Friday 4/25 Papaeete, Tahiti- French Polynesia<br><br> We had arrived in Tahiti, "The Gathering Place." Just the sound of the name brings up worldwide images of soft breezes, exotic women and an escape from the harsh realities of the old world. English Captain James Cook and French explorer Captain Louis Bouganville had first discovered these "Society Islands" in the 1760’s. The accounts they brought back electrified Europe enticing artists like Gauguin and adventurers of every type.<br><br> Most of us carry visions of Tahiti in our head from the various versions of "Mutiny on The Bounty." The film, made from a James Norman Hall novel detailing a mutiny aboard Her Majesty’s ship "Bounty," captained by the now famous Captain Bligh and his first mate Fletcher Christian. The backdrop images in the film are mostly taken from the lovely islands of Moorea and Bora Bora. But it is Tahiti, where the long arm of British justice had corraled the mutineers, except for Fletcher Christian and a small band of others who took refuge in a small isle nearby called "Pitcairn’s island."<br><br> Whalers, merchantmen and adventurers arrived in waves bringing new world gifts like STD and the moral standards of seamen who had been afloat for a year and away from leavening strictures of women and polite society. The Protestant missionaries had come in the early 1800’s and banished most native cultural practices, including ritual sacrifice of humans. The missionary’s razed the several Marae (sacrificial altars) and brought the European version of a straight-laced version of an unforgiving deity. It was a poor fit for these superstituituous and easygoing Polynesians.<br><br> During the 1840’s, France consolidated its control of five of these small island chains into what we now call French Polynesia. Scattered across 5 million sq. miles of ocean, the Marquesas, Tahiti and three other smaller chains comprise hundreds of pacific atolls and smaller islands of what we now call Polynesia.<br><br> Tahiti, one of the larger islands in the group, is actually comprised of two extinct volcano mounts and the slopes surrounding them. Mount Orohena, at 6,700 feet, dominates the larger chunk of the island (Tahiti Nui) Mount Aurai, at 6,200 feet sits on most of the smaller portion of Tahiti (Tahiti –Iti). A small isthmus connects the two areas. Tahiti’s population of 150,000 lives mostly near the capital, Papaeete. They speak French and Polynesian principally. English seems to be spoken by workers in the tourist industry, but is neither known nor spoken by most of the populace. The French Polynesian Franc, equal to about one U.S. penny is the coin of the realm. The attractive copper 100 FPF coins feature the outline of Bali Hai on their face.<br><br><br> After breakfast on deck 14, a wooden "Le Truk" shuttled us into the Centre De Ville, on the waterfront. A small tourist pavilion, adjacent to a newly constructed town square, dominates the waterfront here. A few hundred yards over sits the huge Ferry dock for the daily shuttles to Moorea, visible on the horizon, just 11 miles Northeast of Tahiti. Later that day, the four masted Windjammer wwould dock alongside this active waterfront. <br><br> The ship’s tours, and everything at the visitor’s center, had been booked solid. The offer of $120 for a cab ride, with a driver who knew little English, didn’t seem too enticing to us. What we saw of Tahiti would have to be on foot. We had hoped to visit the Gauguin Museum on the other side of the island. We had just last year seen a Gauguin collection at New York’s Metropolitan Museum and yet another small collection at the Art Gallery of Toronto. We were confirmed admirer’s of this artist’s brilliantly colored renditions of Tahiti and her people. We had also hoped to see the spectacular black sand beach and lighthouse at Point Venus, the Vaima Pearl Center and a few of the waterfalls cascading from Mt. Orohena. Perhaps next time we sail here, we will manage to take them in. <br><br> The buildings and houses of the ocean front section of Tahiti are crowded close together. The traffic is heavy and runs in twin ribbons of moving steel seperating the town and the ocean. The Tahitians are religious about stopping for pedestrians crossing the street, but it is still proved to be an adventure. We walked for a time, browsing the shops and listening to the chatter around us. It was all spoken in rapid French. The sun was beating down on us already and the humidity was high. Most of the inhabitants seemed to take any refuge from the sun that they could find. Small clumps of people would stand and talk animatedly under the shade of a tree or that of a building’s awning.<br><br><br><br><br><br> We came upon a large café bar called "Mana Rock Café." (Hardrock) We ordered designer water, in French, from the pleasant waitress ($3) and cooled off for a bit. The café has five internet stations, so for five dollars, I sent some messages into the ether of cyber space, enjoying the speedier land connections over the dead slow ones shipboard. From the café, we stopped to browse in a nice looking Joualierie (jeweler). In halting French, we purchased a single black Tahitian Pearl for Mary. It had a greenish cast to the dark ebony surface. It is apparently labeled as such and much prized by jewelers. ($120) We had stopped at a "Black Pearls of Moorea" shop on the other island. These elegant creations are lustrous black orbs and usually larger in size. We were pleased to have found a smaller one of good quality. The clerk was very polite and enjoyed helping us.<br><br> Next, we came upon the two-story version of the central marketplace in Tahiti, "Le Marche," or the market. The first floor of this open-air barn is filled with food vendors selling everything from fruits to fish and any number of sundries. It reminded me of the Public Market in Seattle. It is colorful and bustling with Tahitians shopping for food. The second floor is filled with scores of small vendors pedling what we lovingly called "Le Jonk." Sarongs, bead necklaces, carved figures of marine life, Tahitian gods and all manner of jewelry, tee shirts and other sundries, that gladden a shopper’s heart, are on display. We browsed the shops, bought some bead necklaces for a few of the kids at home and enjoyed the color and commerce of a real market place. Fortunately, we were there in the early morning. By late afternoon, the place would be a madhouse of shoppers looking for bargains.<br><br> The streets surrounding the market are small and auto-laced. We dodged the speedy traffic and visited another elegant Joualerie where we found a beautiful set of black pearl earrings to match the necklace pearl we had just purchased. They were simple, beautiful and elegant. ($99) The young Polynesian clerks were helpful pleasant and gracious in their service. They share that warm and gracious charm that we had experienced and enjoyed from their Hawaiian cousins.<br><br> Towards the end of the commercial strip, a lovely park area faces the ocean. A small bronze bust of Louis Bouganville commemorates this eminent French explorer after whom had been named the colorful tropical flower "Bouganvillea." We sat for a time in the shade and enjoyed the lush tropical foliage, the colorful flowers and the heat of a tropical isle and each other’s company. We were here together in Tahiti. That was something we will long remember during the cold and snowy Winters of our home in the frosty northern climes.<br><br><br><br><br><br> It was nearing noon, so we decided to stop by one of the many portable "Les Roulettes" for a snack. We would call them food trolleys or hamburger stands in the U.S.. We ordered baguette d’crabbe sandwiches and bottles of Evian in our best French. Then, we stood nearby eating our sandwiches under the protective shade of a large Monkey pod tree. It is a custom we had much enjoyed in Paris and Firenze, walking about a crowded square with a sandwich and bottle of water, enjoying your busy surroundings.<br><br> We continued walking the small streets, enjoying the feel of a culture and language not our own. We came upon the elegant, two-story colonial "hotel de ville"(city hall). An official Tahitian ceremony, of some sort, was in progress on the main Lanai. Colorful cotton sarongs, flowered garlands and other bright pastels adorned these handsome people. We watched for a time, admiring the pomp of the ceremony, whatever it was." "Department de France" shined out from a brass plaque on the lanai wall. On the grounds of L'hotel de ville sits a large open-aired hut with a brown grass roof upon the large structure. It is apparently a roofed pavilion for open air, official ceremonies. We smiled, waved hello and said "Bonjour" to two small girls. They waved shyly back at us and returned our greeting with a soft "bonjour" before scurrying away.<br><br> A small kiosk nearby provided us with timbres (stamps) for our postcards. The next chore was to find "le box postal." It isn’t like our cities, where you can find a blue, US mailbox on every corner. We had to ask several shop keepers, in halting French, "Oo e le box postal?" before we found the small box with the dull metal lid that read "post."<br><br> The 90-degree heat and the high humnidity had wilted us. We walked back to the waterfront and caught a shuttle for the 15-minute ride to the commercial end of the port and the welcome air-conditioned bubble of the Dawn Princess. Iced tea, in an air-conditioned cabin, helped revive and re-energize us.<br><br> We sunned for an hour, on deck 12, had a refreshing dip in the smaller spa pool and then retreated to our cabin to consider the logistics of packing for the trip home. We had to have our bags out in the hall by 9 P.M. this evening for shipment to Faa’a airport and the long ride home. We were ready. However beautiful, however exotic, there is nothing so alluring as the whiff of home. This E.T. was ready for the Mother ship and the ride back.<br><br> We packed our clothes, kept some necessary toiletries and clothes for a carry on bag, and then put the bags outside the cabin for pickup. We had taken the first step. We tehn walked down the main gallery of deck 7 and had some coffee in the small lounge outside of the restaurants. We had agreed to have dinner with Jazz and Janice, from London, this evening and met them in the lounge. The Florentine Room was as pleasant as every previous night. An avocado boat filled with seafood was a delicious appetizer. A cold pear soup was exquisite. A filet of salmon and baked Alaska for desert was all washed down with some decent cabernet. This was exquisite dining.We enjoyed chatting with the London kids this last time and were pleased that we had met them. They had an early flight out tomorrow morning and a lay over in Los Angeles, before the long flight back to Heathrow in London.<br><br> After dinner, we walked topside to enjoy the Tahitian night. The Papeete waterfront was ablaze with activity. Neon signs from the honk tonk clubs "Broadway," "Manhattan" and others vied for the club trade. The river of cars left a trail of red taillights flashing in the dark, as they rounded the bend towards the air port. We watched the huge car ferry and the smaller catamaran from Moorea glide by our ship for their mooring across the bay. The four masted windjammer still sat berthed to the waterfront. Tahitians of all ages walked the parks and squares, free from the searing heat of the South pacific sun. These two aging honey mooners returned to their cabin to read and surrender to the sandman. It was going to be a long travel day for us. We were ready to go home.<br><br><br>Saturday 4/26/03 Papeete, Tahiti- French Polynesia<br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br> <br><br> <br>
