La vie est belle

The last two days were just wonderful: Wednesday I dived with Sébastien and Jean-Pierre, two Air France pilots and with Patricia, all French. We decided to meet again in the evening for Apéro and the show of the Marquase at the Intercontinental. So I went home, had a nap and a long walk with the host's dog before cruising to the hotel again. The show was impressive, you have to imagine a bit the Maori haka and that's how the men there 'dance'. Very raw and very masculine. We went to a Roulotte for diner, those are trucks along the street where you can eat almost everything. We had some grilled fish, it was delicious. On my way home I accidentally landed on the R5. This street is my new gravel road. It's some sort of a highway and scooter are not allowed. It is not well indicated or maybe I am a bit slow but well, I managed to get off the next exit without a fine. Yesterday we went diving at the source, a site where fresh water comes out of the ground. Very cool. Visibility wasn't good but we saw lot's of turtles. After the dive me and Sébastien went to Papeete to buy pearls. There are different qualities and if you've seen the better ones, you do not want the others. They are beautiful. We had some raw fish with coconut milk for lunch, a local specialty, very tasty. After a successful pearl hunt we went to the Merdien, it's where Air France pilots get to stay. Not bad, I can tell you. We went kayaking in the lagoon under the sun, corals and turquoise water around us, it couldn't be better. Jean-Pierre joined for diner and I cruised home on my scooter - and was worried to land again on this R5. It's not that easy in the dark without street lights when you don't really know the way. So I stopped twice to ask how I can avoid it. The people here are incredibly friendly so I finally managed to get home without any wrong turns.Read more