P A P E E T E
For more than 200 years Tahiti has been known as the island of Love, the Amorous Isle, and the world’s most
glamorous tropical island. Tahiti is the largest of the 118 islands and atolls that comprise Tahiti and her
islands. The busy, bustling town of Papeete, on Tahiti's North coast, is the capital of French Polynesia; the
administrative, health and business centre for the 245 000 people who live in the five archipelagos that make
up this French territory. The island of Tahiti is so much more than Papeete. Polynesian legends say that Tahiti
Nui (big Tahiti) and Tahiti Iti (little Tahiti) were formed as a fish that swam away from sacred Havai'i,
to the lagoon of Raiatea and Tahaa. Tahiti and its Taiarapu peninsula are shaped like a turtle, a lady's
hand mirror or a reclining figure 8. Geologists say that these two majestic green islands emerged from the
sea in separate volcanic births million of years apart. Comprising a total of 1,042 square km of land, Tahiti
Nui and Tahiti Iti are joined by the narrow isthmus of Taravao, 60km from Papeete. Take a leisurely drive
or a guided tour around the island and discover the many faces of Tahiti. You can still see some of the
same attractions that brought other romantics to these shores. Writers and artists such as Robert Louis
Stevenson, Jack London, Somerset Maugham, Rupert Brooke, Paul Gauguin and Henry Adams, who were, each in
his own way, trying to capture the “same charm of light and air". The road around Tahiti Nui winds for
114kms between the mountains and the sea. Tahiti Iti has 18km of paved roads on both coasts and an interior
road that leads past dairy farms and citrus groves to a panoramic viewpoint on the Plateau of Taravao.
Beyond the roads on the peninsula's southern tip lies the fenua'aihere, a magnificent lush landscape,
and the formidable steep cliffs known as Travel to Point Venus. See where white men first stepped ashore
to alter the lives of the "noble savages" forever. Take a moment to admire the fern covered peaks of
Mount Orohena, Tahiti's tallest mountain. Stop at the Blowhole of Arahoho. Don’t miss the Gauguin Museum
or the Museum of Tahiti and her Islands. In Papeete you will find restaurants, snack bars, pastry shops
and mobile "snack shacks" with excellent cuisine to suit all tastes and budgets.
1. In Paul Gaughin’s footsteps
By air-conditioned motor coach. Min 12, max 30, duration 5hrs, euros 60 (ends at the in-transit hotel)
Euros 72 (ends at the in-transit hotel and later there is a transfer to the airport).
The tour leaves from Papeete, and takes you along the West Coast of the island of Tahiti. There will be
a stop at the residential district of Punaauia for a visit to the Museum of Tahiti and her Islands located
on La Pointe des Pecheurs (Fishermen's Point). This museum houses a lot of archealogical finds and is also
a mine of information about the islands geology and its flora and Fauna as well as the culture and customs
in ancient and modern Tahiti. Next stop is the Paul Gauguin Museum, set in a spacious garden. On the way to
the museum we will visit the Maraa Grottoes where Gauguin used to go to swim and paint. Gauguin lived in
Polynesia from June 1891 to August 1893 and again from August 1895 until his death in the Marquesas Islands
in May 1903. The museum features a few original works by Gauguin and an interesting retrospective of his life
in the islands told through documents, letters, writings and his personal belongings. There is a display of
Gauguin's works in miniature showing the whereabouts of all his paintings. After the visit we will drive
along the wild East Coast towards the hotel. The East Coast landscapes are a complete contrast to those
on the West Coast, and by the time you arrive at the hotel, you will have practically made a complete tour
of the island. Tahiti Nui (Big Tahiti).
Easy walking distances with some standing. Don’t forget your hat and sunscreen.