Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 0692 64 58 25; La Petite France; 8.30am-6pm)
A longstanding distillery with an excellent
reputation. It features a range of essential oils and health products.
Getting There & Around
Kar'Ouest (
Click here
;
line 2) runs three buses a day (Monday to Saturday) taking walk-
ers from St-Paul to the start of the Sentier de Roche-Plate, the footpath into the Cirque de
Mafate, which strikes off the road about 4km below the summit. The first bus up the hill
leaves at 6am and the last one down is at 5.20pm (€1.50, one hour).
TOP OF CHAPTER
Boucan Canot
POP 2000
The 'Boucan' checklist: skimpy bikini, designer glasses (imitations may be sniggered at),
sunscreen. This attitude-fuelled little resort town isn't dubbed the Réunionnais St-Tropez
for nothing.
Beaches
The
main beach
has been listed as one of Réunion's best, and once you get a glimpse of the
gentle curve of the bright white sand, lined with palms and casuarina trees and framed
with basalt rocks and cliffs, you'll see why. It gets packed on weekends. Caveat: currents
can be strong.
There's also the smaller, much quieter
Plage de Petit Boucan
, further south.
Sleeping
La Villa Du Soleil
( 0262 24 38 69;
www.lavilladusoleil.com
;
54 Route de Boucan Canot; d €56-96; )
Near the high-
way (noise!), this low-key hotel with 13 rooms was being upgraded at the time of re-
search. Ask for a room upstairs to make the best of the light; downstairs, rooms 12 and 14,
which overlook the (tiny) pool, are also good. The property feels a tad compact and
there's no beach frontage, but Plage de Boucan Canot and Plage de Petit Boucan are a
HOTEL
€€
