Musée Gauguin

Lonely Planet review

Although this museum is dimly lit and there is a conspicuous lack of original works by Gauguin, much of the well-written text about the artist and his particularly difficult life is in English. It's also set in lovely natural surrounds. The gardens are home to three superb tiki (carved sculpture of ancestors) from Raivavae.

Legend has it that tiki do not like to be moved, and there are colourful stories about the fates of the men who moved the tiki here (they apparently died mysteriously within weeks of doing so). The huge tiki figure beside the walkway stands 2.2m high and weighs 900kg; it's a baby compared with the one towards the waterfront, which stands 2.7m high and weighs 2110kg. You'll find a third, smaller figure beside the giant.