France

The Lagatjar Stone Rows are located on the Crozon Peninsula in the Finistère department of Brittany in France near Camaret-sur-Mer. It is believed that 400 menhirs - large and small - should have stood here, which made up the main building with a total length of 600 meters.

And these rows of stones are also of great importance for galactic hitchhikers, as the longest row consists of 42 menhirs with a length of about 200 meters.

In Carnac there are rows of stones (French/Alignments) of menhirs (Celtic/large stone), which consist mainly of granite rock from the Breton coast and numbered around 3000 in the years of construction. The largest menhirs are about 4 meters high and are always at the western end of the corresponding row. To the east, the menhirs become smaller and smaller in their approximately 3 km long rows until they are only half a meter high. Originally, the rows were probably even 8 kilometers long.

The Piton de la Fournaise is 2632 m high and was formed around 400,000 years ago on the south side of the Piton des Neiges. Although it is the last active volcano on Reunion, it is also one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It erupts almost every year, although it remains quite calculable. Thin lava emerges from its vent and occasionally "floods" the coast road. This spectacle attracts onlookers from all over the island.

The Forêt de Bébour is a nature reserve where misty trails lead through forests of tamarind trees, giant ferns and cedars to waterfalls and dizzying viewpoints. During our hike with overnight stays in between, we reached, for example, the Hell's Throat, the Trou de Fer, but also the gentle Voile de la Mariée, the veiled bride.

Trou de Fer: The Trou de Fer waterfalls are fed by several watercourses, which fall at six points from a height of 300 meters into a cauldron-like gorge, the Hell's Throat.

From Marla you can reach the town Cilaos in the heart of Reunion via the Col du Taïbit (2081 m). The reward for the steep ascents (you should have a head for heights) are great views of the distance between La Nouvelle and Marla.

Once you have mastered the ascent to the Col du Taïbit, you can see two mighty calderas - the Cirque de Cilaos on one side and the Cirque de Mafate on the other.

Then from the Col du Taïbit it's mostly downhill to Cilaos, a town in the heart of Reunion.

Early in the morning we left La Nouvelle for Marla (1629 m). We wanted to spend the second night in the Mafate in the secluded mountain village. Again, the path was fantastic. It went up and down, along streams and partly through forests. Seeing the massive caldera under a blue sky was impressive, especially as we had had few distant views as we made our way through the cloud forests off La Nouvelle.

A hike through the gorges and over the ridges of the "Cirque de Mafate" is overwhelming. We started in the morning on the north side of the huge caldera of the Piton des Neiges, crossed the Col de Fourche (1,946 m) and finally reached the small mountain town of La Nouvelle (1,450 m) before nightfall, although it was hidden in thick fog. Our surprise was all the greater in the morning when we were able to continue the hike to the next mountain town called Marla under a blue sky and bright sunshine. The road to La Nouvell was beautiful.

Reunion is located in the Indian Ocean and belongs to the Overseas Department of France. Until 1794 and after 1848 the island was called Île Bourbon - in between it was called Île Bonaparte under Naples. The black and white photo shows impressions of the Creole population on the beach of St. Gilles les Bains. Creoles denote colonial groups formed by colonialism.