August 2003 2003

Hello everyone,

The south-east wind of Polynesia is back, the " maaramu ", often fresh in July and August, and Banana Split has come back to its favorite anchorage, in the lee of a small island in the atoll of Tahanea, less than twenty yards away from the coconut trees and "veloutier" trees, those beautiful trees with velvety leaves that famous French solo sailor Bernard Moitessier was very fond of. In fact, Banana Split is tied to the trunk of one of those trees.

In a week, nevertheless, I will have to start again, to leave once more my catamaran in Polynesia, to sail again, or rather to fly again, as I will fly to New Zealand and South East Asia on my way back to France, shooting additional scenes of my next film "The most beautiful island in the world."

This journey started a few weeks ago with a short visit to an island I only knew from above, the island of Catalina, off Los Angeles: The plane that flies in from Tahiti always flies over it, and I had often wondered what it could look like. I eventually made up my mind to go and visit it, taking advantage of the usual stop at "LAX" of the flight from Paris to Papeete

Catalina is an interesting island : it used to be the private property of the owner of "Wrigley's" chewing-gums; His widow has given the island to the government, and the luxurious mansion he had had built has been turned into a sumptuous hotel with only six rooms, overlooking the bay of Avalon, the islands's main harbor. I, for one, went to take lodgings in the only lodge in the island's other village; much smaller, called "Two Harbors" for it is wedged between two almost connecting bays.

In America, they do everything on a large scale, and when the Fourth of July comes near, hundreds of sailboats head for Catalina, as it is not far from the large metropolis of Los Angeles. So numerous mooring buoys await the visitors, and the only restaurant in the village is overbooked. But the island's interior, immense and arid, remains calm, and one has the surprise of meeting there... buffalo, buffalo brought here around 1930 for the shooting of a western movie. They fit perfectly in the landscape: it's true that Hollywood is not far away !

Here in the Tuamotus, the film we could shoot would rather be "The Blue Lagoon". I will tell you about the rest of my journey next month.

Bye for now.