TAHITI & MOOREA
these two islands are located near to each other, and between their main cities, papeete and afareaitu, are frequent connections with ferries and airplanes.
tahiti and moorea were settled about thousand years ago by polynesians. they came with canoes from south asia. even nowadays canoes are still very common.
since the society islands became french papeete grew fast to a large and quite westernized city.
several christian churches were assembled, yet the most prominent building is the lighthouse at the northern end of tahiti.
the landscape of the islands has two features - very dense vegetation, especially palm trees, and high mountains.
many shrubs and trees have very colourful blossoms.
regarding the early polynesian history, only few art pieces have survived and are now protected.
yet in modern times two illustrious painters from france stayed in tahiti - paul gauguin lived there (1890-1893, 1895-1900) and three decades later henri matisse visited (1930).
the art of tahiti can be seen in many street paintings, and even tattoos followed.
in tahiti and more so in moorea are many accommodations for tourists created in traditional style.
after getting all the needed groceries in the huge market hall of papeete, countless bistros offer their service in street eateries - to go there is social standard.
