Despite its small size, relative importance and short 300-year history, Port Louis has a lot to tell.
Port-Louis is a fascinating place to discover for it is a concentrate of all the facets of Mauritius, all the cultures from the different origins of its population and the fast evolution of those over 3 centuries.
Being mainly a business town, it is quiet as from 7.00 pm but during day time it is fairly animated while the island-style indolence pervades at any time.
Port-Louis is a place of contrasts and contradictions, a place some love and others hate, charming but hard at times. It all depends on each one’s situation, experience and way it is being visited.
Port-Louis is the ideal place to learn and experience the locals’ real daily lives and great to discover the history of the island. The better means for this is to use our itinerary route, made available to our guests. The main stops are as follows:
Coveted by all navies for its strategic location along the route to the East, Mauritius had seen sailors calling several centuries before the first settlements. It was said to be covered of giant tortoises, an already extinct species when the French disembarked in the South-East in 1721.
The first permanent settlement in Port-Louis started in 1735 with governor Mahé de Labourdonnais, for the account of the French East India Company.
The first objectives were to provide a point of call to French vessels, safe from storms and safe from enemy ships, where the boats could be repaired and refilled, the crew put to some rest and cured.
Under the French rules Port-Louis had very hard times and some good periods, especially under Louis XVI rule. General Suffren, in a letter to his wife wrote: “…this country softens, there are plenty of beautiful women and a most pleasant way of life…”
After the French revolution a different class of French immigrated to exploit the lands or the commercial opportunities the port was offering.
Port-Louis is the ideal place to learn and experience the locals’ real daily lives and great to discover the history of the island. The better means for this is to use our itinerary route, made available to our guests. The main stops are as follows: