Photo album: "Arrival to Reunion island"

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Marion Dufresne weighs anchor on Monday evening, March 17th 1975. The journey from Kerguelen to La Réunion island is fast enough. We arrive at Pointe des Galets harbour at 8:20 am on Sunday March 23rd. On the afternoon we go to bathe on the beach of Saint-Gilles. The next day I go to visit the city of Saint-Denis and buy a few items I will need for the return journey. I'm going to travel to Djibouti, Addis Ababa and Cairo where I will meet my wife. We will stay two weeks in Egypt before flying back to France.

On the bridge of Marion Dufresne. This journey of the ship of TAAF is not a supply travel for the research bases. We are at the end of an oceanographic campaign. Therefore there are few passengers on board, only the researchers who have participated in this campaign, a few members of the TAAF administration and our team from GRI. For that same reason, the ship steers directly to La Réunion without calling at Amsterdam island which won't have the possibility to visit.

We are drawing near warmer regions.

A few people take advantage of sunbathing.

As for the sailors, they go on tirelessly with painting.

On Sunday, March 23rd we watch the sunrise above the mountains of La Réunion island.

We are drawing near Pointe des Galets harbour.

We enter the harbour where we can see two ships of the Marine Nationale moored at the wharf.

Marion Dufresne manoeuvre to get alongside the wharf. She doesn't need the help of a towboat because she has the capacity to move sideways thanks to two propellers situated in two transversal tunnels, one on the fore part and the other on the rear part of the ship. These means of propulsion together with the main propeller, allow the ship to maintain a fixed position at sea during an operation of drilling to get a sample of the ocean floor during oceanographic campaigns.

On this map of La Réunion island we can see, at north, the capital Saint-Denis and, following the coast westwards, the Port. The airport is situated, nearby, east of Saint-Denis. La Réunion is the summit of a volcano which base is situated at a great depth in the Indian Ocean. Its coasts are generally very steep and it has a very tormented interior, with its highest point, the Piton des Neiges, at over 3000 m, three old craters (circuses of Salazie, Mafate and Cilaos) and the Piton de la Fournaise ( 2631 m) still in activity. It is on this volcano we plan to go on an excursion the following Tuesday.

Under a cloudy sky, one of the few beaches of this mountainous island.

Another beach with the sun. The weather here, in this season, is changing very rapidly.

The small port of Saint-Gilles.

Waves breaking on the pier.

We enjoy the show.

Sunset behind the pier.

On Tuesday morning, 25 March, 1975, we drive to the interior of the island, towards the Piton de la Fournaise.

A plateau, the Plain of Kaffirs, separates the two mountainous parts of La Réunion. This is the only way to move easily from the West Coast to the East Coast, without having to go around the island, either from the south or the north.

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