Things did not get off to an auspicious start.
What struck me most was the silence.
Pure, deep silence until you really start to listen and discover that the landscape is brimming with wildlife.
From left: A street scene in the village of Loggos, on Paxos; a double-height living space at Paxos PTR.Loulou d’Aki
Faye Lychnou came to our rescue.
“See those handsome guys smoking in the shade?”
“That’s the fire brigade.”
Street seating at Café Kalimera, in Gaios.Loulou d’Aki
She gestured toward a constellation of houses twinkling in the soft September light.
“This is Manesatika.
Like most villages, it’s named after the person who built the first house around hereManesiscenturies ago.”
The Loggos harbor.Loulou d’Aki
The road tapered from single-lane tarmac to dirt track until eventually Lychnou pulled into a muddy driveway.
We had arrived at Aperghis, a trio of stone houses with a small pool surrounded by olive trees.
A weathered table and bamboo loveseat were angled in a corner of the terrace for sea- and stargazing.
Yachts moored off Voutoumi Beach, on Antipaxos.Loulou d’Aki
There are snakes, too, Lychnou warned as we set off to explore our surroundings on foot.
Many Paxiots don’t bother pruning or prodding their olive trees.
Besides, there’s less incentive to work the land when selling it can be much more lucrative.
Soaking in the sun on the quay near Mongonissi Beach.Loulou d’Aki
But there are no ritzy boutiques or champagne bars, no fancy resorts, and scarcely any hotels.
Swimming or snorkeling through every gradient of blue is like diving into a different dimensionflying, rather than floating.
At sunset, the chalky rock face above glows pink and orange.
The Church of the Ascension, in the main square of Gaios.Loulou d’Aki
But the summers are fierce.
There are good little harbors for small-boat owners."
Loggos, the smallest of the three harbors, was my favorite.
Ocean views from the terrace of the restaurant Bella Vista, on Antipaxos.Loulou d’Aki
There are no ritzy boutiques or champagne bars, no fancy resorts, and scarcely any hotels.
That’s precisely the appeal.
Across the bay, their girlfriends hollered encouragement.
The pool at Aperghis.Loulou d’Aki
“Money can’t buy you everything,” said the guy at the next table, smiling wryly.
A concrete track through miles of forest turns into a stone driveway bordered by slender cypress trees.
I could hear waves smashing against rocks on the shore below as I swam laps in the gloaming.
Anchors on the dock in Loggos.Loulou d’Aki
“You look very young,” I remarked.
“Because I am here,” she replied.
The rain fell all that night, and 24 hours later an unseasonal storm was still raging.
A classic Greek sunset from the pool terrace at one of architect Patrizia Peracchio’s hilltop rental villas.Loulou d’Aki
All boats were canceled.
No sea-taxi skipper was mad enough to brave the weather.
Our Ionian odyssey was in ruins, but there are worse places to be stranded.
From left: An aperitif in the village of Loggos; the gardens at Aperghis.Loulou d’Aki
Aperghis, which sleeps six, starts at $6,800 per week.
Patrizia Peracchio’s estate, Villa Vasilissa, sleeps up to 16 and costs $18,000 per week.
Go for brunch (the coffee and eggs Benedict are excellent)or a twilit aperitif.Magazia; 30-26620-30239.
Bouloukos: Don’t let the booming Greek ballads put you offthis seaside taverna is a knockout.
Bournaos: Stop for a Greek coffee at this old-fashioned kafenio across the road from Averto.Magazia; 30-2662-031906.
Pitch-perfect at dusk as the horizon turns lavender and lilac.Loggos; 30-2662-031115.
