La Possession
Defiantly and deliciously French, from the cars on the streets to the croissants on the breakfast table. It is as if Reunion lay just off the coast of Cannes—not off the coast of Madagascar 5,400 miles away.
Pointe des Galets
Lying about 480 miles east of Madagascar and 102 miles southwest of Mauritius, Réunion is the largest of the Mascarene Islands. The archipelago, consisting of Rodrigues, Mauritius and Réunion, was named The Mascarentes following its discovery in 1512 by the Portuguese navigator, Pedro de Mascarenhas. The French made the decision to settle Réunion in 1642, but no one actually lived here until four years later when the French governor of Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, exiled a dozen mutineers to the island. In 1649, the king of France officially took possession and renamed the island Colbert Bourbon. After the French Revolution the island was renamed Réunion.
Since 1946, the island has been administered by France as an Overseas Department, with St. Denis as its capital. Facilities here are comparable to any major town in metropolitan France. St. Denis straddles the mouth of the St. Denis River and sweeps upward into the flanks of la Montagne where modern apartment complexes and luxurious houses have replaced the shanty town of the post-war era. Being a Sunday, there is little activity in St. Denis as most everything is closed. Pointe des Galets is the principal port of Réunion; its location is a good half-hour by car from St. Denis. Réunion is best known for its rugged beauty that is reflected in a powerful interior of mysterious mountains, peaks, gorges, rivers and forests. Among its attractions are the fascinating and still active volcano and three extinct craters.
Reunion
This lush, tropical paradise is situated to the east of Madagascar. Its shores lapped by the perpetually warm waters of the Indian Ocean, this remote beautiful island is still, today, a proud department of Mother France.
