We leave a little later today. Dick has some stuff he needs to do on the internet and Mike goes over to the Dodo bar to try to publish some of my blog as our internet access has been terrible from the boat.
Today we head to the capital of La Reunion, Saint Denis along the coastal motorway, which is literally at the foot of the cliffs. Despite all attempts to keeps the cliffs from falling onto the road (heavy chain mail coverings, huge rock and metal walls etc) literally hundreds of tons of rocks still fall onto this road every year. It just makes you want to go faster to get through the area without mishap.
When we arrive at Saint Denis, it is obvious that something is up. We pass four huge trucks of big beefy gendarmes, all armed with guns and wearing boots suitable for pinning disobedient bodies to the ground. They look like they are looking forward to some action so stopping to take a photo is probably not a good idea. When we get a little further into town, the reason for their presence becomes clear – there is a demonstration going on. We drive around looking for the centre of town but don’t really find it so just park the car on a meter and wander off on foot.
Photo: The town hall and war memorial
Creole architecture abounds in this part of town, as we have found ourselves on the Rue de Paris, where all the museums and art galleries are. As we walk down past the town hall and the war memorial, we realise that we are now just behind the demonstration and walk quickly to catch it up and see what it is all about.
Photo: French protest
When we get ahead of the protest we can read their banners and realise that they are protesting against the raising of the age of retirement by two years, the same thing that has been happening all over mainland France for the past few weeks. I did say this island is very French! Still, no one is burning any sheep!
We wander into the shopping area but it’s all a bit scruffy. There are some nice shops every now and again, some very expensive ones too, interspersed with the tat but generally it’s not a great area to walk around so we meet up again with Irene and Dick and have some lunch in a shady little courtyard restaurant.
Photo: Rue de Marechal Leclerc with the Masjid al Islam mosque in the background
Photo: Lunch with Irene and Dick
The menu is a lovely mix of French and Creole. I have a starter of tiny squid salad then pasta with cream and salmon. Delicious. Mike just has a fricasse of squid, a starter portion as his tummy is still not right then throws caution to the wind and has a really heavy chocolate pudding. Let’s hope he doesn’t regret that decision!
We had thought that maybe we would make it up to the mountains again today to see some of the waterfalls, but a collective decision is made to have an early day back, stopping to do the provisioning at the supermarket on the way.
In the evening Maggie and Bob come over to sample some curries. Both are enthusiastic cooks but have never really cooked Indian. I make Laura’s now-famous ‘Bath House dahl’ which they enjoy, as well as our lovely chicken pelau, not a curry as such but a favourite of ours. We have a lovely evening and even Mike manages to eat, drink and stay awake. Lentils and chocolate in one day. He’ll probably explode tomorrow!
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