Many mornings we awoke to a calm, still and silent sea, the sun not quite fully awake, like us, but lazily rising, and the wind still sleepily deciding whether to blow or not. A mug of coffee on those quiet mornings, with us peering out to eternity, felt that right there and then, this was all that was needed for perfect serenity and happiness. 
On this particular morning we decided to go and explore the nearest town to where we were, called Mahebourg. Jocelyne had told us there was a market there and that it was a busy, bustling, interesting little town. So Cathy and I had our breakfast (Tony had had his hours before) of a glorious French cheese called 'Caprice des Dieux" which translated means "whim of the gods". Well, I don't know about the Gods but that cheese is the best I've ever tasted, creamy, tangy, tasty, and sooooo.....French. We had it with baguettes, butter, delightful country ham (probably imported from Woollies in SA) and French mustard. Mmmm the food, the setting, the mood, the company...all just perfect. After a bit of 'money-counting' and organising, we set off to the top of the driveway, and into the road, and waited for a bus. After having to refuse many insistent taxi drivers who told us that we would be so much more comfortable in their cars, the bus finally clattered up to us and stopped for us to get in with all the locals. It was lovely to hear different languages, laughter, kids chatting excitedly, teenage girls always looking to see who's looking at them, and just a mixture of beautiful people on an ordinary day for them, on a beautiful island. 
In Mahebourg we walked all over and went to see their big revered Buddha where many a prayer is said and a candle is lit and where you can buy little oil lamps and burners and anything you need to enhance your prayers and worship. We walked along the jetty to a large pavillion jutting out of the sea from which there is a tremendous view of the mountains. 'They' say that if you look down into the clear sea you can see many beautiful tropical fish. But 'they' said that too late as we heard it when we had already left Mauritius!! It is in Mahebourg that the first colonisers set foot on the island several centuries ago and it is the perfect representation of a typical Mauritian village. Multi-cultural, vibrant, colourful, busy, vibey, shops selling all kinds of touristy things from baskets, to beads, to model ships, and street peddlers galore accosting you gently to tell you their story and show you their wares. They must be used to tourists from SA as the first thing they tell you when they come up to you is that they are peaceful and not dangerous!
After walking and getting hotter and hotter and more and more tired and in desperate need of coffee, we found a little shop that looked promising as it had what looked like delicious cakes in the window. We ordered coffee and cakes but the coffee came in a ready made powder containing coffee granules, powdered milk and sugar altogether and the cakes were doughy and much too sweet. But being thirsty and peckish and eating in such an exotic setting we drank and ate and not a complaining peep was heard from us. 
We found out that it was the wrong day for the market as market day is on a Monday, but we filled our day with so many other interesting sights and smells and vibrant colours. We loved looking at the outside of flats and little houses, which to us was alien architecture but so interesting Down little alleyways and up walkways we went, in and out of shops selling colourful clothes and 'pareos' (a large piece of colourful fabric to tie around you after swimming, worn by women as well as men). I loved the shops selling Chinese pottery and beautifully painted glassware and was tempted to buy all sorts of things. We walked around and felt free and unthreatened which, when coming from Jo'burg, is so liberating. We went home feeling full of new experiences, giggles and laughter. 
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