Polynesia: paradise reinvented

“Of all the ends of the world, Polynesia is the most successful.

Like Gilles Lapouge, contemporary travel writers describe the island confetti scattered across the South Pacific with the same enthusiasm as 18th century explorers.

In an area as vast as Europe, French Polynesia is made up of five archipelagos, each one more beautiful than the next.

In the Society Island (named by James Cook in honor of the Royal Geographical Society), a specific island is forever associated with the myth of the Garden of Eden: Tahiti.

When he approached the latter in 1767, the English navigator Samuel Wallis thought he had rediscovered the innocence and abundance of his origins.

The following year, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville was in turn welcomed there by a swarm of canoes laden with succulent fruit and undressed vahines.

Convinced, too, of having found “New Cythera”, the naval officer wrote in his logbook: “This people only breathes rest and the pleasure of the senses.

[…] The mild climate, the beauty of the landscape, the fertility of the soil, everywhere watered by rivers and waterfalls, the purity of the air, everything inspires pleasure.

It was enough to ignite the European imagination.

In 1880, the year when Tahiti became a French colony, the writer Pierre Loti revived the myth in

: "See at the foot of the tall trees these silent, indolent and idle groups, who seem to live only by feeling of contemplation...” The fantasy of a Polynesian paradise, exotic and sensual, is so powerful that, even in the face of a less cheerful reality, travelers dare not tarnish the picture.

Attracted to Tahiti by the promise of an inspiring authenticity, the painter Paul Gauguin encounters there a population already evangelized, despoiled and infected by the microbes of the Old Continent.

However, he never stopped painting the Tahiti of his dreams, removing all traces of modernity from his compositions.

Even today, the tourism industry is working to maintain the legend.

From the airport, the first sensation offered to visitors is the sweet scent of flower necklaces handed out by vahines to the sound of ukuleles.

The hotels, for their part, maintain an architectural typicality based on palm roofs, tropical wood carved with

and Marquesan motifs.

But Polynesia has moved into the 21st century.

Wifi is available everywhere, the air conditioning is running at full speed and you can change islands in less than an hour's flight.

Gauguin himself would have appreciated this technological reinterpretation of paradise.

But he would have been careful not to mention the traffic jams, the concrete and the fast food of Papeete, the capital.

The island of perfumes

The wonder begins at the Papeete market, where a miraculous catch of tuna, bonito and

is landed every morning .

Alongside the fish, we lose ourselves in a profusion of tubers and fruits: taro, yam, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, soursop, bananas, mangoes, pineapple, papaya, grapefruit... Fragrant Tahiti is the

dear to Gauguin.

The air is often charged with sweet scents.

And the whiteness of the tiare flowers breaks on the circular road like ocean foam on the coral reefs.

Tahitian waves are among the most famous on the planet, among the most formidable too.

Those that break off Teahupoo will also host surfing competitions during the 2024 Olympic Games. Fascinated by these sporting contests or languid on the black sand of the tip of Venus, visitors are often unaware of the interior of the Isle.

Fierce splendors nestle there, however.

Tahiti is made up of two ancient volcanoes joined together.

The most important, Tahiti Nui to the west, is cut by countless valleys, separated from each other by walls crowned with knife-edge ridges.

These reliefs, culminating at 2,240 meters at the top of Mount Orohena, do not evoke the tropical languor of postcards.

Powerful waterfalls bounce there with a crash, guiding the most curious into the Papenoo valley, towards the mystery of caves and archaeological remains.

The spectacle of this luxuriant nature reaches its climax at dusk.

On the west coast, when the sky flares up behind the silhouette of Moorea, the myth of paradise on earth takes shape again.

sister island

The excitement of the weekend begins on Friday evening on board the ferries linking Papeete to the quay of Vai'are.

Only forty minutes from the noisy capital, Moorea offers a breath of fresh air to all Tahitians eager for seaside pleasures after a week's work.

Tahiti's little sister has, in fact, a barrier reef that protects magnificent white sand beaches, ideal for picnics with friends.

Atmosphere guaranteed!

But from Monday morning, it is the tranquility that once again dominates this still preserved island.

Although it is much lower than Tahiti, Moorea raises a very steep relief towards the sky.

Its peaks dripping with greenery do not really evoke a volcanic landscape.

Yet the picturesqueness of its chaotic surface is rooted in the long history of flows, fractures and collapses.

If the belvedere of the Opunohu valley offers a sensational view of Mount Rotui flanked by its two bays, the path which climbs between forests of chestnut trees and groves of bamboo towards "the three coconut trees" rewards the brave with a breathtaking panorama. blowing over the entire caldera.

The steep slopes of the island offer a demanding playground for hiking enthusiasts who can indulge their passion in shorts and short sleeves.

Because Polynesia is also the Tropics without venom!

Here the plants have no thorns.

We call "legless lizards" the snakes, which we only know in pictures.

And we can consider a night under the stars without the risk of being disturbed by anything other than mosquitoes.

Vahine Island

Begun 1,500 years before our era, the colonization of the Pacific Ocean from the islands of Southeast Asia can be considered the longest and most perilous maritime adventure of all time.

After the sacred island of Raiatea, Huahine was the second stage in the settlement of the Society Islands.

According to legend, the god Hiro would have slain the latter by crossing it with his canoe.

Since then, Huahine Iti and Huahine Nui have been separated by a narrow channel of evocative shape.

The name of the island also translates as “female sex”.

So many allusions widely exploited by the followers of an erotic exoticism.

Her full name is actually

meaning "descendant of the woman".

It must be said that the island has always been ruled by queens.

As everywhere in the archipelago, there are many altars and living platforms, respectively called

and

.

But the archaeological richness of the island lies above all in its Lapita remains, testifying to a protopolynesian civilization from the Marquesas Islands.

Far from the bustle of Papeete, life glides here like a canoe on the waves.

Inseparable from Polynesian culture, the outrigger canoe is still used on a daily basis, to move around the lagoon or for the pleasure of burning calories.

The most anticipated sporting event of the year is the

, which pits crews made up of five rowers and a coxswain against each other.

This epic 128 kilometer race takes place in the fall over three days.

Departing from Huahine, its route joins Raiatea and Tahaa to end in apotheosis in the lagoon of Bora Bora.

The Pearl of the Pacific

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US Navy used Bora Bora as a fallback and supply base until the end of World War II.

Some five thousand soldiers took turns there for five years, leaving behind many bright-eyed children, a few rusty guns and a very functional airport.

For the latter, travelers thank them.

Indeed, the aerial approach to Bora Bora remains a highlight of the stay in Polynesia.

This, of course, provided you are seated on the left side of the plane!

The island draws its charm from the contrast of colors and reliefs.

All the aesthetic clichés relating to Polynesia are gathered there: the beaches with immaculate sand, the coconut palms tilted at 45 degrees against a backdrop of the setting sun or the emerald peaks emerging from the turquoise lagoon.

In its warm and crystalline waters, blooming with exuberant corals, parade a real armada of colorful, striped or speckled fish, blacktip sharks, stingrays, leopards and mantas.

All around, the almost continuous alignment of coral islets (the

) form a ring pierced by a single, narrow pass.

This is where the explorer James Cook arrived or, more recently, the navigator Alain Gerbault who could not believe his eyes.

“All the descriptions of my favorite authors were very dull compared to reality!

» After devoting his life to the study of polar ice, the adventurer Paul-Émile Victor in turn put down his suitcases in Bora Bora.

He too had surely dreamed of the Polynesian paradise while reading Bougainville.

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Go

All the conditions for traveling to French Polynesia are updated on the Air Tahiti Nui website.

Currently, proof of complete vaccination status is required as well as the negative result of a PCR or antigen test carried out less than 24 hours before boarding.

An ETIS receipt must also be presented.

It is obtained by filling in the stages of your stay online, between 30 and 6 days before departure.

For flights transiting through the United States, do not forget the essential ESTA authorization which can be obtained on the Internet for $14.

The flight between Paris and Tahiti is very long: 21 hours plus 2 hours of transit in Los Angeles.

But with Air Tahiti Nui, the change of scenery begins as soon as you board, where the 100% Polynesian staff welcomes passengers with a tiare flower in an atmosphere in the colors of the lagoon.

Even the cabin of the new Dreamliner aircraft is flocked with Polynesian motifs.

During the flight, everything is thought out to evoke the destination: the exotic touches of the meal trays, the announcements in Tahitian, the musical atmosphere and the many documentaries in the video library.

For an even more comfortable experience, the intermediate class Moana Premium offers more legroom and a priority check-in counter.

Air Tahiti Nui is strengthening its offer to French Polynesia by offering up to seven flights per week this summer, at “all-inclusive” fares starting at €1,462 in Moana Economy class and €2,618 in Moana Premium.

Elected "Best airline in the South Pacific" for the third consecutive year on the occasion of the Global Traveler 2020, it finally offers its passengers the possibility of offsetting the environmental impact of their trip.

Housing

A top-of-the-range hotel industry participates in the modern reinterpretation of the Polynesian dream.

The InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa thus presents itself as an island, both open to the water and protective.

The must-have being the overwater bungalow, which transforms the bedroom itself into an island.

Only two kilometers from the airport, this address is the ideal starting point for a stay in Polynesia.

Facing the island of Moorea, the establishment spreads over 25 hectares a landscaped garden populated by tropical species and

.

It also offers its guests a Deep Nature Spa relaxation centre, a Topdive diving centre, two infinity pools and a more beautiful than life lagoonarium with some 200 species of fish and its coral nursery.

On Huahine, the bungalows of the Maitai Lapita Village are hidden in a tropical setting, unique for its beauty as for its historical importance.

Passionate about archaeo-pottery, the American Peter Owen imagined this hotel complex to highlight the heritage of the site.

From the lobby opening onto a pond, a small, very well-documented museum allows you to become familiar with the Lapita culture and the artefacts discovered in this humid environment.

The thirty vast bungalows, whose palm roofs are reflected between the water lilies, fit perfectly into the green setting.

Inside, a multitude of decorative details refer to the Lapita remains, such as the canoe-shaped sinks and benches, the skylights with traditional motifs or the mother-of-pearl hooks affixed to the furniture.

Height of chic,

Located on a

lush facing the pyramidal profile of Mount Otemanu, the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa offers an idyllic setting for a stay that is both chic and wild.

Popular with newlyweds, the establishment is a haven of peace, conducive to relaxation with its unique treatment area in Polynesia.

In this 4,000 m² Thalasso center, water from the depths is used, loaded with minerals and trace elements.

Designed in noble and natural materials, its 80 villas on stilts have the ultimate luxury of direct access to the turquoise blue of the lagoon.

Committed to sustainable development, the establishment was the first in the world to equip itself with SWAC (Sea Water Air Conditioning).

By using cold water from the depths to naturally cool its air conditioning system,

Information

The official organization promoting Tahiti Tourisme brings together on its website Tahiti and its islands all the information you need to discover the Society Islands, choose your itinerary and choose your activities.

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