Ile des pins and a vegetarian in New Caledonia

I had a wonderful holiday in New Caledonia, the highlight was the Ile des Pins, a magical island with white beaches and lots of fish. My favourite place was the Natural pool (Piscine Naturelle), just look at the videos!

We stayed at Le Meridienne Ile Des Pins

In the mainland (Noumea) we ended up eating Vietnamese (many Vietnamese restaurants, but not so flavoursome compared with the ones in Vietnam) or food from French bakeries (good), and the food at Le Meridienne was Veggie friendly enough for a four day stay (the veggie patty burger was nice and filling, you always find one when you are Italian and don't want to order pasta, the other usual vegetarian option in hotels).

But lets go back to some sceneries!

This is Oro Bay

And our relaxing spot on the beach (although we actually spent most of the time at the Piscine Naturelle... I just wanted to look at the fish!)

But the Hotel grounds are also lovely

There is a famous (one of the firsts) infinity pool, which I never used... I find it strange to swim in a pool when there is the sea available. But it was photogenic, especially at sunset.

Breakfast was relaxing, a good buffet with lots of fruit and French pastries. The baguettes were excellent!

The famous pine trees make a good contrast with palms and are everywhere.

At low tide you can walk all around the bay

And what else for vegetarians a part from coconuts?

Bougna is the traditional Melanesian dish for special occasions: yam, sweet potatoes, taro and other vegetables and meat or fish/seafood covered in coconut milk and wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on hot stones in am earth oven for 2 hours. I asked the hotel if they could prepare a vegetarian one, it was the very first time they had such a request but they were happy to oblige. So we had our traditional dish, all vegetarian, actually, vegan! 

Quite a ceremony in presenting it and serving it, They cut all the leaves, dish out some and leave the rest on the table so you can help yourself.  Very delicious and filling, I think that four people could have eaten our portion for two! Highly recommended.

Photos  by Alessandra Zecchini ©