Best Western Grand Hotel Des Mascareignes Saint-Gilles-Les-Bains

... for dinner at 7:00. Thierry was home from work; he joined us for dinner along with his beautiful lady friend Annabelle, originally from the mountainous interior of Reunion. We had a very enjoyable dinner, again accompanied by a wide-ranging conversation, which included our various family origins. They were interested to learn that our family can trace some ancestors back to the middle 1600s. Most Réunionais can't go back so far.

I learned more about the culture and history ...

... the municipal gardens which are being reworked (and need it). A brief stop in a small marine museum reveals a reasonably well-preserved Coelacanth. That's the fish scientists knew had existed in the Devonian period up to 400 million years ago, and dying out in the Cretaceous period about65 millions years ago - it was merely an ancient fossil - a sign of the survival of the fittest and disappearance of the least adaptable ...

"La Mer" - Charles Trenet La mer Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs A des reflets d'argent La mer Des reflets changeants Sous la pluie La mer Au ciel d'ete confond Ses blancs moutons Avec les anges si purs La mer ...

... la trouv la famiy pou ramas aèl, Mon dié séniér se marmay-la nana kouraz ! Ah ! Jessica na kouraz,èl na kouraz ! Tout gro travay banna i done aou pou fé. (Poukoué i fé sa ?) Kan lé zot i préfér alé zoué ! (Anon ! Anon !) Tandik bann gran lé la, lé zis pou fé la piont. Bé Jessica la poin le droi alé pran vakans, El la minm poin lo droi fèt in lanivérsér, Son sèl dézir sé alé lékol oubien la mès, Bin oubien sinon pou f ...

... hautes falaises blessures, Où l'océan gronde si fort. Le long des côtes sauvages, Le charme fou des paysages, Et des vacoas insolents, Jouant de la houle et des vents. Laisse aux voyageurs de passage, Une singulière image, Mêlée de bleus,de noir,de blanc, De soleil or et rouge sang. Mon île, Tu n'es pas la fille facile, Parée de frusques inutiles, Sans un sou d ...

" Parler tout bas" - Alizée Les jours de pluie Mes jouets sont vivants Les grands ont des griffes Comme des bouts de ciment Comment leur dire Quand on a que seize ans Le lit qu'on défait, n'a plus Le goût du zan A quoi bon Les vies chiffons Les mots d'amour Qui sont trop courts, Moi, j'rêve ...

... Prodigues have a clear view of the approach flight path to the airport runway and they know the planes to expect when visitors are coming. So they simply wait at home and watch until they see the plane on approach (in this case the Air Mauritius flight) and then drive down to the airport in time to welcome visitors. Thierry Prodigue, Laval's son brought the car around right away and we drove up from sea level to the heights overlooking Saint Denis, to ...

... plongée, on occupe bien facilement le temps. Grand merci à l'Excelsus (Céline, Séb, Nico, Romain et David) Je garde le meilleur pour la fin. On remercie chaleureusement tout le club Excelsus à St-Leu de nous avoir initiés à la plongée et la photo sous-marine (sans vos conseils éclairés, je n'aurai jamais atteint la, heu, ... 35ème place au trophée de photo H2O). Franchement ...

... we decide we won't take a chance on a cancellation, and get him to book a room at the Fleur de Mai, renamed Phoenix, for next Friday night when we return. A 140 bed hotel close recently, and this is why the tight accommodation. Tourism has dropped 80% since the chikungunya (from now on we call it chiki for short) outbreak. Decide we have had tea on the plane, and are pretty buggered, so MP does a heap of washing, and we hit the sack after a good ...

... Salazie: ½ hour drive away from St-Andre, Salazie is by far the easiest to access. It also is the greenest...since it is the rainiest. Wonderful waterfalls, prolific vegetation, dramatic views * Piton de la Fournaise: Peak of blazing fire, because this volcano is still active. Desert area, with lunar countrysides. Cross 'Plaine des Sables' (Plain of Sands) at sunrise on the way to the volcano - an enchantment. Glowing colours of the sands change with ...