Baguette boxes and butter...

The pace slowed way down, and we all adjusted accordingly. The sunsets were absolutely amazing, as were the sunrises. I made sure I got up every day to enjoy these special gifts. Usually this meant getting up at 4 am.  

Huahine sunset

Huahine sunset from the deck

The first couple days of the trip, we all got sucked into drinking heavily. I ended up being the lightweight and only lasting 3 days of drinking… before stopping, Bonita lasted 7 days, Marla took a break… and the boys… well they are still going at it (Day 11 is when I wrote this post).

Bonita and Marla enjoying don Julio's 1942

The beach house had kayaks, and we all brought snorkeling gear. Everyone was just soaking up the sun. We wandered in to town to catch fresh fruit from the market; we never figured out how the hours operated in town. It seemed like everyone was up early (most of the men left on fishing boats for the days, and everyone was up to see them off).  The rest of the time was baguette time… which meant that people timed their walk to town on what time fresh bread would be ready at the store. 
 

Selecting the right baguette is a very important thing... villagers spend time with this process...

The residences here have bread boxes on their porches to have baguette delivered twice a day (the mail is not delivered to the doorsteps though… they go to the post office to get that). 

Baguette box

Baguette time...

We quickly adapted and timed our walk to town accordingly. The walk was a dirt path that ran along the water… maybe 2 blocks long.

The gang walking to town along the beach trail.

 There are a lot of open-type markets and food trucks… and the tropical fruit is amazing; pineapples, papaya, mangos, vanilla, lychee, coconuts, watermelons, cantaloupes, grapes, and bananas.

Fresh fruit every morning...

Fresh eggs

Pineapples

Bananas and avocados

All the animals run freely here, which means that dogs are everywhere (and usually pregnant or nursing), cats are king, and the roosters/hens are always on the side of the roads. We all saw cows enjoying the sunshine. The dogs all look like they are the same one or two breeds. The people are very friendly and are always smiling and waving. The neighbors are always giggling like school children. It is a very pleasant place.

The town of Huahine

Most folks pedaled bikes

We learned early on that the boys could not be trusted with butter. Like in France, the dairy is amazing… and so are the dairy products. Whenever we go out to eat, along with the baguette you get these big chunks of the creamiest butter…. it disappears quickly.