at your service, over 350 henchmen … er, sorry, staff. I swear I actually hear the John Barry soundtrack playing as the island appeared from the mist through the chopper window. Francis Savy had been expecting me. In a sense, he is Seychellois royalty. His father Albert Rene was the country’s longest serving leader and, like many of his family, Francis has spent years working to develop the Seychelles as a premium destination without compromising the island’s ecological heritage. He does not own a white cat. He does, however, own a delightful toy dog. Whilst Bubbles attempted to kill chickens as they attempted flight (he failed), Francis explained his vision: ‘Today, the new paradigm of luxury is privacy and space. We can provide both.

Of course, the Seychelles is a naturally beautiful location - picture perfect weather is the norm - but we want to take the offering here to a higher level.’ ‘The Village here will be unlike any other resort. It will give residents the chance to meet outsiders or, if you don’t wish to mingle, remain private, Other resorts on other islands are a 15 minute boat ride

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away. We’re 15 miles away from a continental shelf - the diving and deep sea fishing is world class.’ Bond smiled to himself. Yet again, his assured masculinity had inevitably led to a mastermind revealing his plans. ‘Go on’, he thought, ‘you’re telling me everything I need to know.’ ‘We want the residents of Zil Pasyon to use Félicité as a means of exploring the whole archipelago - each island presents a very different backdrop - but we also want to build something special here,.’

Building something special meant over two years of on-the-ground planning. Francis is a master of logistics (he once staged a Miss World contest actually in the ocean). The level of detail was staggering. It took over 8 months to precisely plant the flags for the separate residences alone. There is about 4mm between the outside walls and their neighbouring boulders. If a boulder was in the way, it would be delicately shifted. The jigsaw fits precisely. More than that, Francis stresses the environmental considerations: ‘We’ve used no bulldozers and no blasting with charges. We think that environmental

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