The tour begins in the lower part of town and the "Barachois." Evocative street names : "rue du Mt-de-Pavillon" (Flagpole House Street), "rue du Moulin-à-Vent" (Windmill Street), and "rue de la Batterie" (Battery Street) remind the visitor that there was an attempt to turn the town into a port in the times of La Bourdonnais.

Today, Barachois is a large shady square, lined with some facades dating from the East India Company days and with the Prefecture, the former Governor's residence. Once protected by walls and cannons, it then became a peaceful colonial palace and is now one of France's finest Prefectures.

From the Prefecture, walk up Rue de la Victoire (Victory Street), lined with old buildings (former East India Company warehouses) to Jardin de l'Etat (State Garden, formerly King's Garden) along Rue de Paris. The street was planned by the town's first architect at the beginning of the 18th century.

No one can pretend to know Saint-Denis if he has not ventured into one of the small Chinese restaurants in the town centre and feast on a plateful of fried noodles or Cantonese rice.

Of course, like all major towns, Saint-Denis has sophisticated restaurants, fashionable bars and trendy night-clubs. Saint-Denis is surrounded by mountains on three sides. You must at least climb one of them.The finest view is from Route de la Montagne (Mountain Road), which winds up to the top of a high lava cliff plunging into the sea. The road was built in the middle of the 19th century; it was the only link between Saint-Denis and the rest of the island until 1963,when the coastal road - an all-important highway for the Island - was built at the foot of the cliff, linking the capital to the port.