The Wayfaring Wordhack

Poppies![1] I love the delicate poppies that grow wild in the French countryside, especially when they bloom in the thousands, creating a swath of scarlet in a field of gold or green. Imagine my surprise seeing them flourishing in a cemetery on Ile de la Réunion. I guess I shouldn't have found their presence odd though, given the hundreds of microclimates on the island.



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[1] Please bear with me if the image size is too big. I'm learning new programs here and working with a different screen! :P And with that in mind, could you tell me how this size is for you on your monitor? I don't think it makes a difference, but in case it does, I don't want to put anyone out.

[2] The same gentleman, Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell, that gave his name to Hellville in Nosy Bé, Madagascar is responsible for the name of this village because he was governor of the island back in the days when it was known as Bourbon.

[3] I'll have other photos from this cemetery when I post some more Reunion Island vacation photos because it's pretty unique.  Too bad I didn't get to visit it alone. I could have taken more time there. :(

I've gone and done it again.

I put off posting the pics from our recent stay in Reunion Island, not because of laziness or sheer procrastination, but because of sickness and then one thing after another, piling up as those one-thing-after-another things like to do.  Now that I've finally got around to it, I'm not just doing to post a handful and it call it done. I have too many photos  to share to do that. Because you all need to see how beautiful and diverse the island is,  I'm going to post them by "day" of our visit.

So, we arrived on the night of the 9th (October. Yeah, I told you I was late in getting around to this), and, while it was raining, like our first arrival on Reunion Island back in January, this time the littoral road was open, and Ti Claude whisked us to her and Hervé's home in La Possession in no time at all. Her sense of hospitality was impeccable as usual, and she had a delicious creole meal ready for us. We caught up on old times (those dating back to January :P ) and planned our next day. We decided to get our shopping out of the way because more rain was in the forecast. And rain it did, but not until the afternoon! We had lovely weather that morning while we visited the Friday market in St Paul. However, it was a good thing we spend so much time in the sporting goods and computer stores because the afternoon was wet, wet, wet.


We awoke on the 11th to more rain. And supposedly, it wasn't even the rainy season yet. Having limited time to see the sites and a lot of sites to see, we decided to head to the volcano in hopes that the weather would improve the further south we went. Um, well, have a pic and see for yourselves:

Yeah, that was at Grand Bassin, and this and this are what we should have seen.

Back into the car we jumped and bravely carried on toward the Piton de la Fournaise. And joy of joys, just around St Pierre, we had about five minutes sun, just enough to convince us that we could get lucky on the volcano. After all, the last time we had gone, we'd had some fog and the view still cleared up at the top.

Alas. All the beautiful views of the Vallée de la Rivière des Remparts and La Plaine des Cafres were so cloud-locked on the way up, we could barely see the road in front of us.

At the peak, things were not much better, and instead of the gorgeous panorama of mineral colors, so arid and alien you could believe yourself on Mars, and clouds boiling up over the crater lip like you stood at the world's edge, we got to see rain. We did however get to experience 16°C (probably less actually; we took the temp with mana_trini 's dive watch. Just stuck it out there on the windshield). That was quite invigorating, exciting, and all around lovely. My fingers were frozen! Frozen, I tell you! :D




On the way down the mountain, the clouds had pulled back far enough for us to see just the tiniest bit of the ramparts. This time, the vegetation was a bit greener than in January, um, I think.









And not a lot further down, flowers that I shall call wild lilies, and which the Réunoinais call "aromes," start growing in clumps in the middle of hills that look like they should be somewhere, oh, I don't know, English or Scottish or Walish (only kidding about that last one, I *know* what it really is;) ). Somewhere other than an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, anyhow.


            
Slowly but surely, Nature is reclaiming her rights...

If I'm remembering correctly, the most recent spectacular lava flow dates to 2007, but in April of this year, part of the crater collapsed. Still this still-hot rock, hot enough to steam when rained upon, is at least a year old! Julien had to replace his savates (flip-flops) after walking on it.






After gathering a few lava rocks, full of irridescent flakes, we headed back towards La Possession, taking a detour to see the Takamaka Falls. Unfortunately, there were so many clouds, we only saw faint traces of white through the billows of gray. I shall spare you the photographic evidence. We did, however, see some aborescent ferns, which are so deliciously prehistoric. Growing as they are amidst lush foliage on a steep slope, you can't see their trunks. Boo.



And that wraps up the first day of sightseeing! In the forecast: Sunshine, some cloudy skies...
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* I don't know if I've shared this or not, but a large portion of Witherwilds, my WIP, takes place on a volcanic island, and I was so excited to have the chance to go back to Reunion Island, to hopefully interview some specialists and do other research. The weather wasn't favorable, so going to the museum would have been a good alternative to being onsite, and I could have talked to some experts. That I wasn't able to go really bummed me out. That's the problem with joint vacations. :(

Ah ha, I bet you thought I was going to take another five months to get around to doing this. :P But no, I have no pity on you. This vacation was shorter than the one to  Madagascar, so you'll have less photos to wade through, if that is any consolation. ;-)

So, waaaaaay back in January, Julien and I went to La Réunion, where we stayed with Hervé and his wife Ti Claude. We knew Ti Claude not at all and Hervé only vaguely through a complicated, six-degree sort of thing. Back in Sancerre, Julien worked with a fellow named Damien, and Damien's girlfriend, Julie, is Hervé and Ti Claude's daughter. On Damien's word that Julien was a good guy, Hervé spoke on our behalf and helped us get assigned to Mayotte.

Damien and Julie were also in La Réunion at the same time, so between the four of them, we had guides and chauffeurs, not to mention a fantastic cook in Ti Claude, for the duration of our stay. They were so friendly and generous with their home and time that I'm sure they are in large part responsible for the affection in which I now hold that island. For the longest time, I didn't even want to go to Reunion Island because all Frenchies here in Mayotte who had been only talked abut McDonald's (yes! I'm serious) and getting to go to shopping centers. However, there is so much more to the island, and after looking at these pics, I'm sure you'll agree, mankind's got nothing on these natural attractions.




 

and the threads of the year draw taut and thin, the frayed ends already tickling my fingers. Yet another "winter" is being spent in Mayotte, and I can't say that I particularly enjoy missing out on cold, fog, and snow. I know several people on my flist suffer from SAD, and I must admit that as a lover of all seasons, it is a disorder I cannot understand. I adore the spring when pastels of every hue start creeping across the land once more; I love the hot days of summer when the redolent evening air is full of gold and the sound of cicadas; sated on heat and long days, I'm always ready when the time rolls around for the leaves to change color and start their drifting, skittering exodus into mounds of woodsy-mossy detritus; and I feel like a kid with eyes and heart full of wonder when the first freeze sets everything aglitter. I need that hibernating time of year when it is okay to bundle up, snuggle down with a good book and a cup of hot spiced cider, to have a raclette with loads of charcuterie. I enjoy the short days and the longs nights. I enjoy the holidays.

So naturally, not having the bracing cold here, I get a bit nostalgic for the fall/winter season, and it hits particularly hard November through January. Sometimes I have surreal moments, like walking out of the baking heat into the refrigerated grocery store at the end of November and seeing garish Christmas decorations tacked to a hideous, towering fake tree, garlands of tinsel thrown willynilly across the spindly branches. Or like last night, attending a Christmas concert in a church with the pivoting shutter-windows open and the ceiling fans going full blast. The music was lovely, but, as I said, surreal. They skipped Noël Blanc because they said they hadn't learned it, but I'm of a mind to think that they just didn't have the heart for it since the high yesterday was 99°F.

Taking a small trip might help with the seasonal disconnect, even if we can't afford to go somewhere with snow; hence, we've decided to go to Reunion Island for 8 days in January. We'll visit the "Snowy Peak" most likely, but we won't find snow during the middle of the rainy season. If the crater isn't offlimits due to dangerous activity, we might get to see lava flowing. That should either take my mind off snow or make me miss it even worse. We'll see.

In the spirit of nostalgia and year's end, I thought I would do the retrospect meme: