GPP in the Wild

04/26/2024

From GPP Broker Nicole Bousquet on her recent travels to Greece:

Studying abroad in 1986 led me that summer to the Cycladic island of Paros, Greece, to work as a nanny to the 2-year-old boy of talented island ceramists. It could have been my Mamma Mia moment had I stayed, but I returned home responsibly that fall to complete my studies and earn my bachelor's degree. I found my own beloved island home (Nantucket) shortly after! 38 years later, just this April, while visiting my own son on his study abroad program, I returned to Paros for the very first time to visit my host family. Monique Mailloux, Stelios Ghikas, and their London design-schooled daughter, Ramona, have turned Studio Yria into a marvelous success story, with multiple workshops and stunning porcelain designs as proof! And that two-year-old little boy, sweet Iason-kimono (my little Jason), I am proud to report, is an accomplished yachtsman with his own successful charter sailboat business. A sailor after my own heart. If you are ever in Paros, make sure to charter a day sail with Iason Ghikas aboard s/v Thalia!! He makes you do a bit of the work, but rewards are great and bountiful on his beautiful boat and on that special island. Bountiful rewards on a special island…something we Nantucketers know all about.