Nothing prepares you for the Plaine des Sables. Climb out of the forest on the Route du Volcan and the world turns to rust, ash and black cinder, a plain of broken volcanic gravel at around two thousand metres that looks like Mars or the Moon, depending on who is telling the story. Space agencies have actually used landscapes like this to test equipment. Scattered cones rise from the plain, red and black and brown, and not a tree grows on it.
It was made by the Piton de la Fournaise, which sits at the end of the road and is still one of the most active volcanoes on the planet. Over thousands of years, its eruptions have dropped ash and scoria across the plateau, and the wind and rain have worked on them since. The colours shift with the light: pink at dawn, silver at midday, and a deep red-brown when the cloud shadows pass. There is often a strange silence, interrupted only by wind, and a smell of wet stone. Hardy plants such as heather-like shrubs and small orange lichens grow in the cracks, and the occasional bird of prey circles above.
The ride across is easy, with a smooth road through a landscape that has almost no other vehicles, and hardly any bends to speak of before the final climb. But the conditions are demanding. Cloud arrives with little warning, visibility can drop to a few metres, and the temperature falls sharply at this height. In wet weather the road can be slick, and wind across the open plain can push a bike. Go early in the morning if you can, when the air is clear and the plain is empty.
There are no services at all on the plain. Le Tampon, fifteen kilometres or more behind you, is the place to fill the tank and buy water and food, and the nearest cafés are back in Bourg-Murat. Carry warm layers, rain gear, water and a charged phone.
At the end of the road a viewpoint looks down into the huge crater of the Enclos Fouqué, and on clear days you can see the cone of the volcano itself, black and quiet and entirely worth the cold.