Travel Guide Victoria

This pocket capital, one of the least populated on the planet, has just under 30,000 inhabitants - a third of the population! In a country with no more souls than an average French town, you have to abandon your references, find new landmarks and remember that two and a half centuries ago, the island of Mahé was still uninhabited.In 1744, the French navigator Lazare Picault returned to the island of Abondance, later Mahé, and anchored his ship Élisabeth in a large, calm and safe bay, which he named Port-Royal. The place retained this name until 1778, when it was renamed Établissement du Roy, before taking its definitive name of Port Victoria in 1838, in tribute to the Queen of England. At the time, the town consisted of little more than a hundred wooden houses covered with shingles..Nestled in an exceptional site, an amphitheater of greenery made up of steep, lush hills (Mount Signal, Crève Coeur, Niol and the Three Brothers) that open onto the ocean, the archipelago's only town is a quiet, rather clean little city, a far cry from the insalubrity of yesteryear. A certain Ommanney described it as "a squalid, graceless place, bathed in a strong odor of rancid coconut oil, salty fish and sickening sewers". Father Louis Dayet's description, in the early 20th century, is also striking: "In town, when it rained, the streets became torrents and quagmires where everyone waded, muttering against the city administration. Victoria knew no sidewalks. In 1910, Albert Street and the outskirts of the government offices adjoined parks teeming with giant turtles, which turned into foul-smelling cesspools when it rained."An operetta market. Today, it's pleasant to stroll through the streets of this capital city, to which the beautiful Victorian-style street lamps on Independence Avenue add a touch of elegance. The city's major attraction remains the bazaar. A covered market that's best discovered during the lively Saturday morning bustle. Immediately to the left is the school of fish, fresh from the ocean. In the center, under the voluminous mango tree, on wooden tables covered with oilcloth, peppers, mango sabres, enormous papayas and tiny bananas are the subject of delightful dialogues in Creole, a language as colorful as all these fruits and vegetables.. A little further on are a few spice merchants whose stalls are overflowing with vanilla pods, cinnamon sticks and tea tins, as well as postcards, cocofesse key-rings and imported spice batches that have nothing Seychellois about them. On the other hand, makeshift flasks of vanilla extract or recycled jars of chili puree and other local macerations, such as the renowned masaravoo (guaranteed to set the taste buds on fire), can be packed back in the suitcases, after checking that the locking system is handcrafted! At the back, in an air-conditioned hall, butchers and pork butchers offer their garlands of sausages and strings of black pudding, and butcher expensive beef and pork for Sunday lunch.Of course, the show is also all around the square, in this pedestrian Market Street, where the lovely Creole houses of yesteryear, with their marquise and openwork balconies, have, alas, become rarer in recent years. Mostly run by Indians or Chinese, these disappearing stores are worthy of an inventory à la Prévert: underpants and fans, nuts and soaps... As modernity gains ground, old-fashioned stores are gradually being replaced by glass and concrete complexes.As a sign of progress, traffic lights appeared in 1994 at the intersection of Albert Street and Revolution Avenue, and in the middle of Albert Street. Thirty years on, they're still the only ones in the archipelago! No less than nine at the same crossroads... It has to be said that at rush hour, around 8 a.m., noon and 4 p.m., Francis Rachel Street and 5th June Avenue get really busy. Tata (tireless Indian buses) and Leyland mingle with the Kia Picantos of tourists and the ever-growing Asian cars of locals. Here too, in the heart of the city, you have to pay to park: tickets, which you validate yourself, are on sale in certain shops. You should be aware that ticket-issuing officers are uncompromising, and that a car rental company will not hesitate to use your credit card number to pay the fine (at extra cost) if you have not done so before leaving the country. However, the city does have its own free parking lots, notably near the Marine Charter on 5th June Avenue. Free parking is also available at the Alliance française.