The main reason for visiting mauritius this time is to attend the wedding of sebastian's niece jehan in a weeks time and his sister has some important tasks to attend to. Today some moroccan lanterns have to be taken to the florists who will transform them into floral table decorations. This involve a drive up into the centre of the island towards the charmingly named Cure Pipe. Years ago this was a thriving shopping area but the business has transferred now to the more more modern malls such as trianon where we went yesterday. So sadly it does have a rather shabby air to it now and is not really the mauritius the tourists see. As the florist was on the outskirts of the town we were able to take a cross country route avoiding the dreaded Phoenix roundabout along a potholed road through the sugar cane fields. the cane is being cut so of course we got stuck behind a heavily loaded trailer. The occasional cane would fall off and sebastian's sister miranda said some child will be happy to chew on that. Apparently they are not aware of the Nepali habit of putting them in a fire to heat up the sugar to turn it into a banger that we saw and heard on our big trip. As it happens our shortcut backfired as we missed the signpost to the florist as it is positioned for people coming from town!
On the way home we took the scenic route over the mountains past the reservoirs,the vast Hindu temple complex in grand bassin and the Chammarel coloured sands to have lunch in a small roadside restaurant where we had been before . No menu,just what they have cooked that day served with our first fruit punch. delicious home cooking for around £10 a head.