Our Kids Travel: Papeete

Showing posts with label Papeete. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Papeete, Tahiti

Our trip to Bora Bora, Moorea & Tahiti

Both days that we were in Tahiti, we took a shuttle from the Intercontinental Tahiti, arranged by the concierge, to downtown Papeete. It was only $10 round trip but make sure to book through concierge. There were set times for this price. It left at 9am and brought you back at 11:30am, the next one left at 2pm & brought you back at 4:30pm. It drops you off a block away from the market. The market is a must. It has a lot of history and has been in the same location since the 1800s. It is similar to an indoor farmers market but they also have a lot of handmade crafts and lots of the oils that are famous here.

My favorite scent is the Tiare. It is a gardenia flower that they add fragrance and oil and marinate it until it is perfect. I bought more than enough to last me awhile! I might even have brought some back for a reader!

Stacy shopping for souvenirs

You can find all souvenirs here for less expensive than the resorts, but not cheap cheap. A tshirt was $29 still. One of the local ladies I befriended loved my shiny cane. I almost gave it to her, if I would have had another with me I would have. I enjoyed looking at all the loose pearls and hand picking my favorite.

Searching for the perfect pearls

I am thinking Ms A will be pretty impressed that mommy is bringing her home pearls. She will also enjoy the yummy scented bath products I purchased for her.

After the market we visited the Pharmecie. This is a store all over France that can be found by the large lighted green "+" sign. Well known French brands can be found here. Many brands we pay high prices for in the US are carried here less expensive. My favorite dry shampoo (Klorane) is $10 less at the Pharmacie then at US retailers. This trip I found a sunscreen from a brand I use, but they do not carry the sunscreen in the states yet. I like buying everything from the Pharmacie because the European Union does not allow junk in our personal products and cosmetics like the US does. If you are ever lucky enough to see this green sign, run in and buy everything while your husband is looking for a coca cola down the street.

French Pharmacie sign

Can't wait until I can buy this is the US!

We found a small street side restaurant/vendor that had the perfect French baguette sandwiches. The mayonnaise, I will never be able to find that flavor in the US.

The food and desserts were just like France.

I was on the hunt for a specific book I had seen in Bora Bora, but I wanted it in English. I also wanted to get a book in French for Ms. A. Behind the cathedral is a bookstore, which the locals call a library. The majority of books are in French, but there is an English section. I found the book! Adventures of Lilu & Dudu in Bora Bora. This was one of my favorite stops. Every international vacation I like to purchase books in different languages. I usually get Disney princess books but I ventured out to find older books for Ms. A.

I enjoyed practicing my French here. While most speak English as well, I felt less intimidated to try it here than France. I was proud when locals could understand my full sentences! I asked where I could buy books for children and almost ignored the response because I was so happy they understood me, ha. The second day we went back to the market because I had seen a mother of pearl dish I wanted and couldn't get out of my head. It would work perfectly on a dresser I just chalk painted. I was happy to go back and get the last one. It was $20 where as the resorts were selling similar ones for over $150.

If you are looking for a quality souvenir with local heart, check out this pareo shop on the main road near the ferry port and the shopping center. The owner makes them all herself. She travels to Indonesia to find amazing fabrics, then brings them back and makes amazing designs on them. She also takes local Tahitian cotton and makes them in Papeete. She had so many great stories.

From downtown, we took a taxi ride about 15 minutes to the black sand beach at Lafayette Beach. It was raining so the mister stayed in the taxi so they would stay, as he had already spent time at a black sand beach in Hawaii. The taxi driver told me not to go near the water because the waves. When I walked down the trail and saw the beach I was in awe. First off, I have never seen surfing competition sized waves, nor the black sand. I put some in a ziplock bag to bring home for the kids. It was a beautifully peaceful moment on the beach, alone by myself. So worth the ride there if you have never seen a black sand beach.

Intercontinental Tahiti Review

Our trip to Bora Bora, Moorea & Tahiti

We took a taxi from the Aremiti ferry to the InterContinental Tahiti. It was about $45. We arrived just before 1pm. We were thanked for our loyalty and handed two fruity drinks.

I was a tad sad there were no complimentary hand towels in that wonderful tiare scent and also no special place for ambassadors to be taken during check in. We used the front desk. But we were still treated very well amd thanked often. I try to use my French as often as possible. The front desk agent asked where I learned French as not many Americans speak or try to. Our room was ready for us. They had upgraded us from a basic room to a premium garden view room. Since this was our last night in Paradise, we asked what the rate was to upgrade to a bungalow. A regular over the water bungalow was $150 to upgrade to, and the new Motu Overwater Bungalows were $180. We toured the motu one and once I saw it I didn't want to look any further. It was perfection. When they say new it is really really new. It still had the fresh wood scent and everything was immaculate. I would love to know the designer of these bungalows as they are far superiorly decorated than any of the other hotels I have ever been in. Ever. They really tied the outdoors into this bungalow, making it feel serene like a spa. They used all different materials all with a natural color scheme. The door was etched wood that matched the desk. On the desk was a Nespresso machine. This location charged $4 for a pod. There was also an electric water kettle, glasses and coffee cups provided. Above the desk were outlets. There were several USB outlets and also built in outlets that work with American plugs! I thought that was a great idea, although the USB outlets are a perfect solution for everyone. The night stands and table were wood with mother of pearl tile inlets, there was a sofa bed built out of wood with amazing canvas like colors and floral palm pillows, set perfectly with two hanging brown lamps with dim lighting for ambiance at night. The head board was white with crystal pieces, the curtains were beautiful and the window to the ocean was a whole wall that slid all the way open. There was a see through natural colored curtain that could be ran all the way across to keep the mosquitos out, but with the wind from the storm while we were there, we were afraid they would get in as it kept blowing the curtain up. Even with the door-window closed, you could hear the waves crashing. This bungalow is actually in the Pacific Ocean, where the others were in a protected lagoon with no crazy waves. I really appreciated a night of listening to the waves in a completely peaceful environment. It rained for a couple hours overnight and I was bummed because I could only hear the rain hitting the bungalow and not the waves crashing. The bathroom was a spa itself. It is an all white luxurious room with mother of pearl tile covering everything. The shower was a dual rain shower. The bathtub had a nice view through a window in the bedroom out to the ocean. Robes and slippers were provided. The bath amenities here were different than the other French Polynesia IC resorts. The fragrance was lemongrass, and my guess is that they have chosen this scent to help detour the mosquitos. I have read they do not like lemongrass. There is an amazing large spa light above the sinks. There were two closets, one with nice wood built in dressers. I love that they use different types of wood throughout. The builtins were more of a grey wood that is really in style now. This bungalow has really inspired me to redo our master bedroom. I need it to have this spa retreat feel since I spend more time there than any other room. I am going to completely copy the style.

The outside of the bungalow needs its own review. It was crazy beautiful. First off, when the golf cart brings you to your bungalow, you get dropped of at your "porch." Its a large covered area with a bench. There is a covered walkway to your bungalow that has lighting built in to the wood. You use your room key to get into an outside door, which opens to the actual door to your room and also continues your wrap around porch. If you walk straight ahead you will walk to your deck. The deck had brand new top of the line and top style seating. There was a huge deep outdoor sofa with great pillows, what I call a King's thrown chair, two sun loungers, a table and two chairs, a side table, and wood shelves. The view looked out to the island of Moorea, which is an extinct volcano. There is a lower deck that has a ladder to climb down to the water for swimming. While we were there the waves were pretty severe. We saw no one swimming there and I would not feel comfortable being in that water. We did see plenty of locals rowing back and forth. They also tell you to keep your window door locked so that no one comes up from the water and steals your belongings.

Sadly the mosquitos were noticeable so we hid inside the bungalow. We attempted to have coffee on the sofa outside in the morning but they were landing on us even after we had sprayed Off bug spray, so we went inside. The same view but I was just bummed not to be able to use the amazing outdoor furniture. The locals told us how bad the mosquito flu is. Especially this time of year when it rains, then the next day is sunshine, then rain again. It is making their breeding ground triple. And they say the flu lasts at least a week. We did not see or worry about mosquitos in Bora Bora. I never even used bug spray there. But we did see them in Moorea, especially at the Hilton when we were in the garden bungalow. But Tahiti had many. With my autoimmune issues I was pretty scared to add any other illnesses to my plate. Especially since some of the "mosquito flus" cause joint issues. I don't need any more of those!

Our bungalow, #486 was right in front of the Lagoonarium. The Mister took his underwater camera and went snorkeling there and took some nice videos of fish and coral. The pool was behind the Lagoonarium and was large and had a great view. There was a little grotto with a waterfall where one could hide from the sun but still have amazing views of the ocean. Next to that was a jacuzzi but sadly it is a cold water jacuzzi. Cold as in the same temperature as the pool, not a hot jacuzzi. None of the resorts had a hot one except in the spas. They are called "steam baths" not jacuzzis here.

We had a fresh fruit plate and a souvenir tin of Tahitian cookies left for us as a Thank You for being Platinum Ambassador. The tin was selling for $15 at the market. The pears in the fruit plate were the same color as a sweet potato. It was so so delicious. I am going to search out that type at home.

Ambassador Gifts

We were allowed a 4pm late checkout since we are Ambassadors. That was worth the whole membership right there. Our flight wasn't until 11:55pm, so if we would have had to check out at 11am that would have been a miserable day with our luggage. So at 4pm we checked our luggage with the hotel and hung out in the lobby's comfortable seating enjoying the view of the volcano (Moorea.) I eventually wandered down to an ocean front hammock and relaxed while it sprinkled, until the mosquitos appeared.

We ate at the Tiki Bar, leaving 15 minutes before the Polynesian Show started. I was hoping to watch some of it, but we were worried that it would take a while to call a taxi to get us (it didn't.) If you were to do the buffet, it was $79 per person but included better seating to watch the show. We ate a la carte.

I am so glad we decided to switch our last night in Moorea for this night in Tahiti. Our reasoning was we would be able to use the 4pm late Ambassador checkout, instead of checking out at 10am to make the 11:30am ferry to Tahiti. Then wandering all day with our luggage. I have read that there is a luggage storage facility at the airport in Papeete that charges $9 a bag for 24 hours, but I did not see it. Instead we were treated to one of our favorite rooms and a relaxing day. I seriously enjoyed this room and I believe it was decorated better than IC Thalasso. Of course Thalasso as a resort was nicer, the room was way larger and the waters are prettier, but the decor was so nice at the IC Tahiti, again it was like a spa trip.

So we made it to all 4 Intercontinental Resorts in French Polynesia. Hopefully we can help you make your decision of what is best for you.

Air Tahiti, Papeete, Bora Bora and Moorea Airports

Our trip to Bora Bora, Moorea & Tahiti

Air Tahiti

We arrived in Papeete, Tahiti shortly after 6am. After exiting the plane on the Air Tahiti Nui plane on the runway, we lined up to enter the airport. As we lined up there was a Tahitian welcome band to get us excited for our trip.

While waiting for our 8:30am flight to Bora Bora we shopped the airport shops. There was one that sold Kinder Eggs. They are illegal in the states because the FDA won't allow a toy inside a food item. I was very excited to see them but since it was only day 1 I figured it would melt. I never saw them again and wish I would have bought them to bring home!

There is a McDonalds at the airport. The McDon's here (as well as France) serve the Royal with Cheese, which always excites the mister (Pulp Fiction reference.)

McDonald's menu in French Polynesia

We purchased two postcards and stamps and mailed them out to our kids. It took 20 days to get to them!

Proof they were mailed in case they never show!

Once you pass through security for Air Tahiti, there is a food place inside. They were inexpensive, a baguette sandwich being a couple of dollars.

Small restaurant inside security of Air Tahiti

The plane boarded 15 minutes before takeoff. You walk out to the runway and climb up the stairs of the plane. It was a decent sized plane with maybe 20 rows. I was expecting it to be smaller.

Nice new seats

We were sure to sit on the left side of the plane as we had read it had the great views flying into Bora Bora. This is completely accurate. The views are amazing.

View of Intercontinental Thalasso from the air

We landed and disembarked the plane. My wheelchair apparently did not get put on the plane and instead was rolled back inside the airport despite my tags on it. I was a little terrified on how I would make it through the trip without it, but more so that it was my late Grandmother's chair and the thought of losing it made me upset. I feel like I bring a piece of her with me on these trips.

Prettiest airport I have ever been to

Inside the airport we were greeted by a woman from Intercontinental. She gave each of us a flower lei and welcomed us.

Flower Leis

She promised she would take care of my missing chair and told me to just get on the boat shuttle to the resort and all would be fine. By 10:30am we were at the resort and my chair showed up by 11:30am! They flew it in from Tahiti. I was impressed with their quick actions.

Leaving Bora Bora and flying to Moorea was just as simple. There was no security what so ever. We were able to bring waters from the hotel, on the plane. We again sat on the left side, but I think either side to Moorea is fine.

Any flight over 30 minutes receives complimentary pinapple juice. Other drinks and snacks are available for purchase.