11th post - island tour

A tour de l'île was on the program this Saturday. My roommate and her friend planned the tour and then picked us (Yasmine, Nanou and me) up from the shared apartment by car at 9:00 a.m.

Our first stop was the Église Sainte-Anne , which shone with its incredibly delicate facade decoration. Since we actually had a pretty tight schedule and there was a mass going on, we only admired the church from the outside.

The second stop was the Bassin Bleu , a huge pool of water where you can also swim. However, we didn't have time for that either and in general I found it beautiful, but not particularly breathtaking. It's the Xth basin that I've seen now :D

The third stop impressed me even more: a great old Creole shop where you can find everything. So really everything. Fish, food, decorations, 5l bottles of rhum, posters of lesbians, clocks, pickled crabs - everything.

The fourth stop was the Port de Sainte Rose , a small harbor for fishing boats. That was really beautiful, I've never seen such clear, blue water in my entire life, and in a harbor. And the old boats that were still there were really idyllic.

The fifth stop was extremely fascinating and a bit mystical. We looked at the famous Notre Dame de lave , a church with an exciting history: in 1977, the island's volcano raged and spewed lava, swallowing the entire small village. Only this church was spared; the lava flowed around it without causing the slightest burn! All around the church you can see the impressive solidified lava flow, which bears witness to this truly incredible story. I also took a lava stone with me, although theoretically I'm not allowed to bring it to Germany by plane. I think I'll try it anyway

The sixth stop was the Bay of the Falls ( "Anse des cascades" ), the easternmost point of the island. It was really beautiful there too, the palm trees were unimaginably big, the sea was very choppy and the waves were impressively strong.

There we had lunch at a small snack bar and were able to watch beautiful birds that kept us company. They were bright yellow, larger than sparrows and very friendly. After the "main meal" I was able to try the typical Creole gâteau de patate douce (sweet potato cake) and a fresh coconut - both very interesting and really not bad, but not necessarily my thing either.

The seventh stop was my absolute highlight. We looked at the Plage du Tremblet (at least almost, we stopped a little above). It was so incredibly breathtaking, I couldn't believe it was real. It was absolutely beautiful and I really had to fight to tear myself away.

We then went briefly into the Tunnel de Lave in almost the same place right on the road. This is a huge lava cave that was created by air pockets in the lava flow. There I realized for the first time what a force of nature lava is and how much respect you should have for a volcano. After all, the air pockets alone were so large that 50 people could have comfortably fit in them.

The eighth stop was no longer on the edge of the island, but in the Hauts , where the Cascade de Langevin is located. The journey there was quite demanding, and I have rarely been so happy not to have to drive myself. At times you had to approach a curve that had an incline of over 40% - so at this point I would like to express my absolute respect to Romane, who mastered this fabulously. The waterfalls here were really impressive, especially because the rock face was so steep and the waterfalls were so numerous. However, it is quite a tourist place, which is why we didn't stay too long.

The ninth stop was finally what we had all been waiting for: Manapany-les-bains , a large, natural basin in which we could finally swim. Cooling down was sorely needed because we were all absolutely sweaty and knocked out. The pool was also very clean and clear, the water was the perfect temperature and it was just super relaxing to take a little break there. But due to the tight schedule and the sunset at 6:15 p.m., we had to get back to our last stop pretty quickly.

The tenth stop was dedicated to the sunset: The Boucan-Canot stand in the very west of the island, because the sun sets in the west ;) When we got there, we quickly got something to drink and then sat on the beach to watch the wonderful Marvel at color gradients in the sky.

When it was dark we sat down in a restaurant on the beach and ate something - at least the others, not me. It was quite expensive and I really didn't want to spend that much money because lunch was already relatively expensive. This caused a brief nervous breakdown on my part and an unpleasant mood for everyone else. But no matter what, it was quickly sorted out and the mood was good again.

We talked about God and the world and very private things, which was really cool. And on the way home there was a party atmosphere and there was a 1.5 hour karaoke concert at its finest. It was so much fun that we took a detour just to be able to sing one more song :D

So the day was an absolute success and I am super grateful for my wonderful shared apartment and the planning skills and willingness of Romane and Audrey