ABOUT US:
Travel ŕ la carte
has been a specialist operator to the Greek islands for 32 years. It
was founded by a Greek, Mary Wells nee Papadatos, who left her home
on the island of Corfu for England at the age of 21, married there,
and a few years later, in 1980, set up her company, offering holiday
accommodation on her native island. While Mary ran things from her
office at home, her brother Stefanos, who had stayed on Corfu,
looked after the Corfu side of things. Still with the company, as
Greek director and our Corfu agent, Stefanos continues to look after
all our ground handling arrangements and to welcome our Paxos and
Corfu clients at the airport. With his years of experience of the
tourist business and his excellent local contacts and knowledge, he
will be an important source of news and information for this news blog.
In 1985 Mary
expanded the company’s range to nearby Paxos, an hour’s boat ride
south of Corfu, and forced a change of name from Corfu ŕ la carte,
as it then was, to the more general Travel ŕ la carte. And other
islands were subsequently added, first Skiathos, then Symi and Halki.
We have resumed our expansion this year, starting our first
programme in the nearby Ionian island of Kefalonia. As it happens,
both Mary and Stefanos had a connection with Kefalonia, having spent
part of their childhood there when their father was working on the
reconstruction after the 1953 earthquake. They had always hoped to
expand to that island, so we are doubly pleased to be starting
there.
These very close
connections the family had with the Ionian islands have been
continued on Paxos. This tiny paradise in the Ionian Sea is today
our main destination and it is also the permanent home of our
longstanding marketing director, Chris Griffiths, and his family.
Chris moved out to Paxos with his wife Christine in 2002, just
before the birth of their daughter Natasha, and they have lived
there ever since, becoming part of the social fabric of the island
and educating Natasha at the local school in Gaios. The
wonders of modern communications technology allow Chris to run our
entire marketing and much of our sales operation from their home in
the hills behind Loggos, while Christine (and Natasha) welcome all
our clients on arrival and look after them during their stay. Chris
also runs the
Paxos Property Agency, the real estate arm of Travel ŕ la
carte, which advises buyers and sellers of property on Paxos and
other islands, helping them in all aspects of their dealings with
local bodies, builders and tradesmen. As with Stefanos on Corfu, it
is hard to exaggerate the importance of Chris and Christine’s local
knowledge and years of experience. They will be another main source
of local news and information for this blog, for both their home
island of Paxos and nearby Kefalonia, where they have been
responsible for setting up our new programme. .
Over on the other
side of Greece, in the Dodecanese islands, we have another British
expat looking after our customers and accommodation. Melanie and
Paul Sharp decamped from Nottingham to Symi in 2000, buying and
restoring their own house a few years later, and Melanie joined us
as our local representative in 2005. She is our eyes and ears on
Symi and nearby Rhodes and will be our source of up to date local
information for that part of Greece.
Lastly, myself,
Tony Wells – the only one still in the UK! I married Mary in 1984
and became closely involved in the company in 1996, when I left the
BBC World Service to help her run what was a rapidly growing
business. Tragically, and completely unexpectedly, less than two
years later Mary was diagnosed with cancer and survived only four
more years. It was as the disease began to take its toll that I
started to take up the running of the company, taking over
completely when she died in 2003.
Since that time,
thanks to the dedicated and highly professional work of the people
already mentioned here, we have managed to steer the company through
some difficult times and towards what we hope will be calmer
waters. In the meantime, I am proud to launch this new service for
our customers, old and new, and for anyone else considering a Greek
island holiday this year. As we can testify from over 30 years of
providing such holidays, no matter what may be happening to Greece,
and indeed the world, at large, the life of the far flung islands of
this beautiful land continues in its age-old traditional pattern,
providing a haven of peace and tranquility for all who venture
there.
Tony Wells
February 2012.
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WEBSITES:
Travel a la carte - Paxos Villa Holidays - Studios, apartments and
villas with pools on the island of Paxos
Paxos
Property Agency - Properties for sale on Paxos - Villas, Land and
Old Houses
Contact:
Tony Wells - Travel a la carte -
dir@travelalacarte.co.uk
Chris Griffiths - Travel a la carte -
chris@travelalacarte.co.uk
Chris Griffiths - Paxos Property Agency -
chris@paxospropertyagency.co.uk
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