The road from Plaine des Cafres is first climbing along the alpine meadows of Bourg Murat where most of the cattle farms on la Réunion are located. Soon enough, we are indeed above the clouds.

Grand Bénare (left) and piton des Neiges (right) above the clouds

Grand Bénare and a sneak peek of the meadows at Bourg Murat underneath the clouds...

The valley of Rivière des Remparts under a sea of clouds

The landscape is soon changing dramatically: the road to the piton de la Fournaise is first crossing a desert plateau: la Plaine des Sables. A large part of the plain is covered with volcanic scoria and totally devoid of vegetation making you feel like you are on the Moon; a dramatic change from the lush tropical forests and cow pastures we strolled though in the morning...

 
The Plaine des Sables seen from above; the Piton de la Fournaise main crater is further ahead

The Plaine des Sables really feels like a piece of lunar landscape

We finally arrive at the Pas de Bellecombe, the caldera rim  called  Enclos Fouqué, surrounding the main crater of the volcano: Cratère Dolomieu. The sun is shining and it feels quite hot despite the elevation (2300m).

Dolomieu crater, peaking at 2522m

Enclos Fouqué seen from the  Pas de Bellecombe. The small "anthill" like crater on the enclos floor is called Formica Leo

Enclos Fouqué

Lava flows

The following week, we visited the eastern coast, on the other side of the volcano. The Enclos Fouqué is not entirely "closed": the caldera actually opens to a large section of the coast where the lava flows down the volcano slopes during eruptions.

As volcanoes go, the Piton de la Fournaise is relatively harmless: it doesn't project any rocks or dangerous ash clouds or gases; it only blurts out relatively viscous and therefore slow flowing lava. People have enough time to get out of the way: no fatalities recorded in ages, but some occasional property damage, especially when the lava flows outside of the inhabited "enclos" area, not counting the coastal road that must be periodically rebuilt (insert "why did the lava crossed the road" joke here).

As we are in France, it wouldn't surprise you to find out that each lava flow  is named after its vintage year and marked with roadsigns: "Coulée de lave 1986", "Coulée de lave 2002", etc...

The most recent lava flow dates back from 2007 and went over the road, all the way into the ocean, increasing the French territory by a couple of acres in the process.

The 2007 lava flow ended its course into the Indian ocean

2007 lava flow seen from the road

The lava flow happened four years ago and the thing is still smoking: actually it's no smoke but rain water that gets into the pumice-like lava and is vaporized when it reaches the hot lava underneath: the lava still feels warm to the touch.

Vaporized rain water escaping from a crack in the lava

The 2007 flow being the most recent, there is only sparse vegetation on it; one can see the difference with the 2004 and 2002 flows where small plants and even tree have started to regrow.

On some eruptions, the lava flows sprung out of the "enclos" area: this was the case in March-April 1977 where the lava destroyed part of the village of Piton Sainte-Rose and entered into the village church. I visited the island in the early 80's and I remember the brown lava flow with only a handful of buildings standing in the middle, including that church with the lava blocking the main entrance as seen in these pictures taken a short time after the event. The local people cried miracle because the lava spared the church. Since then, the entrance has been cleared and the church repainted and renamed "Notre Dame des Laves" (litterally: "Our Lady of the Lavas").

Piton Sainte-Rose: Church "Notre Dame des laves" in the middle of the 1977 lava flow; and yes, it's sugarcane harvest season.

But what struck me the most was the difference with the desolated landscape of brown basaltic lava rock that I remembered in the early 80's: 30 years after the event, everything is now covered with vegetation and trees and, wait, isn't that a wind farm I'm seeing over the football field?

Vegetation has recovered on the 1977 lava flow; a wind farm has been installed on the slopes: these are small 2-blade turbines

A good occasion to talk about energy and renewables on the Réunion island: there are a few hydro power plants, but most of the electricity is still generated by fuel or gas fired plants. Since EDF is required by law to sell the electricity at the same price as in mainland France where production costs are much cheaper, it has a strong incentive in promoting power conservation: low-power lamps have been subsidized since the 90s and PV installations are appearing here and there with the help of feed-in tariffs: today about 40 cents per Kwh, but it will decrease in the near future.

The most popular renewable energy equipment however is the omnipresent solar water heater that is present on just about every roof.

And since we are on ET, after talking wind farms and solar panels, how can we not mention the next popular subject: trains. A train line was actually operated along the coast, linking Saint Denis, the capital in the north to Saint-Pierre in the south and Saint Benoit in the east. Only the southeastern part of the coast, along the piton de la Fournaise volcano remained out of reach. The lines were built in the second half of the 19th century and some sections were operated until the late 1950s. The construction of 4-lane highways (and reportedly the unionization of the train employees) pushed the owners to abandon the train operations. At this time, cars and buses are the only way to get around the island, sadly.

Decommissioned railway bridge between Saint Gilles and Saint Leu