A passionate French-born chose to make the gorgeous Mykonos his home, investing his time, and creativity.
“I didn’t choose France. I chose Greece”, says Patrick Lesueur, French-born but very much a Mykonos local. He first stepped foot here some 42 years ago. “It was January and cold, but the people were so warm”, he remembers. Mykonos reminded him of his childhood. “On their table, people had bread, wine, glasses… You went in and they said, ‘sit, drink, have some cheese, eat something’”. He could not stay away from this authenticity, this generosity and this closeness to nature. In 1989, he managed to buy a house in Fanari – more of a storage room for hay. It had no bath, no toilet, no windows. “We threw parties here before we had electricity. And when we got electricity, we turned it off for the parties”, he says, reminiscing a life well-lived.
Posing in front of his Morgan, Patrick Lesueur smiles. His love for Mykonos is everlasting, and his trusty car is still going, no matter how many of the island’s hills it climbs.
Doing it up bit by bit, today he has a charming home. “We live in nature here. It’s what I’d been missing”. Retired for twenty years, he remains active as ever. “I tend to the farm, the chickens, the house. I cook – I used to be a chef. I forage wild greens and mushrooms”. He adores Delos, especially the mosaics. Fragkia and Agios Sostis are his favourite beaches. “I like to spend the day at Fragkia. I bring water and a sandwich. I gather salt and urchins from the rocks. I have a great time”. Mykonos is his home. “Everything keeps me here in Mykonos”, he beams.