{"id":2063,"date":"2016-03-27T07:54:52","date_gmt":"2016-03-27T14:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2063"},"modified":"2016-03-28T21:31:47","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T04:31:47","slug":"enjoy-the-privacy-and-beauty-of-vahine-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2063\/enjoy-the-privacy-and-beauty-of-vahine-island","title":{"rendered":"Enjoy the Privacy and Beauty of Vahine Island"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Nature's

“Nature’s natural swimming pool” (the South Pacific) surrounds tiny Vahine Island. (Photo credit Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n

Trust me – no one will find you on\u00a0Vahine\u00a0Island\u2019s private resort. It\u2019s the tiny escape you need where you won\u2019t have, or want, a television or telephone. What you will experience is an extremely pristine natural ocean setting and gourmet French meals in a casual, castaway setting. (Sure you can check email if you really must, but, did you come all the way to\u00a0French Polynesia\u00a0to do that?)<\/p>\n

Aim south of\u00a0Hawaii\u00a0from\u00a0Los Angeles\u00a0and fly \u2013 for just over seven hours \u2013 to Papetee, on the\u00a0island\u00a0of\u00a0Tahiti\u00a0and hop another little flight to Raiatea. It\u2019s all boat from there – the little mooring is literally steps from the landing strip. I suggest you stop for a sip of suds to take with you for the 30-minute ride in the sun aboard a small boat to Vahine Island, where the only structures on the tiny, sandy atoll (too small to even need vehicles) are four over-water bungalows, a few cottages, palm trees and an open-air, intimate waterside dining room. Welcome to being \u201clost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elizere

Elizere and Trouyet welcome and send off guests and manage the island. (Photo credit Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n

The welcome is as warm as the winds \u2013 a charming, young French couple, Laure Elizere and Chef Terence Trouyet, wave from the tiny dock and greet guests in the beach bar \u2013 there is no lobby. The boat gliding away seems to take any stress with it \u2013 your sunset view from dinner, now unimpeded, is a crystal clear lagoon (which Elizere describes as \u2018Vahine\u2019s natural swimming pool\u2019) and the green mountains of Taha\u2019a\u2019s vanilla island in the near distance \u2013 from which Trouyet, who is cooking for a maximum of 18 guests each night \u2013 secures the natural ingredients for the astonishing, three course, prix fixe gastronomy he serves. Smoked marlin and eggplant caviar with fresh goat cheese; crusted mahi mahi with Provencal ratatouille with baby squid tempura; and home made coconut sorbet is one evening\u2019s example. Beautiful presentations of duck breast; red tuna tataki with seaweed salad; and Baked Alaska are also in the weekly repertoire of Trouyet, who specializes in risotto. He previously served as sous chef to Michelin-starred Chef Philippe Jego in the south of\u00a0France.<\/p>\n

\"Simple

Simple solitude on Vahine Island begins when guests step off the tiny ferryboat.(Photo credit Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMy dishes first must please with the eyes,\u201d says Trouyet, who realizes his creations compete with the eye-popping, sensory- stimulating surroundings which make guests feel like they are living in work of art \u2013 whether they\u2019re swimming, snorkeling or sleeping in a hammock. Kayaking and paddle-boarding is also available, and while the three over-water bungalows in the lagoon are unique experiences, the Polynesian-themed beach bungalows, 40 paces away on the windward side of the tiny island, which can be virtually open-air with private porches, are equally exciting and yet restful.<\/p>\n

The resort island is entirely casual and cashless for convenience \u2013 even shoeless! Advice: bring books\u2026and snacks.<\/p>\n

The overall sensation of solitude at\u00a0Vahine\u00a0Island\u00a0is that you\u2019re given a chance to experience the peace, tranquility and beauty of what we can only hope heaven will be.<\/p>\n

Visit\u00a0www.Vahine-Island.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0<\/em>InviteYourself@aol.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His talk show can be heard weekday mornings in\u00a0Lansing\u00a0on 92.1 FM<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trust me – no one will find you on\u00a0Vahine\u00a0Island\u2019s private resort. It\u2019s the tiny escape you need where you won\u2019t… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[998799,998795,216,998797,998798],"class_list":["post-2063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses-and-travel","tag-islands","tag-vahine-island","tag-resorts","tag-french-cooking","tag-french-polynesia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2016\/03\/Vahine.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2067,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions\/2067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}