As we return to reality I am thinking about the many pleasures that have affected my waistline here.
When Craig and I first arrived to the humble pension de la plage, breakfasts main pleasure was the fresh baguettes and sweet butter and fruits of all kinds. There also is a simple processed sliced cheese here that is excellent with the french bread. Our first lunch was at the Blue Banana with Maire - Craig had tuna grilled with foie gras on top and I had three kinds of tuna tartare and we had some delicious dessert perhaps chocolate mousse. That night we just has potato chips and delicious French champagne at Maire's house. Was perfect.
Our first lunch on Aranui was an eye opener. Always on Aranui are three courses and all the portions are smaller than American and just right because they leave plenty of room for dessert. Our first appetizer was a beautiful dome of tuna tartare with pretty garnishes and our first main was a magret de canard, duck breast, with broccoli florets and a crisp potato beignet. Dessert was a cream puff with a fresh strawberry and a slender bar of white and dark chocolate. The afternoon always brought a batch of delicious fresh made fancy cookies such as light airy crispy macaroons. These were set out in the lounge at the counter and they never, ever, lasted long, and were unannounced so it was always heartbreaking to go in and see the silver tray coated with just crumbs. The evening meal I think had salad and then a rack of lamb and perhaps a starfruit tart. And so it went. Each table of eight got a bottle of white and a bottle of red wine and lots of fresh water. At every meal. And it was pretty easy to get a bit more.
Lunch and dinner menus were always posted outside the door like a fancy restaurant.
Craig remembers a mahi mahi with mango sauce, all the fish was delightful. I remember the desserts. Nearly always some exquisite concoction of flaky pastry and cream and so pretty and i remember the dark chocolate mousse in a delicate little circle and I remember I was only going to eat half and it was gone. Or light profiteroles with fresh ice cream and a hint of chocolate cream. One night a tablemate gave us her extra slice of some pie and I took it to the room and temptation overtook me and when Craig asked me about it later i had to admit it was all gone. that was hard. There were some delicious puréed soups. A few times we had not so great food chow mein or minestrone but always ok. We took the advice of Thomas from Norway to ask to just have fish or fowl just because the beef wasn't as good as the duck and fish, then we were sorry because there was some excellent pork dish.
The service of all of this was terrific. Even though the waiters gradually dressed more and more comfortably in t shirts and pareos and showed more of their tattoos by the day, and even though Moana in particular wore a fierce necklace of boars teeth or carved goats bones or whale teeth or shark teeth every day, with bone chunks in his earlobes, still all the waiters served and removed impeccably, knowing exactly when you needed the plate removed. It was also so great and amazing to see them swing out of the kitchen with plates for eight on their giant trays in the middle of the ship thumping and tossing and they never missed a beat.
During lunches in the islands we were served the most amazing buffets. Fish, octopus, shrimp, roast pork, curried goat, red banana in coconut milk, salads of fresh sweet lettuce. Since each of the restaurants we visited only had to serve one giant meal every three weeks, they seemed to be able to show off the best of Marquesan treats. We almost always had grilled fishes, fish marinated overnight in coconut milk, sashimi of the freshest tuna, and thinly sliced fish carpaccio.
When we came off the Aranui I was going to start holding back on food. but no! Maire took us to Le Bistro des 3 Brasseurs where we had duck confit and duck magret and even the street food on our last night was top quality. And although the Aranui portions were genteel and just right, the Tahitian portions were "French cuisine meets islander appetite" sized. So it all went a long way and soooo good.
Pleasures of Daily Life on the Aranui
Living on the Aranui is so easy. We were so curious about what it would be like as photos can't really show this.
The current ship is not really that large. the aluminum gangway brings you to the front lobby which has some glass cases with examples of fine Marquesan art, and a simple front desk and front office. The ship keeps track of you with a little toke that checks you on and off the ship, important as the ship has to sail with the tides and hardly ever is at a dock so they need to know they can pull up the rafts or whaleboats or whatever they have had to use. This lobby deck has a few outside corridors, which lead out to the cargo areas but not much public space. The A and B floors with standard cabins are below this level - when the Aranui is fully loaded with heavy cargo, the portholes of the B cabins are at water level so if you tend to seasickness, watch out! As you will be seeing a churning washing machine when she's underway. The exercise room is here also what a shame as again it can be unnerving to look out at churning water.
The first floor above the lobby has the dining room and the floor above this, the lounge. Although both have windows you don't see much due to the life rafts and cargo. The best views on these floors are on the back decks.... The dining room back deck is mostly for the crew.... The lounge level deck has a small swimming pool and wading pool, but for the first few days as the ship is underway it mostly swirls around dreadfully like a whirlpool, it's fun to watch. In back of this is the largest of the decks.
We heard folks who have been on cruise ships (we haven't) complain that there isn't enough public deck space. I actually loved that there wasn't more, as it contributed to us all getting to know each other, like family. If you want to watch the sunset you are likely to be in the lounge level deck or the smaller one just above it, the sun deck, which has the small bar. So you are going to get to know each other.
The next floor up is the 'sun deck' and starts to have the larger suites, above that is the star deck, and the top deck has the bridge, and a walkway almost all the way around. This is the best place to be at five am for the sunrises and watching the captain bring her into port. Even though at times the forward parts are closed off, most of the times they aren't.
Craig and I did have one of the very best rooms, cabin 2 on the starboard side. Going out to the marquesas it was a bit in the wind, but coming home it was sheltered and just right for sunsets. In most of our stops, the Aranui ended up positioned so starboard got the best view. We had a deck with room for two reclining lounges and two small chairs and we could carefully swap these around as needed. We had a big queen bed and a big bathroom. And the daily cleaning and straightening was 4 star. Never have felt so pampered.
My favorite memories are running up and down the staircases in my flipflops as the ship gracefully moved.... The comfortable warm air outside and cool air inside.... Getting more and more comfortable with the days at sea. All of the passengers we've met since getting off, talk about how they miss the thrum of the engines and the roll of the ship. And the sky wasn't always starlit, sometimes we had overcast or rain, but waking up at 3 am and going outside to see Orion right overhead, and getting up again just a few hours later to not miss the splendid sunrises. Hardly slept at all a night through but didn't end up caring... There was always time for a nap if you needed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment