Now, New Year’s Day is the time to plan this year’s trip.
I’m the type of person who usually uses up all my vacation time in the first half of the year, so I’ve decided to travel in the first half and do music in the second half.
My First Time in the Southern Hemisphere
行き先は「レユニオン島」、えっどこ？？
It’s around here!
Southern Hemisphere! My first time in the Southern Hemisphere!
The 157th and last of France’s most beautiful villages
なぜこんな辺鄙（失礼！）なところに行くかというと、実はこの島フランス領でして、ここに最後の「フランスの最も美しい村」があるんです。
(*All the most beautiful French villages in Europe have been visited)
The village is called Hell-Bourg.
I had given up on the idea that it would be difficult to go, but I never thought that the chance to visit would come so easily…
それにしても公式サイトですらこれだけの情報しかない。
A little more detailed information is available in the official guide (in French) published by the Association of Beautiful Villages, but
I don’t think it’s that beautiful of a village…
Rather, the charm is outside the beautiful village!
But fortunately, Reunion Island seems to have more attractive spots than just beautiful villages.
First of all, this place is registered as a World Natural Heritage Site.
As the name suggests, there are two volcanoes and three cirque valleys. The scenery in the valleys is spectacular, and one of the two volcanoes, le piton de la Fournaise, is still active.
And there are tours where you can see these volcanoes and the cirque valley from a helicopter or small plane. This is going to be fun!
How to get there – choose via Dubai
By the way, Reunion Island, how do you go there? Of course, there is no direct flight, so you will have a connection in some city.
According to my research, there were four ways to transit. Paris, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Dubai.
First of all, Paris is out of the question. It takes a long time and the price is very high. I can’t recommend it at all from Japan.
Then, Hong Kong and Bangkok are not bad in terms of price. You can go there with about 200,000 yen including surcharge and airport tax.
However, due to the small number of flights, we couldn’t agree with our travel schedule, and we had to give up the flight via Bangkok due to our schedule. On the other hand, there was no problem in the schedule of the flight via Hong Kong, but unfortunately the ticket was sold out.
So, as a result, we went via Dubai (Emirates & Mauritius Airlines).
The departure time is 1:30 in the morning, and the arrival time is 0:02. However, since the flight is from/to Haneda, there is no problem because it is close to my house and I can go home at any time by car. I booked a parking lot as soon as possible.
At first, I wondered why we had to go through Hong Kong or Bangkok to get to an island in the southern hemisphere near Africa. But when I looked at the map carefully…
I’m convinced.
So, the long awaited tour of France’s most beautiful villages is finally complete!
非常に楽しみです。
