No more street beers. No more caipirinhas. No more samba parties. No more por kilo buffets. No more loud, lively and friendly Brazilians. It was an abrupt change in culture - welcome to French Guiana.

First colonised by the French in 1643, and later used for penal settlements by Napolean III, French Guiana is now the site of a lucrative global space centre . It remains a department of France to this day and successive French governments have provided state employment and billions of euros in subsidies to this tiny corner of South America. Unsurprisingly, the population voted against increased autonomy in 2010.

A crossroads of the Caribbean, South America and Europe, Cayenne is a city of myriad cultures surrounded by all the colours of the Caribbean. The streets are lined with colonial wrought-iron balconies with louvered shutters painted in tropical pinks, yellows and turquoise.

As we sat down to watch the World Cup Final drinking a Kronenbourg for 8euros, we soon realised it was by far the most expensive place we had come across in the last 10 months. Budget limitations meant that meal options were restricted to the nighttime food stalls operating in perfect competition within the main square.

Not willing to blow a month's budget and struggling to remember much French, we were quite content eating fresh croissants and relaxing in our hotel across from the sea.

Onward bus to Kourou, 1 hour.