MUST SEE IN TAHITI: THE MARKET OF PAPEETE

@ Hinarai Rouleau & Dominique Morvan

Even if you are only spending a day on the island of Tahiti before flying to another island, you must visit the market in Papeete. It is THE must see, must do, cannot be missed activity and you cannot say you have been to Tahiti if you have not visited Maparu a Paraita.

Sunrise on the market

@ Ty Sawyer / Tahiti Tourisme

Papeete's market is the heart and soul of the city. Literally it is situated right at the center of the city and it is easy to access. It comes to life very early in the morning (from 6 am) and closes around 6 pm. There you will experience a total immersion in Tahitian authenticity. It is a place where you will encounter the joie de vivre and legendary warmth of the Tahitian people. Rich in colors, smells and emotions, the 100 years old market is the historical, cultural and social centre of Papeete.

Photos bloggers' own

Around the market, you will find women making colorful flower leis and crowns. In Tahiti & her islands, women adorn the most exquisite flower crowns as a way to enhance their beauty. The enchanting beauty and bewitching fragrances of tiare, frangipani, orchids, miri (basil), moto'i (ylang-ylang), and dozens of other flowers will transport you exotic valleys and you won't resist the temptation to buy a beautiful lei or crown. Don't hesitate a second, they have an amazing smell and will odorize your room or bathroom with intoxicating scents. And ladies, the crowns are absolutely divine to give your holiday a touch of exoticism. 

                                                     

           

Outside the market you will also find vendors selling pareo and textiles in every color of the rainbow. Prepare for a new explosion of colors as you enter the flower market, red, white, green, purple, pink... the best collection of tropical flowers. The sensory overload continues as you will go through the fruit and vegetable stalls which offer pungent exotic smells and piles of tropical fruits, from bananas to pineapples, breadfruit, lime, mangoes, ginger, sweet potatoes, guava, taro, etc.

On the other side, the stalls of fish: tuna, bonito, mahi mahi, swordfish as well as smaller multicolored lagoon fish; so many different varieties that you won't be able to remember them all, as well as sea shells (shrimps, sea urchins, clams, lobster... ).

@ Ty Sawyer / Tahiti Tourisme

On the ground floor, you can also find stalls selling every souvenir you can imagine, from mono'i to the famous grass skirts that dancers wear, shell necklaces, woven pandanus mats and baskets, etc. On the second floor, you will find more souvenirs and arts & crafts, as well as a few very talented and renowned tattoo artists, so if you want to buy a few wood carvings, pareos, handcrafted local textiles, woven hats, a ukulele or get a more permanent souvenir, all shopaholics and visitors in search of authenticity will find a world far from our busy modern lives.

Facts:

The best day to visit the market is early on Sunday mornings; this is when the market really comes to life as the hundreds of people rush to buy local produce.

Beware, credit cards are not accepted at the market, so be sure to bring cash with you!

Finally just let your senses guide you, you'll be surprise to realize that inside the market, time stops and you will not realized you have actually spent hours exploring. On your way out, have a fresh coconut to quench your thirst!

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: TAHITI OF YESTERYEAR - PARADISE ON EARTH

I came across this classic video of Tahiti in the 60s and thought I'd share it with you all.

The Beauty of Tahitian women...myth or reality?

Tahiti Tourisme @ Tim McKenna

In my post about Mono'i, I mentioned the myth of the vahine (woman in Tahitian). As Tahiti and her islands have long relied on the myth associated with the destination in the popular imagination to attract visitors, I ponder on one of its greatest myths: the vahine. For centuries, westerners have contributed to the myth of the beautiful, uninhibited, sensual, bewitching exotic creatures, relating encounters with free-loving women shedding their clothes in welcome. 

Two Tahitian Women, Paul Gauguin

Was it the myth of the beautiful Tahitian women that drew Paul Gauguin to Tahiti and her islands in the late 19th century or did Gauguin create the myth of a forgotten paradise where women are mysterious, beautiful and timeless? What most people are unaware of is that by the time Gauguin arrived in Tahiti, the French had thoroughly colonized and christianized the islands and women no longer walked around half naked, but wore missionary gowns.

@ Adolphe Sylvain

Photographer Adolphe Sylvain's black and white images are both a tribute to Tahitian women's spell binding sensuality and a testimony of their actual beauty and allure. Marlon Brando, the rebel lover himself, succumbed to the beauty of the mesmerizing Tarita Teriipaia during the making of the film Mutiny on the Bounty.

Marlon Brando and Tarita Teriipaia on the poster of mutiny of the Bounty

Until this day, one Tahiti and her islands' most alluring attributes remains without any doubt the myth of the vahine. In every foreigner's imagination, the Tahitian woman has long raven hair and soft golden skin. If the beauty of Tahitian women is undeniable, I wonder if visitors are deluded or even disappointed when they arrive in Tahiti and discover that the pure Tahitian sirene is no more and, thanks to modernization and the encounter of cultures and races, has been replaced by a generation of witty, alluring yet more modern European / Chinese Tahitians. If they take the time to look closer, they will find that a discreet exotic touch remains and that, as Cook described, "their eyes, especially, are full of expression, sometimes sparkling with fire, and sometimes melting with softness". They remain mysterious and exotic with a touch of modernity and westernization. 

@gregnagel.net 

Poster of Miss Tahiti 2010 featuring Puahinano Bonno, Miss Tahiti 2009

The legendary vahine survived civilization and the Tahitians take pride in the beauty of the girls of the south seas. Their beauty is celebrated every year as the Polynesian population searches for its beauty queen. The now 51 year old Miss Tahiti beauty pageant is the opportunity for one of the most beautiful girls of Tahiti and her islands to become the ambassador of Tahitian beauty and grace.

What do YOU think? Is the beauty of Tahitian women a myth or reality?

TATTOO: POLYNESIAN SACRED ART

Tattoos are deeply rooted in Polynesian culture. Ancient Polynesians considered them to be a mystical form of art to be performed only by the great priests (Tahua). The symbols carved in the skin and flesh of our ancestors marked their rank, status and history. Their bodies told a story, their story,  it was their identity.

This ancient art form is still very strong in French Polynesia although the rituals have disappeared and tattooists have now abandoned the bones, claws or bamboo for needles. Many Polynesians still proudly sport their tattoos, if not as a sign of their rank, as a symbol of pride in their culture, traditions and heritage. The ancients symbols have become very intricate works of art to embrace modernity but the essence remains identical.

Some may think the mana (power) has disappeared from the art of tattooing because it has become a worldwide trend and one no longer needs to be of polynesian ascendance to adorne their bodies with the once sacred symbols. To those, I will answer that our culture is one of sharing.

Some will say it has lost its signification as some of us chose to "modernize" the designs. To those I will answer that although my tattoos might not make sense to them, there is more to them that meets the eye, they have their own essence, they are unique and have a strong meaning to me, they tell a story, my story and they mark important moments of my life. The tradition and spirit remain, only in a different form.
I myself have 5 tattoos and I am yet to decide whether to get another, but if I do, I would like it to be a tribute to my family's protector: the shark...and a way to reclaim my identity.

If you would like to know more about tattoos in Tahiti, I suggest you view the free pamphlet on tattoos edited by Tahiti Tourism or buy Gian Paolo Barbieri's book Tahiti Tattoos for a selections of photographs he took during one of his travels to Tahiti with the help of my great friend Alberto V.

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"When the designs are chosen with care, tattoos have a power and magic all their own.  They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul."  ~Michelle Delio

MY ISLAND HOME

This is the flag of French Polynesia, with an outrigger in the central disk over a stylized emblem of the sun and sea. When you live in the place most people in the world consider as being paradise on earth, you are bound to be bombarded with millions of questions. This gave me the idea of beginning our journey here, in Tahiti & her islands...With 5 archipelagoes, 118 islands, a melting pot of races and influences, French Polynesia alone should keep us busy for quite a while if we want to truly explore the diversity and riches of my country. Of course, you can always visit the tourist board's official website to find all the details to plan your trip here, so I will not be substituting myself to this exhaustively informative website. Instead I will be sharing personal experiences, introducing people I believe are worth talking about and so on. You will basically see Tahiti & her islands through my eyes.