Had some time for the village itself. It won the title of one of the 150 prettiest villages in France, and the only one on La Réunion. It’s well-deserved. Low wooden buildings with tasteful decorations, not too many cars, and polite people. Very pastoral. Embedded in steep mountains on all sides. The village wakes up at 9:00 and shuts down at 17:00, except a few restaurants that stay open slightly longer.
It used to have a thermal bath that attracted well-heeled visitors, but the hot spring tjat fed it declined and was no longer hot and plentiful. My guidebook says they tried to fix that with way too much dynamite and leveled the whole place. The sign at the site says it was a landslide. I guess both can be true.
On the way back I stopped at Sainte-Suzanne at the coast, to visit the Niagara Falls. They were completely dry. It’s mid-summer here.
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