LIFE ON THE SLOPES OF A VOLCANO – REUNION STYLE
(Posted 14th March 2014)
A new documentary is being shown on the main French TV station TF1 next week, titled ‘Volcano Lovers’ or in the French original title ‘Les amoureux du volcan’, which was produced in October last year. The film features life on the slopes of the volcano and gives an insight into the way of life the islanders live in the shadow of the 2.631 metres high mountain.
Ile de la Reunion Tourisme, or IRT, the Reunion Tourism Office, has expressed their delight over the priceless promotion in mainland France of the destination, showcasing not just the volcano ‘Piton de la Fournaise’ but also the rugged interior and the beautiful beaches of this French Indian Ocean island.
While Piton is one of the Indian Ocean’s most active volcanoes, many people in Reunion live actually on its slopes as tourist visitors can see when taking a helicopter ride to the rim of the crater.
(A church is all which was left standing of a small village after a major eruption of the volcano some 40 years ago)
The interior of Reunion, with some 300 craters made by volcanic eruptions ages ago, is benefitting from the fertile soil and agriculture, such as growing sugar cane or the famous vanilla, besides regular vegetables and tropical fruits, is one of the island’s main economic mainstays. Lush tropical vegetation can be seen when flying over the many gorges and deep canyons, criss crossed by some 900+ kilometres of hiking trails, which makes Reunion a unique destination to visit for both a beach holiday and for an active adventure holiday.
The documentary is expected to draw over 5 million viewers to the TV screens when it features on the 22nd of March and a rise in demand for vacations to the island is expected as a result.
The IRT team in France right now on a series of sales and marketing missions will no doubt build on this documentary to showcase the island to the French mainland population.
For more details about the island and its various attractions visit www.reunion.fr
Ile de la Reunion is one of the founder members of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Island Organization.
3 Responses
Can we see it somewhere?
Please check with IRT when the feature is screened on Reunion TV. Thanks for reading my blog.
W.