ANNA CAMPBELL-JONES, INTERIOR DESIGNER AND TV PRESENTER
Where is it?
Port-Cros, part of the Iles d'Hyeres islands in the South of France.
Why do you go there?
Growing up, my family had a small catamaran that we used to live on for the summer holidays. We would sail around the Mediterranean and have a brilliant time.
The catamaran, Inigo, had two cabins and we used to have up to eight people staying on it, sleeping outside in the cockpit or on the foredeck with all our washing hanging along the edges. It was a bit like going on a caravan holiday, but floating.
Port-Cros is part of a nature reserve. There is no fishing allowed, no cars on the island and hardly anyone lives there. When the tourist ferries have gone for the day, you are anchored in this tranquil bay and there's no lights on land, it is like being a pirate in Treasure Island.
How often do you go?
I haven't been for more than 10 years. It is top of my bucket list to revisit. I lost both my parents recently and I have been thinking about Port-Cros a lot.
How did you discover it?
My dad was a keen sailor. He grew up dinghy sailing on the Norfolk Broads and the Solent. He used to charter boats with his mates when he was a younger man. That's where he met my mum, sailing around the Mediterranean. My mum was his friend's girlfriend and my dad pinched her.
My parents discovered Port-Cros by exploring, simply getting the charts out, looking at the wind direction and saying: "Where shall we go today?" It is such a magical place that we wanted to go every year and it became part of the itinerary.
I was six months old the first time my parents took me. Later, when I had my own kids, we all went on the boat with my mum and dad.
What's your favourite memory?
After supper we would sit on the foredeck, snuggle under a blanket, eat chocolate and listen to the night-time frog chorus coming from the land.
Who do you take?
I would love to show Port-Cros to my partner Peter.
What do you take?
Goggles and a snorkel. You can float in the water with a stale baguette and the fish will come and eat out of your hand.
What do you leave behind?
Modern life. There is a hotel on the island and when people arrive by boat, their luggage is collected on a cart pulled by a donkey.
Sum it up in five words.
Mediterranean. Escape. Secluded. Peaceful. Isolation.
What travel spot is on your post-lockdown wish list?
The west coast of Scotland. Gigha is a favourite.
The final of Scotland's Home of the Year is on BBC Scotland, Wednesday, 8pm
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