Papillon

We didn’t find any butterflies this morning, but this was the day we lay anchor off the Ilses du Salut in French Guiana. The main island and Devils Island are noted for the epic film Papillon created in 1973 starring Steve McQueen ad Dustin Hoffman. This movie is based on the true story of French convicts who were sentenced and banished to years of hard labour, by serving out their sentences in the French colony off the coast of French Guiana. Considered the most inhumane place of imprisonment, the small three islands are surrounded by shark infested waters. Very few who actually served time here actually got back to La Republique. Despite disease, mal nourishment and the harsh living conditions, only Henri Chararriere (Papillon), was the only convict to escape according to legend. In addition to the barracks, cemetery and living quarters of the guards who served, real members of the French Gendarmes still reside here and there is a small boutique hotel, but for what reason is unknown to me. Despite the rain we all agreed that the island itself is an idyllic paradise if not for it’s violent history. My son Tyler informed me of the importance of French Guiana in the world of space exploration and discovery. Apparently there are two launching pads located here and run by the European Space Agency of which France is a member. Though quite a few miles off shore I was able to spot the two launching sites and enhance the photographs somewhat. It looked to me that one of the sites actually had a rocket ready for launch. Pretty cool being able to see these launch sites only about 50 miles north of the equator. There was an announcement that we were missing one passenger and the ship’s horn sounded loudly for about 30 seconds to signal our departure. I don’t know if the passenger ever returned or was found as we didn’t pull anchor for at least another hour as there were official motor craft circling our ship. I suppose the guests and the gossip will be rampant with all sorts of theories and anecdotes when we grab a seat at the bar to listen in later this evening. We are heading up the Caribbean and should reach Barbados in the next two days. Viagens Seguras!