My favourite place in Noumea

Coming into the Tjibaou centre is like taking a deep breath and then slowly breathing out.  It's quiet, calm and really does feel like a blessed little place.  The trees seem to lean over it and say  'yes you can walk through here around my ankles and my tall branches will keep anything bad at bay'.  

It's a cultural centre, a venue, a cafe, a picnic spot, a shop...it's lots of things,  and it's my favourite place.

The centre is named after, and built in remembrance of, Jean Marie Tjibaou who was instrumental in the development of Kanak identity during the 1970's and 80's.  He was killed by an independence fighter in 1989 while taking part in a ceremony to remember those killed in the 1988 Ouvea massacre.  I'm still learning about the history here.  Here's a very interesting article if you'd like to learn more about what happened.

But the Centre - Wow!  It was designed by Renzo Piano, who also designed the Pompidou Centre in Paris (You know the one - it's all pipes and inside on the outside).  It's beautiful, impossible and just about perfect. Sitting on a peninsula, the buildings almost seem like huge wings, rising up out of the mangroves.

The Centre was built as part of the Noumea Accords - the agreement between France and New Caledonia that secured a certain amount of peace in the late 1980s and lays the foundation for New Caledonian independence. It's a showpiece for Kanak culture - with a lovely Kanak path, beautiful Kanak cases from each of the provinces and it's full of stunning artifacts from throughout the Pacific.  There's even the Te Papa cow made out of corned beef tins!  You've got to love it.

   

Sunset in paradise

Charlie took this photo from our balcony of the sun going down last week.  For those of you who are dithering about coming over to visit us - does a G&T with this view tempt you?

The roundabout that isn't

Whenever I give people directions to our place, I tell them to come up the hill and turn right at 'the roundabout that isn't a roundabout'.  It looks like a roundabout, it has arrows that tell you to go around it like a round about, and has five roads leading onto it - but isn't a roundabout.  Why not? Because you don't have the right of way on it - which means you have to give way to anyone on your right who isn't on a stop sign.  In France, you give way to all traffic on your right (unless they have a sign telling them that they don't have the right of way) even if you're cruising down a straight road.  It's a bit nerve-wracking.

The roundabout that isn't, is clearly confusing to everyone here and there's a lot of stop-starting and hand signalling (not always so polite) as people work their way around it. There's also a fair amount of glass strewn around it at least once a week so it pays to be careful.  The only ones who seem to be happy with it are the taxi drivers - don't get the rules wrong in front of one of them or you'll definitely get tooted and sworn at!

Summer and ciggies

Summer's finally come to Noumea!  It's hot and surprisingly non-smoky.  Why the lack of smoke?  With the arrival of summer came the departure of cigarettes.   The 'Regie du Tabac', the government department that buys the cigarettes for New Caledonia and then sells them on to the shops (taking some money for tax on the way) is on strike.  All over town the shelves in the tabacs are empty and there are signs outside bemoaning the lack of ciggies.  Maybe this, and the fact you can no longer buy booze after 4pm on Friday and Saturday is the explanation for the crazy 5pm driving... Or maybe it's just the heat.   I've been chuckling at the face of the odd tourist in the supermarket who tries to buy beer - and is refused;  and then tries to buy ciggies - and there are none...Qu'est ce qui ce passe dans ce pays qui est 'presque' la France?  

Good job we don't smoke.  Now - time for a swim!