Today we were up early in order to get to breakfast before it closed. Cheryl and Roy met us at our room, then we walked up one flight to the buffet (way too convenient...) and had our last meal on the ship -- with vows to cut back on eating as soon as we all get home! After breakfast the four of us went back to our room, where all the carry-ons were located, and went our separate ways until after lunch. We left the ship before 9 am, got a taxi and went to Le Meridien Hotel for the day. After checking in and getting to our room we did some exploring of the hotel grounds as you can see by the photos below!
Large swimming pool surrounded by sand -- looks like a beach but is actually a concrete-bottomed pool
Over-water bungalows
Partial hotel grounds with the main building on the left
Neat Polynesian statue in the outdoor dining room
View of poinciana tree tops and distant hills from the balcony outside our room door
During our explorations outside we discovered that none of the three dining areas were open yet -- no food at the pool bar or outside French dining room until noon (and it was amazingly pricey), and the indoor restaurant wasn't open until evening. So we did the only sensible thing at this point and went back to our room to relax, read and snooze! After our nap we went back outside to the pool bar for sandwiches. Since this was theoretically bar food we expected Denny's hamburger and my fish sandwich to be less than wonderful. However his burger was great, and my fish sandwich was a real fish sandwich -- not frozen with breading and dropped in a fryer. What a pleasant surprise!
Roy and Cheryl joined us shortly after 1:30 to cool off after their morning of exploring Papeete. We all relaxed, they explored the hotel grounds then came back to the room to cool off, and we went for a cocktail before getting ready for our fancy dinner yet to come. After checking out we all took a cab to the Intercontinental Hotel where our restaurant was located. The cab dropped us off, and a small truck with enclosed seating in the back picked us up to take us to Le Lotus -- it was quite a drive, as the hotel grounds are extensive. We entered Le Lotus toting our various pieces of carry-on luggage, however it didn't seem to phase the restaurant staff at all -- they're evidently very accustomed to the many travelers that pass through their doors.
Since our reservations were early -- 6:30 pm -- we were one of the first two parties seated. That was great, because we had the full attention of the wait staff for the first 15 - 20 minutes. We were seated in one of the two over-water rooms with thatched roof and open sides with all tables around the perimeter and the service station in the center. Everyone had a wonderful view of the water and the sunset.
One of the two thatched restaurant rooms
Sunset from restaurant - note the thatched roofing at the photo top edge
Thatched roof looking up from inside the restaurant
The food at Le Lotus was definitely gourmet - the choices were fascinating, the presentation eye-appealing, and the food was beautifully prepared and very different from anything we'd ever had before. We each had an appetizer and a main course only, as we were very aware of time and the need to retrieve our luggage and check-in. I had a parrot fish appetizer (I've never seen that on a menu!) and mahi-mahi with a marvelous sauce. Denny had a cold pea and mint soup with shrimp and red snapper with sauce. We agree that we'd return there in a heartbeat!
Love!
Our new friends - Cheryl & Roy
Before leaving the restaurant, I headed for the ladies room to change from crops, tank top and sandals to compression socks, tennis shoes, jeans and a top. Talk about hot!!! After dinner we rode the conveyance back to the hotel reception area and picked up a taxi fairly quickly for the short ride to the airport -- this was about 8:30 pm. When we arrived at the airport we discovered all the ship's luggage was sitting under cover in an open-air area manned by airport personnel at the entrance and exit. We were able to quickly locate our luggage, stuff a few items in it like the clothes I'd changed out of at the restaurant and Denny's dress shoes and sandals and get in line to check in. And I do mean get in line. There were two huge long lines of people -- one for the 11 pm flight and one for the 11:59 flight. We were would around outside under roof but open air and moving slowly. The pictures below don't do justice to the length of the lines, but they should provide some idea of the wait everyone had.
This line is the farthest out from our destination and was the beginning of the line snaking around inside the open-air area
The large group of people to the left of center will be on our plane. There's another equally large group of people on the right, and not in this picture, who will be on the later plane.
When we finally arrived at the check-in counter, our bags were weighed (and they were a bit over the limit, but we weren't charged), our boarding passes were issued (Air Tahiti doesn't allow you to print them -- you have to go to the actual counter), and we were ready for the next step. We stood in another long line to get through security -- still outside, not air conditioned. People, including me, were dripping wet including our clothes. It didn't make any sense to wipe the water off, it just returned immediately. So we all looked like we'd just come out of a shower!
Finally we made it through security into the lobby (still no air conditioning -- we'll remember that heat fondly any time we get cold in the future) and joined yet another line to get on the plane. Once we got to our seats we were exhausted and hopeful we could actually sleep on this flight!
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