At a 10 hour flight from France, La Réunion is an remote
island in the middle of the Indian ocean.
Yet, it features, in a small space, a large variety of climates
- from the windward east coast swept by trade winds, the
much dryer leeward west coast and the mountains where
temperatures can fall to 0° - of religions - Christian, Islamic,
Hindu, Buddhist
- and cultures - European, African, Indian,
Chinese, Malagasy
Obviously, this patchwork influences on the development of
the Reunion and its 24 towns which are mainly located on the
coasts. In Saint Denis, the largest one, with 140 000 inhabitants,
the price of an old apartment is in the region of EUR 3000
per square metre, while villas range from EUR 300 000 to
600 000. In the tropezian Saint Gilles, the nicest mansions go
up to EUR 850 000, while the average prices of individual
houses range from EUR 350 000 to 450 000 in the Creole
town of Saint Pierre.