Crafts to discover Réunion

Angèle Mac-Auliffe, daughter of the first doctor of Cilaos, introduced the young girls of the circus to embroidery. Today, the Maison's president, Suzanne Maillot, Meilleur Ouvrière de France, continues the tradition. Exhibited in the style of the great galleries, you'll find household and table linens. The tour explains the "jours" technique, handed down through the generations, and the time needed to complete the work. It takes three months to make a one-meter table throw. You can also meet the embroiderers. A warm welcome awaits you.

An embroidery shop where you can see an embroiderer at work. She works there all day long, on a tablecloth stretched on a "drum". Luciane Técher will make you discover all the current embroidery techniques. Inspired by Tenerife lace, she asserts her method by getting rid of excess frills. This long work is today threatened by Malagasy imports at low prices. Souvenirs to bring back: framed embroideries or coasters.

Johan Morel opens the doors of his artisanal distillery perched on the heights of Saint-Leu to explain the manufacturing process of his essential oils. The young enthusiast distils in an old copper still local aromatic and medicinal plants that he grows on site. You will enjoy both the good smells and the magnificent panoramic view of the west coast. These essential oils are sold in the pretty little shop decorated with vintage objects. This immersive tour promises to awaken your senses!

The Domaine des Tourelles, a listed historic monument, is at the heart of the "Archipel des métiers d'art", a center for the promotion of craft trades. The craftsmen (sculpture, brewing, distilling, painting and foundry) work and show their workshops at the foot of the superb house. Built in 1927 by Alexis de Villeneuve, a major landowner in Saint-Benoît, the house was completely demolished and rebuilt identically in 1993. Visits to the house are free of charge. There's also a store selling local crafts.

In the 1970s, a handful of illustrious Réunionese artists fell in love with the site, a former industrial wasteland, the heir to a sugar factory that had been abandoned since 1935. They dreamed of a village where Reunion's creative talents could come together. In 1978, the Association pour la promotion du site de l'Éperon (Association for the promotion of the Éperon site) was formed, founding the "village artisanal de l'Éperon". In 2014, some fifteen artists occupy workshop-boutiques, whose products go beyond traditional Reunionese crafts. Today, it's not so much a craft village in the strict sense of the word, but rather a locality, located on Rue Fond Générèse, a pretty cobbled street with a fountain and flower-filled spaces, bringing together artisan and designer workshops (pottery and ceramics, stained glass, painting, framing, illustrations, design..), boutiques selling ready-to-wear, jewelry, bags and fashion accessories, concept stores, a café-library, two hairdressers, a wine cellar... not forgetting a few excellent places to eat and spend a pleasant moment suspended in an atmosphere of its own. The Association also organizes a popular annual Christmas craft market (usually held on the first weekend of December), a craft festival and a Reunion music festival. See the association's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/asso.eperon974/) for more details. Two free parking lots are available at the entrance and exit of the village.

Saint-Philippe is one of the favourite territories for vacoa. Here, we exhibit and sell bertelles (traditional backpacks made of woven vacoa leaves), bags, vanities, briefcases.... After selecting the leaves of the vacoa, removing the thorns, splitting them into thin strips, the leaves are dried for 2 to 3 days. Then the craftswomen moisten them and soften them with a knife so that weaving can begin. Demonstration and initiation on request.

At the entrance to the circus, Mrs. Grondin explains the embroidery technique that has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. She weaves placemats to be framed or coasters, with multiple shapes, including the emblematic "straw in tail". In 2008, she was awarded first prize in the "hope" category of the regional Grand Prix des Métiers. The selling price of the books is indicative of the time it takes to make them. She also sells wine and lentils.