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Marquesas - French Polynesia

Papeete, 16th January

The morning after our incredible night flight with Air New Zealand, the long waiting together with the guys from the US and other EU unfriendly countries in front of immigration, and the lousy airport motel.

Unfortunately, the nice guy in the hotel only serves breakfast until 9am – not a real option for the poor guests arriving at 3am. So, a short walk to the airport for a coffee and a sandwich, then we take a taxi to town. Fortunately, the apartment we booked in Papeete CBD is pretty nice – and most importantly, has a washing machine. Time for some laundry and to recover a bit from the jetlag and the nights in all kind of planes.

Then we have to check out the proud capital of French Polynesia.

 
 

Just a word of warning: In Papeete don’t expect to get lost, it’s simply too small for that. Also don’t expect to get much else than French products at high prices. Don’t expect any kind of anglophone way of life, it’s all about the Frenchies way – maybe except some specialized shops for US customers.

So, we sneak thru the few streets, along the waterfront, and get used to speaking French again.

 

All looks relatively nice’n’tidy, many older buildings renovated.

Quite some shops for the poor tourist to buy this kind of clothing she considers appropriate and a market where she can buy everything China produces for the Polynesian tourism industry.

 

Still, walking thru some backstreets, the impression changes a bit. Suddenly it’s visible how little the Frenchies care about infrastructure and the implementation of their social security in their overseas departments. A good reason for a certain reluctance of the locals vis-a-vis French politics.

 

And in the evening, where the hell should we find something to munch on?

Easy, you go to a brasserie. They serve stuff like Moules Frites or Choucroute Garnie. For US citizens they even offer some soggy burgers. What more could you need? Yeah, of course, beer. If your brasserie also considers itself a watering hole – it brews excellent beer.

As an alternative there are these Roulottes – food stalls selling more or less the same stuff at the same price, just without a beer.

a, 6th March

No doubt, nobody visits French Polynesia to eat moules frites. Visitors come to spend a few days in luxury hotels in Bora Bora, in overwater bungalows they pay 1000$ a night (breakfast excluded), go to Moorea to tell everybody that they’ve been here, or fly to distant islands without any infrastructure on a camping vacation to save some money.

Whatever, we opt for a tour to the Marquesas with a freighter, partly converted into a cruise ship. So, definitely not the ultimate luxury cruise many people dream of. Still, a ship with all mod cons, daily tours to some remote islands, and exactly a quarter bottle of wine for dinner.

But for that you visit some of the remotest islands in the Pacific, travel on a ship with less than 200 passengers, and don’t need a suit for dinner.

And it’s an opportunity to check out a ship built by the Chinese.

Of course, they have to start the whole programme with some folklore. A bit strange and unusual for us to see a dance group engaged for our departure. For the others on the ship it seems to be pretty normal to have such entertainment.

By noon we’re ready to leave Papeete to Fakarava. A flat coral atoll we should reach by tomorrow morning. A place famous for its biodiversity and a recognized UNESCO site. 

So we have some time to get used to the ship and its permanent and temporar inhabitants. To learn what we should do and gets you executed on the spot.

It’s also the time to exchange tales from all kind of trips, be happy once the happy hours starts, and eat too much despite knowing better.

Or simply watch the lousy weather.

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