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The news about a new love affair of France’s most powerful man François Hollande with actress Julie Gayet came as a thunderbolt a few days ago.

An avalanche of revelations and even rumours that Hollande’s girlfriend was pregnant had followed the disclosure of the wild relationship made by Closer magazine. Apparently, these revelations have played a positive role as the rating of the French President has sharply improved.

Being already perceived as a passionate man, Hollande could not fail to visit one of the most sensitive places in the world, namely Greece. The French President has a special connection with it, as he had often visited the sunny island of Syros and stayed at the house of a Frenchman of high standing, who is his friend.

In the region of Tria Lagonia, there are three houses, close to each other. One belongs to Yiannos Papantoniou (former Minister of Finance of Greece), the second to former French ambassador to Greece Bruno Delle (Hollande’s friend) and the third to Yiannis Stournaras (present Minister of Finance of Greece).

Apparently, Hollande and Gayet have much more in common than one might imagine. In addition to the political beliefs and the chemistry between them, the "illegal" couple seems to have the same taste when it comes to choosing a destination.

The actress has already been spending her vacations on the island of Patmos for many years, and together with her ex-husband Argentine director Santiago Amigorena, they own a luxury house in a traditional area of the main town of the island.

House, story and French hospitality

The luxury house is located very close to a monastery called "Life-giving spring" and consists of two buildings. In the past, it belonged to a wealthy family from Egypt and later passed into the hands of another French family which, in turn, sold it to Amigorena who continues to spend every summer on the island.

The mayor of Patmos talks about the sale of the house to the Amigorena family as well as about the traditional area, declared a UNESCO monument.

As mentioned by islanders, Gayet was very friendly and welcoming, and a good housewife. Together with her husband, they had stayed on the island for more than a month every summer, often renting a scooter for a ride.

A local entrepreneur who, in his words knew the former couple well, states that they were very nice people, adding that Julie Gayet had already been visiting the island for the last ten years.

"They are our clients and spent their summer vacations in Patmos, along with their two children. They often rented a scooter which was their favourite vehicle during the time they spent on the island," says the entrepreneur.