of Achillio

Another way to discover Greece.

Isabelle at my side

Isabelle, by my side in this adventure

When we both decided, by mutual agreement, to drop the anchor of the SUNRISE, we knew we were beginning a new chapter in our lives.

But we were far from imagining what awaited us.

The house we had found was an old abandoned building, nestled on the mountainside above the port of Achillio.

It had to be demolished, broken up, cleared out, rebuilt, concrete poured, installations put in… and then done all over again.

And through it all, Isabelle was there.

Not simply at my side.

With me.

She took part in this adventure with her time, her energy, her determination and sometimes, it must be said, with a great deal of courage.

The work was anything but smooth sailing. There was dust, noise, exhaustion, difficult days… and even injuries that reminded us that transforming this house would be no small task.

But Isabelle kept going.

She took her share of this immense undertaking, day after day, quietly and without fuss.

Today, when I look at this house that has become The Gardens of Achillio, I do not see only the walls, the kitchen, the living room or the garden.

I also see the whole journey that brought us here.

And along that journey, there is one obvious truth that I never want to forget:

without Isabelle, this story would not be the same.

We built this house, but above all we built a new chapter of our life together.

Another way of dropping anchor.

Another way of living.

And in the end, perhaps, our very own little corner of paradise.