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Wednesday August 1, 2007

It’s still dark outside and the first thing I hear as I wake up is a downpour of rain on the deck above. By the time we have first light we see a break in the clouds but everything on deck is soaked. Everyone wakes early to the smell of coffee and Deborah’s banana scones. John leaves early to anchor in front of Bloody Marys over on the main island. We are determined to go ashore and walk about. We start from Bloody Marys and work our way towards the ferry dock in Vaitape. We pause at one pearl shop. We continue on to a second shop, Gauguin Boutique, which sells tourist stuff. The guide says something about sculpture art around here so we walk around outside the shop desperately looking for something interesting. Behind the shop there is a dirt road leading uphill to some houses; one prominent Mediterranean style one that is being renovated has sculptures on a large patio balcony. There is a sign on the road that seems to say here lives an artist and visitors are welcome; not being able to translate French we may have not read the message correctly; Deborah is behind us with the girls.

 

We climb the hill and enter the back of the house feeling like intruders. Out comes a young friendly Frenchman in working clothes soiled by construction work. He greets us in French; we don’t respond. He has difficulty but speaks English; we respond and he displays the most beautiful smile. He invites us into his father’s art studio to show us some of his father’s paintings and prints. He says his father is also a sculptor and has his work all over Bora Bora including a large pink marble statue of a young woman, Vahine eia, which greets everyone arriving at the airport.

 

The view over a large Mediterranean stone deck from his father’s studio windows is breathtaking; framed by bougainvillea and sculptures I assume created by his dad are green slopes of both Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu. You can tell he is a very proud son. He shows great excitement telling us to look at the side of the mountains here and there as he points to where we could imagine a woman and man embracing, a cat and a bull. I see the woman and the man, and the white cat, but I can’t say I see the bull. He says in the evening after a couple of glasses of red wine it is easier to see the bull. I think I would thoroughly enjoy a sundowner with this young man on this stone tile deck seeing things in this natural view of Bora Bora.

 

We say goodbye and return the half mile back around the coast to Bloody Marys for lunch and a tee shirt. This is a very popular Bar and Restaurant where many of the who’s who of famous people have been. You know who has been here because their names are listed on a big sign you can’t miss as you walk in. The building is a huge thatched roof hut; you are greeted by a bar as you walk in and the restaurant is beyond. The floor is beach sand and there are cubbies for you to remove your shoes and put them in near the front door. The place looks like Hawaii and we hear the man greeting guests he is American, but came from Hawaii 30 years ago to Bora Bora; he must be either the owner or someone who is close to the owner as the Bloody Marys was established in 1979. As I am talking to him and buying my tee shirt he talks on his mobile phone to arrange a block of hotel rooms for the Hilton family who are flying in on their private jet.

 

After lunch we head back to Bella Donna in our dinghy when the urge to visit Vaitape hits us, so we head to the dock. While Donna and Nancy continue their pearl quest we rummage through tourist information at the dock. That is when I spot a flyer telling about this treasured artist who makes his home in Bora Bora. It is Garrick Yrondi whose house and studio we just were in a few hours ago. Born in 1945 he is a fourth generation French artist. There are several photographs of him on the flyer; one of them of him as a young man; he looked just like his son looked today. Some days just seem ordinary until you get out there and have an adventure.

 

We continue the pearl quest to a row of shops that includes a café. While we have cappuccinos with strawberry tart Donna finally finds the perfect pearl for her, the person that does not care that much for pearls. It looks great on her finger.

 

We return to Bella Donna for swim, shower, sundowner and Poisson Cru with red wine. I still can’t see the bull; I can imagine it though.

 

God Bless Bella Donna.