DAY 76 - DAY 70 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WELCOME TO REUNION ISLAND, FRANCE

Catherine, we are glad that you liked the photo of the rainbow.  While in the past we have taken two Nikon DSLR cameras with us and this time we took a smaller Sony Camera with lenses and a Sony Point In Shoot the photo was taken with Keith's iPhone.

After two busy days/nights it was nice to get back to our regular routine.  We began the evening with a visit to the Avenue Saloon.

Bartender Afzal showed us the key ingredient in the Pisco which he made for someone.  The bottle reminded me of one of the statues you see at Easter Island.

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Before dinner we stopped by the Crystal Cove and shortly after our arrival Pianist Richard Pucci played two Beatles songs for us.  Thank you Richard.  While Richard was playing one of the songs Celebrity Chef Jon Ashton came towards us knowing how much Keith loves The Beatles and saying maybe a duet was in order.  It would be fun to do something like Karaoke with Jon.

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Dinner was at Waterside and these are the dinner menus.

We had dinner with Ken and Lynne Rees.  We have known Ken and Lynne for many years and shared several voyages with them from individual voyages to world cruises.  Ken is the Destination Lecturer who had a major career in British Broadcasting.  We share some mutual interests and it was wonderful dining with the two of them.  We enjoyed non-stop conversation & good laughs along with delicious cuisine, wonderful service and the ambience of Waterside.

Keith had the Mahi Mahi- Jalapeño Flat Bread and Anne Marie the Seared Sea Scallops for Appetizers shown in the top two photos below.  We both had salads.  Anne Marie had the Chicken Saltim Bocca shown the photo to the right of the salad and Keith the Fresh Mauritius Sacre Chien Fillet (similar to a Red Snapper) for our entrees. Everything was delicious and we do mean delicious.  Many of these items were created for where we were sailing and their presentation was creative and we can't say enough about how tasty and delicious everything was.

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Last night was the White Night Dance Party Extravaganza so we each had white on.  Before the party vocalists Carl Draper and Sarah Elizabeth Combs dazzled the audience with songs from Rogers & Hammerstein.  The Stardust Club was used which provided an intimate venue for the two performances.  Bravo.

We slept well as Serenity sailed towards Reunion Island, France.  The seas remained relatively calm.

We began the day with an early morning workout for Keith followed by coffee and breakfast in our room.

Reunion Island is located in the Indian Ocean 109 miles east of Madagascar.  The island has a population of 900,000 people.  It has been inhabited since the 16th Century when people from France and Madagascar settled there.  

​Major highlights include:
 
Jardins de I Etat which is a zoological garden founded in 1773.
 
La Barachois which is a great area to enjoy areas of the city.
 
Cathedrale de Saint-Denis which is a Catholic cathedral located in the dcdenter of Saint-Denis
 
La Roche Ecrite which is a mountain with an altitude of 7467 feet.
 
We last visited Reunion Island in 2015.  We decided for a variety of reasons to not visit today.  This included visiting here prior times, Anne Marie not doing too well in the heat and finally Passports.  The local authority decided to do a random check for all guests leaving the ship.  This meant that each guest had to have their passport in hand in case they were stopped.  We didn't want to have to deal with having our passports with us while visiting the town in case something happened to them and they were stolen or lost.  Given all of this we decided to make today a sea day and enjoy the ship.

These are some photos from our last visit to Reunion when we took the shuttle to the town.  The drive was long and involved going through tunnels, and driving along beach areas.

We enjoyed the rest of the morning on the ship.  We both walked together outside on the wrap-around Promenade Deck.  Keith added a second walk later in the morning while Anne Marie did laundry and read and wrote.  

We had lunch at Marketplace and in the afternoon Keith played Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie walked.  We enjoyed conversations with other guests and with members of team Crystal Serenity.

This is the daily Reflections Program.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith