Reunion is a Department of France, meaning it is French soil just as Hawaii is American. Its largest city is St. Denis with a population of just over 200,000. The island is volcanic with an active volcano, Piton de la Fournais, and an inactive volcano, Piton des Neiges. Fournais last erupted in August, 2015. We decided to leave St. Denis and the coast behind and head for the mountainous regions of Reunion.
Our first stop was a vanilla plantation. The owner of the plantation told us (through a translator) how vanilla is planted. How and why it is pollinated by hand. How it is harvested and how the vanilla bean is processed for sale. While we were listening to this interesting explanation, it began to rain … again … no, it began to pour! However, this time we were prepared with raincoats and umbrellas.
From the vanilla plantation, we drove up into the mountains where we stopped to view several waterfalls including the spectacular Voile de la Mariee (Bride’s Veil).
Next we stopped in the Creole town of Hell Bourg where we wandered through the streets and shops.
Then we stopped for a Creole lunch.
Then we drove into St. Denis for some shopping and then back to the QV.
