French Riviera

Today we're heading to our last stop here on Réunion. The sun is shining from the sky, the helicopters have been circling over the valley since 7:00 a.m. and we're having our last breakfast before we drive the 430 bends from the town up here back to civilization.

Another short stop at the post office, one last look at the majestic mountains

and then the journey begins. Thanks to a traffic jam in town, our satnav looks for an alternative route. Sometimes I wonder where the satnav is taking us (and in such situations I also ask Mr. Google, but he suggested the same route). One road had a gradient of at least 20 degrees - it was definitely extremely steep, then an unpaved track

and at some point we were back on the main road.

The guys in race mode. It's a good thing there's a truck in front of us, so a) they can't drive as fast and b) it clears the way. The horn is one of the most important things on the track. Some passages and tunnels

are only one lane and to make yourself heard you need to use your horn. After about half of the way we had to take a forced 20 minute break.

(A deja vu, we had something similar last year on Vancouver Island, some of you may remember. It was 5 hours there.)

A wall was secured with a net on the section of the route. After 20 minutes, we continued.

During the day the journey isn't that bad and not that long. The only difficulty is the constantly changing light conditions at every bend. Sometimes the sun is in front of you, then the shadows again.

After about an hour we reach the coast and follow the N1A towards St. Denis. Always along the coast to Le Gouffre de I'Étang-Salé.

We stretch our legs a bit and enjoy the view of the roaring surf.

Continuing on the N1A we pass a beach with green sand. In the sun the grains of sand glitter and sparkle like small gold flakes.

Facts: The sand gets its deep green color from the olivine mineral, which comes from the nearby lava stones and is washed onto the beach by the surf.

A few more kilometers and we have our hotel La Nautile

in La Saline Les Bains, a suburb a few kilometers south of Saint-Gilles located on the beach. Saint-Gille-des-Bains is practically the Côte d'Azur of Reunion.

Facts:

Saint-Gilles-Les-Bains is initially just the small fishing port directly on the coast for Saint-Gilles-les Hauts, which is located a little further inland. The sandy beach at Hermitage-les-Bains, which is protected by a 30 km long lagoon (also from sharks), is also the largest on the island. Thanks to its favorable climate on the west coast, the town developed over the course of the 20th century into the island's seaside resort. Then, towards the end of the last century, it also became an internationally popular holiday resort and tourist destination.

Since we don't feel like looking for a restaurant today, we fortify ourselves at the grill buffet in the hotel.