Lynn an Ewan (Heather's friends from Paris)

Oct 6, 2004 (Wednesday)

Jeanne and I departed San Diego at 11AM for a connection in San Francisco with a direct flight to Paris.  Our plan was to spend 3 nights in Paris, fly from Paris to Seychelles for a 2 week stay and then return with 3 more nights in Paris prior to our return to San Diego.  It turned out that the airline fares were the best bargains of the trip ($650 roundtrip per person to/from Paris and then about $1000 per person to/from Seychelles)

We left our home in San Diego in the capable hands of our good friend, Hank.  Hank’s most important  job was to care for Jeanne’s appallingly long lived Siamese fighting fish, Rodney Whycantwealljustgetalong Betafish.  Hank and Rodney had previously bonded when he house sat during our last trip to Europe in 2002.

Oct 7, 2004 Thursday

As expected, the 10 hour, 5600 mile flight from San Fran to Paris was pure torture departing San Fran at 2:45PM and arriving Paris at 10AM local time.  There is nine hours difference between CA and Paris times.

Regardless, we were soon squared away in our hotel, the Tulip Inn Eiffel, and off to revisit the Eiffel tower. This was our second stay in this hotel and it is no bargain at $83 per person per night.  It does, however, include a hot buffet breakfast specializing in scrambled eggs soup and steamed bacon and is within walking distance of the tower.

 We believed that there would be no crowds on a Thursday afternoon in Oct but failed to realize that all of Asia would be there with their digital cameras and dutifully recording each other in various poses around and on the tower.  Not to be outdone, Jeanne recalled that her little stow-away friend, Wilson, the world traveled teddy bear also needed some photos.

Our long day ended with a light dinner (only 50 euros!!) and a realization that this was not going to be a bargain vacation.

Oct 8, 2004 Friday

We began our serious tourist routine with a train ride to visit the Palace at Versailles and spent most of day there with occasional rain and cool, cloudy skies.  We learned not to jump on the first train that comes along because it may not be going to the right place!  Anyway, after about an hour of confusion we finally got on the RER C5 Versailles-Rive Gauche line which only took about 20 minutes to get to the Chateau.

Upon our return to Paris we did a visit to the top of the Arc d’Triomphe for a night view of Paris.  I really enjoyed a photographic exhibit in the museum which showed views of the action in Paris during the Aug 19-26, 1944 insurgencies and final defeat of the Nazi occupation forces.

Oct 9, 2004 Saturday

On this day it was rainy and cool and a good day to spend in the Louvre, which we did.  (8.4 euro each for admission).  We did the mandatory 30 second viewing of the Mona Lisa and then stayed mostly lost for the rest of the day.  We made about 6 trips through the Egyptian mummy displays on an endless loop in search of an exit but overall had a satisfactory experience.

Oct 10, 2004 Sunday

This was the big day for our departure and flight to Seychelles!  We left our Paris suitcase at the hotel since we had heard horror stories about the severe limits on checked luggage to Seychelles.  We did a 34 euro shuttle ride to Chas De Gaulle airport and began another ordeal of air travel (not our favorite past time).

All of the travelers (except Heather and Franky who were already in Seychelles) were booked on the same flight from Paris to Seychelles.  Sure enough, we soon spotted Hunter, Devinder and Aimee and then joined up with Sue and John who had come in from Germany and Ann just arriving from LA. 

Everyone made a trip to the duty free shops to stock up on liquor for the wedding party.  Booze is very, very expensive in Seychelles and the guests were requested to contribute to the bar supplies for the reception party.  We also brought several cartons of cigarettes and Jeanne bought a box of cigars (which were a real hit) to give to our hosts on the islands. Hence, we were a regular bunch of dope dealers spreading joy wherever we went.

Our Air Seychelles flight departed Paris at 8PM for a 10 hour non-stop flight to Victoria, the capital city of Seychelles.  Everyone was impressed with the good service on Air Seychelles and especially with the abundant wine, champagne and liqueurs which were served free of charge to coach class passengers. Air Seychelles is now the only airline serving the island as other carriers have terminated their services apparently related to currency problems which I will discuss later.

Oct 11, 2004 Monday

After a refreshing 1 minutes sleep during the long flight we arrived at the Seychelles International Airport, Victoria, Mahe Island at 7:30AM.  (there is a two hour difference in time between Paris and Seychelles, making it 11 hours later than in California PDT).  Mahe is the largest of the granitic islands and the center of all shipping and import/export for the republic. It is also a good place for port visits for US Navy ships during transit across the Indian Ocean as evidenced by the presence of the Seattle, AOE 3, and Hopper , DDG 70.

The Republic of Seychelles (pronounced Say Shells) is an island nation in the Indian Ocean located about 4 degrees south of the Equator and about 1000 miles east of the coast of Africa.  A population of less than 100,000 people is distributed on about 150 islands stretching for nearly 1000 miles in a north east-south west orientation.  The southern most or “outer islands” are mostly flat, coral islands while the northern or “inner islands” are granitic and very mountainous.  There are some volcanic islands in there somewhere but I am not sure where exactly.  The granitic islands are the destination of most tourists (yours truly, included) and home to most of the nation’s inhabitants. 

Seychelles was apparently uninhabited until the mid 1700s when French colonialists arrived with African slaves to establish a spice production and trade center. The spices they planted (cinnamon, saffron, vanilla, nutmeg, others) are still in abundance on the islands.  However, the French rule was comparatively short lived as the islands were ceded to the British with the Treaty of Paris (around 1800) following the wars between Britain and Napoleon’s France.  Seychelles remained a British colony until independence in 1976.  There was a short attempt at democracy following independence but a coup brought Albert Renee to power and he has ruled until very recently when he handed the reigns to a Mr. James Michel who continues the one party, socialist leaning government.  The local people are looking forward to real elections in 2006 and expecting a change of government then.  We shall see.

The native language is a French based Creole.  (This Creole is unlike that spoken in Louisiana since Franky says he can not understand the USA versions.) English and French are widely spoken as well as some Italian and German. Most tourist come from France, Germany and Italy.  Americans are rarely seen and when we do appear it is usually to go fly fishing in the coral islands or as an excursion option to an African Safari tour package.

 Heather (our tour director!) met us in Mahe and filled us in all the wedding plans and excursions for the coming weeks. Our party hung out at the airport  waiting for a 1:15PM flight over to the nearby island of Praslin (silent S) and had ample time to check out the gorgeous terrain and experience the humidity and heat.  Finally, a short (10 minute) flight took us from Mahe to Praslin and then a taxi ride across Praslin to the island’s main port and ferry pier

Franky and his best friend, Joseph, were waiting for us at the pier.  Joseph has a brand new boat with twin Yamaha 115 outboard engines and this was our transportation from Praslin over to La Digue Island; about 2 miles away.  Joseph had also graciously volunteered to suspend his regular tour service and dedicate his services to us for the duration of our visit!!

One of Franky’s many brothers, Jean Claude, met us at the pier on La Digue and provided transportation to our various places of lodging.  Hunter, Devinder, Aimee, Jeanne and I stayed at the Paradise Flycatcher Lodge ($123US per night for two including a very nice breakfast).  There are no window screens in La Digue so the insects have free lodging and meals in the rooms. Each room was equipped with several pair of geckos that provide good entertainment watching them scurry up and down the walls eating the bugs.  There is also a green gecko which is absolutely brilliant green in color but, unfortunately I never got a photo.

Our lodge was close to a beach, which we named Spider Beach, due to its Palm Spider population (harmless, but scary!)

  Fortunately, we had air conditioning ( a rare luxury here) and we brought a mosquito net so bugs were not so bad for us.  We all enjoyed our first experience (favorable) with the local cuisine during dinner at Chez Marston restaurant and we soon understood the wisdom of bringing flashlights for the walk home. There are no street lights in La Digue.

Oct 12, 2004 Tuesday

Our first full day in Seychelles!  We also discovered that the rainy season (it usually starts in November) decided to start early this year (must be that global warming stuff).  Our first activity for this day was to go up to the “town” of La Passe (actually just a few buildings near the pier) and rent bicycles for the duration of our visit.  Bikes and walking are the main forms of transportation here.  There are a few ox carts for hire (mostly for the tourist) and a few cars and trucks.  There is one “gas station” on La Digue but gasoline is about $8US per gallon!

On this day we explored the area with a quick bike tour around most of the island. (One can almost circumnavigate the island by bike in an hour or so.  The road does not quite go all the way around La Digue)  The “roads” were built during colonial days, are very narrow and have no shoulders whatsoever.  Also the roads, in places, are elevated with vertical drops of several feet to the ground. Driving off the road is not an option!

At the north end of the island we encountered a large land tortoise in the middle of the road. Jeanne was afraid he was going to fall off the edge of the road so Franky demonstrated his knowledge of tortoise behavior by rubbing its back and encouraging him to walk and then escorted the beast safely to the side of the road.

At the south end of the island we entered the L’Union Estate ($4 or 4 euro admission fee) where there are still vanilla plants and an old copra operation from earlier days.  Also there is a cemetery with the resting place of some of the original French settlers.  Coconut oil is still produced here (in small amounts for tourist amazement and for local use).  We would soon find out that there are numerous abandoned copra operations in Seychelles.  The oil is extracted by grinding up dried coconut meat (copra) in an ox driven device.  The meat was first dried by placing the split coconuts on racks in a heated barn.  This process reminded me very much of the tobacco curing processes used in Virginia when I was growing up.

L’Union Estate is also the entrance to Anse Source d’Argent which, according to many travel publications, is the most beautiful beach in the world!! (For us non-French speakers, “anse” means cove or, in this case, beach.  Source d’Argent means source of money (or silver)).  This beach was also to be the place for Heather and Franky’s wedding in a few days.

On the way to the most beautiful beach we had a chance to see Franky demonstrate his island skills as he prepared for us a fresh coconut treat.  We found that the coconut milk from green or orange colored husks is best for drinking.  Also the white meat in the green nuts is very mushy (unlike the hard meat we are accustomed to at home) and it tastes great!  Also, with the high fat content it is very satisfying and filling.

That night we all dined at Authentique lodge and restaurant with more good Creole cooking.  Franky and his good pal, Joseph, used to work together taking “clients” fishing, diving, snorkeling, etc as part of the standard tourist activities.  They are immensely proud of having taken Britain’s Tony Blair (and his bodyguards) big game fishing a few years ago.  Mr Blair is, apparently, a big fan of the Seychelles and, especially, has plans to own an estate on La Digue.  At least, that is what the local rumors claim and Franky was always pointing out homes that Tony Blair wants to buy.  (I never understood why he just didn’t buy them instead of want to buy them?).  Heather and Franky had spent a day in London enroute to Seychelles and Franky wanted to stop by Downing Street and say hello to his old pal, Tony Blair.  Heather convinced him that was not practical.

Oct 13 Wednesday

Wow, it really rained last night!! It sounded like an explosion hitting the tin roof of our bungalow. By morning it was sunny again and somewhat cooler.

We went on our first boating excursion to visit the nearby Sister Islands a few miles to the north east of La Digue. Big Sister island is privately owned and has a population of two permanent residents, a tall Frenchman named Paul and his wife.  Paul’s main job seems to be to collect the $20US or 20 euro landing fees and to welcome visitors and warn of the dangers of sunburn in these tropical climates. This island was once a copra producer (Franky’s mother worked here in the past) but all the buildings are now falling down.  There is new construction underway to build a place for Paul and home for the owner (whoever he is-a Saudi prince?).  There is a beautiful beach on the east facing side of the island but the water was a bit rough due to strong winds on this side.

While we were enjoying that beach Franky and Joseph were busy doing what they know best-preparing a Creole barbeque at the landing site.  These Creole meals typically include grilled fish and some other meat (chicken, pork) and multiple salads made with local vegetables and fruits (mangos, papayas, bananas, bread fruit, jack fruit, heart of palms and others unknown to me). There is always rice, potatoes and/or pasta and sliced bread. Of course, the local beers are usually available, EKU and Sey Brew . Fresh fish is part of the daily menu for all the Seychellois.

Heather met Franky on this very island while she was visiting La Digue. She was one of those “clients” on a sightseeing, diving trip.

After lunch were motored over to a nearby Cocos Island (a very small granite island) for snorkeling.  I was very disappointed to discover that the coral in these areas is mostly DEAD. (must be that global warming stuff)   I had hoped to see the living, vivid coral that I remembered from 40 years ago in the Caribean  but, alas, it was not to be.  Of course, the water is very clear and there is an abundance of tropical fish and sea turtles.

Oct 14, Thursday

This day was sunny and no rain! We did an afternoon excursion to the east of La Digue for snorkeling at Marianne Island (water was too rough) and then to Felicite Island.  Felicite is another of those privately owned islands with a fancy resort (we were not supposed to actually go ashore).  This is Tony Blair’s favorite resort and was the origin of Franky, Joseph and Tony’s famous fishing trip.

We typically donated about $25US or 25 euro to Joseph to cover the costs of his boat.  This is a small fraction of what he would charge regular tourist for the same excursions and we were all very, very grateful for his generosity.

Speaking of currencies!  The local currency is the Seychelle rupee (SR) which has an official exchange rate of about 5.3 SR to one US $ or one euro. However, there is now a currency crisis in Seychelles and the government is demanding that tourist pay their bills to hotels, national parks, etc in either $ or euro or credit cards.  We never really understood exactly what was going on but I guess it was as follows: in this island nation everything must be imported from somewhere.  The SR  probably can not be exchanged for other currencies easily so the foreign suppliers demand payments in $ or euros.  (we read that there was a shortage of onions in the entire nation because the owner of an onion cargo ship refused to unload unless paid in euros. The import agencies (somehow part of the government) could not pay so –no onions! The food was still great without them!) .

We heard from reliable sources that there is a booming, illegal black currency market  in which one can get up to 10 SR per US $ or euro.  We later heard that on La Digue a few days after our arrival  the exchange rate for US $ had gone from 10 down to 8 SR per dollar. Apparently, the presence or our dollars had impacted the exchange rate for the whole island!

Oct 15, Friday

Today I got up very early to join Sue, John, Franky and Joseph for a half-day of big game fishing.   We headed to the southeast towards the distant Fregate Island and in only about 30 minutes we were trolling and soon had a couple of bonita on the line.  I lost my biggest fish but Sue and John managed to catch a large King (or Wahoo) fish and we ended up a descent catch. (We were fishing in the same special spots where Tony Blair fished )                     

That night we had a big feast from our catch and, of course, the salads as already described. In the Seychelles the men do the cooking and women tend to clean up.  This is a land of plentiful food with no microwaves and limited refrigeration so lots of uneaten food seems to get thrown away. Oh well.

Oct 16, Friday

This is the big day for Heather and Franky’s Seychelles wedding!!

In the morning Hunter, Devinder, Aimee and I rode our bikes over to the southeast side of the island to Grande Anse and to explore the other beaches.  We hiked along the coast a few miles to the north to check out Petite Anse and Anse Cocos beaches. 

The trails go over the ridges through granite boulders and I felt very much at home having spent a lot of time hiking the California high Sierra granite mountains. Of course, the climate is a bit different! These granitic islands are actually the peaks of ancient mountains, remnants of a long departed continent, Gondwanaland.  In the Sierras the granite boulders are eroded by wind and ice into random, abstract sculptures. However, in the Seychelles the granite erodes vertically from the millennia of pouring rain. One of these days it will all melt away.

The beaches on the east coast at this time of year are treacherous with rough waters and lots of currents. The seasons in Seychelles are based mainly on wind directions and amount of rainfall.  The winds blow from the southeast from about June through Oct and then shift to the north (from India) for Nov to May.  The rainy season is usually Nov through March and it is driest during the “winter” in June –August.  There are no earthquakes or typhoons in Seychelles.

At 4:30PM Heather’s ox cart caravan picked us up on the way to the wedding ceremony!  One of the 4 carts had a local group with traditional music (sounded a bit like Louisiana Zydico to me).  Much to the amusement of the tourists we made our way to L’Union Estate and then a walking procession to the world’s most beautiful beach for the ceremony. The traditional fresh coconuts were ready for the guests (later we poured champagne into the coconuts). In Seychelles the bride and groom sit at a table while the official registrar (Robert) reads the vows and guests and family gather around.

What a perfect afternoon! The rains stopped and the sunset was perfect for photos just as ordered by Heather and Franky.  In fact, some of our photos appear to have been taken in a studio but they are, indeed, all real!  As though the sunset over the sea were not enough, a rainbow came out to prove that this marriage must have been made in heaven.

Following the beach ceremonies we headed back to La Passe in our ox carts to the big reception party at Chez Marston’s.  Over 100 guests arrived for a huge feast of red snapper, pork, chicken, sausage, octopus, shrimp, salads, rice,etc. etc.  All cooked by the men, of course, and cleaned up by the ladies. The booze we had brought from the US along with the local contributions was greatly appreciated and I was impressed to notice that the guests seemed, for the most part, to drink in moderation.  The women were in overall charge including making the speeches and being sure uninvited guests did not stroll in from the street.  The cigars that Jeanne had purchased in Paris were a great hit (fairly rare here) and we were very popular that night.  The dancing went on till about 4AM we were told but some of us wimped out much earlier. 

Oct 17 Sunday

This was a lazy and very rainy day.  I made an attempt to bike and hike to the top of the mountains but was rained out.  Our snorkeling trip was cancelled due to the heavy rains and rough seas.

There was an intense interest among the natives in the coming American election.  We were all asked our opinions about the Bush- Kerry competition and the locals seemed to know a lot about our politics.  In fact, Franky’s brother, Daniel, had gotten up at 4AM to watch some of the debates on TV (they get about 2 channels).  Considering that most Americans have never even heard of Seychelles this was a good reminder of how important our culture is to the rest of the world.

Oct 18, Monday

We did a morning excursion back over to Praslin Island (towards the west).  Another of Franky and Joseph’s friends, Daniel, picked us up in his truck for our ashore tours.  Daniel told me that he usually does building construction for a living but is mostly unemployed now due to a shortage of building materials. This shortage is blamed on the government (“there are big troubles coming”).  I did not hear any positive comments about the government from many of the residents.  However, in my view the government must be doing something right since there is little evidence of poverty; the folks all seem to have nice homes; the islands are very clean; the water and food are safe to consume and there are public schools, day care and health care.

Daniel took us up to Vallee de Mai which is part of Praslin National Park ($15 or 15 euro admission).  The Vallee de Mai is actually a living remnant of the prehistoric palm forests which existed when the Seychelles’ granitic islands were still part of the Gondwanaland.  I expected to see a dinosaur at any time because it sure looked like a setting for Juraisic Park.  This park is a home to the Coco de Mer palm which is a symbol of the Seychelles.  There are male and female coco de mer palms and the female produces the largest seed in the world; it can weigh more than 20kg.  The seed from the female palm has a suggestive shape of the female “structure”.  The male palm has a huge “phallic flower “ that is in bad need of massive doses of Viagra.

It poured rain while we were in the forest so we headed out and went to our next destination for lunch.  The destination was the mountain home of Joseph’s father, Andre, where he raises vegetables and pigs as part of his retirement life style. In fact, the pork at the wedding feast came from Andre’s place. Andre has a huge collection of paper-back books that he said he collected during his time spent on one of the small islands (I was never sure if he was a caretaker on the island or what). Joseph said his father has around 30 children so he must have had some entertainment other than those novels.

We had a great lunch courtesy of Andre and his wife complete with the traditional coconut drinks and Creole/Phillipine meal .  Finally, we had a quick and wet boat ride back to La Digue with pouring, blinding rain and rough seas.  It was nice to take a warm shower upon our return to lodging!

Oct 19, Tuesday

This was another rainy day and our snorkeling trip was cancelled.  I went to a nearby bird reserve in hopes of seeing a Back Paradise Flycatcher which is an extremely rare species of bird and the obvious namesake for our lodge.  No luck!

One flying creature that was seen in great abundance was the fruit bat.  They are about the size of our California black ravens and hang out and snooze in the trees all day.  At dusk they start to fly and make a huge racket before commencing their evening’s fruit dining.

We dined at the home of Lindy, the daughter of Daniel, Franky’s brother. We enjoyed another generous meal and some of the children entertained us with their dancing skills.  We all noticed that the children here are extremely well behaved.  In fact, Lindy’s house was not “child proofed” by American standards yet the small kids did not seem to bother her stuff.

Oct 20, Wednesday

Finally, we had a sunny day again!  We did an excursion over to Curieuse Island located about 1 km off the northeast coast of Praslin Island.  Curieuse (pronounced, curious) is a marine national park ($10US fee) and once was a leper colony!  Today it is known for its land tortoise population and is also a home to coco de mer palms.   We enjoyed feeding the 100 year old tortoises and seeing one little guy only 3 weeks old.  We did a long nature walk through a mangrove swamp along the edges of a bay, Baie Laraie.  This bay has a stone causeway that once enclosed the whole bay for purposes of raising sea turtles for their shells and meat.  They all died off.  The most noticeable inhabitant of these swamps was a very scary, red, huge clawed, tree climbing, baby tortoise eating, toe amputating crab. 

At the end of the hike Joseph met us with the boat at a well protected bay that was perfect for swimming. Sandy bottom and no waves.  Curieuse Island has less vegetation on the hills than on other islands we saw.  Franky says this is because the forest were deliberately burnt down during the struggle for independence from Britain.  I don’t know what burning your forest has to do with independence but I guess it shows that self destructive behavior is common when people are resisting unwanted foreign occupation?  The absence of forest made the red color of the soil very obvious.  The color is due, apparently, to the high iron content (hence, rust) of the granite in these parts.

We departed Curieuse and went over to a tiny islet, St Pierre for snorkeling.  It was hard to believe that this perfect little tropical  island was real and not some Disneyland or movie set.

Oct 21, Thursday

Well, our trip is starting to wind down as Hunter, Devinder, Aimee, Sue and John all departed early to begin the long trip back home.

We did another bike ride over to Grande Anse and repeated the trip that I described for Oct 16. This was another rainy day with limited activities.

Oct 22, Friday

This was the last full day on La Digue for Jeanne and me.  We went for another visit to L’Union Estate and the beautiful Anse Source d’Argent.  Franky pointed out to me the “La Digue White House” where the president of Seychelles and, of course, Tony Blair stay when they visit La Digue.

Finally, in the late afternoon Franky and I did a successful ascent to the highest points on the island.  Fortunately, the rains and clouds kept it pleasantly not too hot but not too wet either. We rode our bikes part of the way and then walked up the paved road, climbed an ancient concrete staircase and finally scrambled up boulders and slippery trail to reach the top of the island at1000 feet above sea level.  There are a few homes along the way and one place with a cluster of 3 or so homes is called Bel Vue.  The very top is called Nid d’Aigle (Eagle's Nest).  I was pleasantly surprised to find a well-maintained trail that follows the ridge-line of the hills.  We continued to the highest point where there is a clear spot for viewing.  What a spectacular view!  Below us looking west was the little community of La Passe, the harbor, the church and schools all situated on the flat area between the foot of the mountains and the sea.

 The blue sea and islands stretched as far as the eye could see.  There in one sweeping 360 degree panorama were all the places we had visited on our short stay in Seychelles; to the far west was Mahe, then turning north and east were Praslin, tiny St Pierre, Curieuse (hope those crabs haven’t eaten any tortoises),  Sister Islands (with Paul and his wife waiting for their next visitors), Felicite (no doubt ready for Tony Blair’s next visit), Cocos, Marianne and beyond past Franky and Joseph’s secret fishing spots was distant Fregate Island. What a fitting way to conclude my stay on La Digue!

We headed north on the trail to check out a place that Franky remembered.  At a flat spot on the ridge were the remains of an abandoned little settlement.  All that is left are some stone walls, staircases and a water cistern. All are now completely overgrown by the forests.  What a view the owners must have once had.  Franky said the owners moved to Australia following independence.  They must have been loyalist and felt unwelcome with the new socialist government.   Anyway, now Tony Blair, of course, wants to buy this property.

We then continued to a spot, Bos Be, that Franky remembered from his childhood.  This was only the second time he has ever been to Nid d’Aigle.  The Bos Be is a huge granite boulder which provides a good viewing platform.  It was getting late so we started our descent.  Shortly below the summit we stopped at a house clinging to the hillside where the owners have built a wooden, covered deck.  There is even a tiny swimming pool next to the deck. The owners serve drinks and we stopped for a soda.  From the deck there is another sweeping north to south view facing west towards Praslin and the harbor at La Passe  just below us.  We could now look down upon the fruit bats soaring gracefully on their leathery, count Dracula wings above those lush green trees spilling down the hills and out to the edge of the sea.  I doubt there is any 5 star bar in the world that has a view that could compare with this simple spot!!

Oct 23, Saturday

A taxi picked us up at 7AM for the 5 minute ride to the harbor (35SR charge).  We then caught the intra-island ferry ($10 US each) for a ride to Praslin.  From there we had tickets for the express ferry, Cat Cocos, from Praslin to Mahe Island ($56 each for the one hour ride). We had two nights at Victoria, Mahe while waiting for our flight back to Paris on Monday morning.

We quickly found that Victoria is not very interesting (we did see a parade which was part of the annual Creole festival) so we rented a car for sightseeing on Sunday.  Driving is exciting; left hand gear shifting and trying to remember to drive on the left hand side (this WAS a British colony).  I have already described the roads on La Digue and these were about the same. Mahe has some mountain peaks almost 3000 feet above sea level and the mountain driving was exciting.  This, the largest of the granitic islands, is just as beautiful as La Digue or any of the other islands.  We checked out a couple of luxury resorts while looking for a place to eat lunch.  One place, La Meridian, was out of business and the locals were having a big auction to buy all the mattresses, lamps, etc from the resort.  Another, the Berjaya Mahe Beach, was very nice and we enjoyed a lunch and views from their patio area.

We picked up Ann at the Cat Cocos pier and completed our stays in Seychelles as we three had a flight to Paris on Monday.

Oct 25, Monday

Our Air Seychelles flight to Paris departed on time (9:15AM) for the 10 hour flight to Paris.  All was uneventful except Ann had to pay an extra $200 for her overweight baggage! We had good day-light viewing all the way to Paris as we were northbound across the Indian Ocean then turning west across the horn of Africa, along the west side of the Red Sea and then over Cairo and the Nile towards the Mediterranean.  We saw the pyramids from a safe 35000 feet.

Oct 26 and 27

Our two days in Paris were very pleasant.  On Oct 26 we did a self guided walking tour of the Marais area on the right bank of the River Seine. The elegant buildings and cafes were perfect for a sunny, crisp Fall day in Paris. Unfortunatley, most of the museums are closed on Tuesdays but we weren’t really in a museum mode anyway.  We were disappointed not to enter the Centre Pompidou so we could compare this modern art with that of the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.  I definitely do not appreciate the strange architecture of Pompidou and its gaudy blue exterior pipes, but what do I know? We ended our day at Ile St Louis and good photos of Notre Dame and the views along the river. 

Our final day was rainy and chilly.  This time we did a left bank self guided tour of the Latin Quarter, Sorbonne, Rue Mouffetard shops.  We checked out the Arab Institute building but decided not to invest in admission fee.  The viewing deck (free) is good for seeing the river but it was pretty chilly when we were there. I think I liked the right bank more than the left so maybe it is time for me to switch back to being a Republican.  Might as well get on the winning side of the Rive Seine!

We found it very convenient to buy a 3 day  Metro pass (38 euro for two) so we could just jump on and off without worrying about buying tickets each time.  Another good option for sightseeing is to buy a 2 day tour bus ticket (21 euros each) which also permits on and off but you are more limited in where the buses go.

Oct 28 2004 Thursday

This was the final dreaded day for our 11 hour flight to San Francisco.  We departed our hotel at 9AM and did not actually get home until 6PM PDT or about 18 hours travel time. Pure agony all the way! It was great to see Hank waiting for us at the airport and to know all was well at home. We were surprised to learn it had rained in San Diego about 6 inches (a whole years’ worth!) over the past few days.  (must be that global warming stuff). 

Finally, home sweet home and no more clawing through suitcases and back packs looking for stuff!  Happily, Rodney Whycantwealljustgetalong Betafish was alive and well and blissfully unaware of the cruel fate of all his finned brethren in the Indian Ocean; victims of our gluttony.

THE END