I had a bad night due to the onset of a cold. I felt weak and dizzy but I wasn’t going to let that stop us from heading in to the bustling city of Port Louis.
The traffic was busy. After a few wrong turns, we headed to the harbour front and parked the car.
The day was hot and warm which was just perfect for a day of touring around town.
Our first stop was the Blue Penny Museum. This museum is best known for its rare stamps, colonial history of Mauritius and the tragic story based in Mauritius of “Paul and Virginie” (boy and girl fall in love, girl forced to leave boy and go to Europe, girl is heart-broken after a few years and decides to return to her love, girl sends message she is returning by ship, ship arrives in stormy seas with boy watching from shore, ship sinks, girl drowns, boy dies of heartbreak).😢
The museum was in the centre of the pretty Caudan Waterfront area with its many shops, restaurants, craft market and casino.
An underground walkway led us to the downtown area. I was disappointed to find out that the Natural History Museum was closed for renovation. I really wanted to see the skeleton of the extinct dodo bird. This flightless bird only lived in Mauritius. There were many dodo statues outside of the museum…actually you could see dodo products and statues all over the place.
We rested in the Company Gardens before visiting St Louis Cathedral. The churches, Hindu and Chinese temples, Mosques and other places of worship bare witness to Mauritius’ multi-faiths.
Dragging myself up many steps, we enjoyed the view from the city’s Citadel.
I always miss fresh produce when we go away so I was delighted to check out the fruit and veggie market. The cows head in the meat market was a bit off putting.
We couldn’t leave Port Louis without visiting the Apravasi Ghat. This UNESCO World Heritage site is where over 462,000 indentured workers , (over 97.5% from India) were received before working mostly in the sugar plantations. Over 70% of Mauritians can trace their ancestry back to these people.
We took a break at an Indian restaurant that had locals dining there. We tried the local beer called Phoenix, samosa and Dola masala and tamarind juice.
On our way back to the car we purchased fresh produce (including a very large white cucumber) from the market and checked out Government House with its statue of Queen Victoria in Place des Armes.
I was exhausted. Traffic was heavy on the way back to our place and John got a little cranky when he caught me sleeping while on navigation duty.
Back at our place, I saw the largest snail I have ever seen.