Vera and Shu had gone to French Polynesia in October 1997 and found paradise. It was the vacation that started the ongoing search for the next perfect vacation. And while there were many wonderful island vacations over the years, French Polynesia remained the benchmark for all vacations to come.
So, in April 2006, Vera and Shu went back to the French Polynesia (but to different islands, of course!) to answer the question: Is French Polynesia still worthy of being the benchmark for the ultimate vacation?
Our vacation started with a direct flight from LAX on Air Tahiti Nui. The bright blue floral patterns on the airplane seats were a quick reminder of the blue skies, blue waters and colorful hibiscus flowers to come.
After about 8 hours on the plane and passing through customs, we were shuttled to the Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti on the main island of Tahiti.
The beautiful resort was surrounded by lush green hills and its pool overlooked a black sand beach.
Our first full day started with light rain, which kept the morning cool; but this was not to last. By mid morning, we found ourselves hiding in shades to escape the baking sun.
In the afternoon, we took a trip to Papeete, the capital of the country.
Our shuttled dropped us off in front of the Tahiti Pearl Market. Here, we admired the beautifully mounted black pearl necklaces and earrings.
With the assistance of our sales rep, we ran our hands through the many bowls of black pearls of many colors and sizes to create our own black pearl jewelry.
We ended our night with a polynesian dance show at the Radisson.
But our exotic vacation hadn't even begun.....
The next day, we flew to Tahaa, an island less than an hour away from Papeete but a world apart.
Papeete
We then walked over to the local market. The market is a large warehouse like structure with two floors. The building is packed with what seemed like hundreds of vendors. Vendors downstairs people sold groceries, fish and toiletries; vendors upstairs sold souvenirs like T-shirts, soaps, masks and post cards.
