Papeete

Papeete cradles a harbor that international cargo freighters, copra ships, luxury liners and sailing yachts share. Consequently, the docks are awash with a conglomeration of deck hands, tourists, sailors and longshoremen, and when the cruise ships arrive, groups of welcoming dancing Tahitians. The city's architecture is cathedrals, temples, quaint Parisian boutiques and low rise hospitals and clinics. The streets -- some narrow, some wide -- of the one-hundred year-old city seem to disappear helter-skelter into the outskirts of town. The traffic is congested, the sidewalks crowded -- especially around the marketplace -- yet somehow, all this hustle and bustle is conducted in a lingering manner.