Take a tall glass, half fill it with ice, add a good glug of white rum, fill the rest with lemonade (not the brown stuff that my Mauritian grandfather referred to as 'cola-cola; that would be 'Cuba Libre', add a twist of that fruity small citron from Rodrigues Island and you have yourself a Moris Libre. Now you will need an elegant, authentic creole veranda to sit under to savour your Moris Libre. I know just the place, it is attached to Villa Belifage II at Albion. Now you are set for a tropical holiday. The veranda of this smart villa overlooks the swimming pool and the neat tropical garden with several fruit trees. We spent several hours every day of our holiday during Mid August to Mid September whiling the time away reading, chatting, discussing, eating, drinking and so on under this very same veranda.
The rest of the villa is also carefully well appointed; all as described on the HomeAway site. However what you won't find there is the little attention to details that Madam and Monsieur Bozelle have invested in the well being of their guests. Yes we felt like guests rather than 'tenants'. Details such as the availability of a local mobile phone, the basket of books many by local authors, ample crockeries (in including a tureen) and cutleries, pots and pans of every description and dimension, glasses galore and god quality sharp knives. Yes we were sharing the home of someone who cooks. If like me you are a coffee fanatic you have at your disposal, a caffetier, a moka and a nespresso type machine.
The hand picked staff team is headed by the inimitable and charming Veronique who welcomed us and waited for us as we were late arriving at the villa. Veronique also came to see us every day, with that charming greeting welcome Mauritian ritual of a kiss on both cheeks, Ragini who showed us many acts of kindness, went about her business unobtrusively and efficiently. Ti Maurice, the gardener found us an out of season mango.
Taking a walk with Veronique and Jean Paul around the village of Albion is a delight, one has to exchange a few words with so many people and the know many people...Giving each other the time of day is a tradition here..coze cozer in the local lingo.