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Food & Drink: A variety of excellent restaurants, some run by hotels, offer good French cuisine and Creole specialities, notably rougail (seafood with sauces) and many unique curries – these include duck, eel and octopus curry (zourite). Worth trying is bredes, a delicious local vegetable rather like spinach. Traditional spicy Indian cuisine also appears on the menu, under the heading massalés. There are about ten first-class restaurants in Saint-Denis. Seaside restaurants in particular serve authentic local cuisine – a mixture of Chinese, African and Indian cooking.
Drinks include Arab coffee (café Bourbon), French wine and liqueurs, and good local rum such as rhum arrange (white rum with vanilla, orchids, aniseed and cinnamon). Local beer and wine are also very good. A full range of alcoholic drinks is available. Licensing hours are largely unrestricted.
Shopping: Local handicrafts include lace and embroidery, coral jewellery and basketwork. Tamarind wood, olive wood and ironwood provide the material for furniture in the traditional ‘colonial’ style, and are used by sculptors and other craftsmen. Rum, vanilla and extracts of vetiver, geranium and ylang-ylang are also recommended purchases. In Saint-Denis, the main shopping streets are rue du Maréchal-Leclerc, rue Jean-Chatel and rue Juliette-Dodu. Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0830-1200 and 1430-1800, Sun 0800-1200; Mon-Sat 0730-1900, Sun 0800-1200 (department stores).
Special Events: For further details about festivals and events that occur in La Réunion, contact the Comité du Tourisme de la Réunion (see Contact Addresses section). The following are a selection of events taking place in 2003:
Jan Fire-walking. Feb Pineapple Festival, Bois de Nèfles, Sainte-Clotilde. May Fête du Chouchou et de la Pêche, Hell-Bourg, Salazie. Jun Fête de la Musique, throughout Réunion. Sep Tour de L’Îsle (cycle race). Oct Flower Show, Le Tampon. Nov International Triathlon. Dec December 1848 Celebrations.
Social Conventions: The islanders follow French fashion. Normal social courtesies should be observed. The immigrants from India, Pakistan and Europe have retained their cultural identities. Tipping: Widely practiced and ten per cent is normal.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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