multi-coloured appearance. The island has its own lapidary, which transforms the rocks found on the island into jewellery and souvenirs. Administration The island of La Désirade forms part of the department of Guadeloupe, which is one of the five overseas departments and regions of France. Local administration is carried out by the local commune (municipality). The commune of La Désirade also includes the uninhabited Petite Terre Islands which lie nearby. Energy On La Désirade, which is particularly exposed to trade winds, the first anticyclonic wind farm in the department of Guadeloupe was installed in 1993, with 20 wind turbines of 25 kW each protruding from the Souffleur stretch. These wind turbines could fold up when cyclones approached, thanks to a technique that was tested for the first time on the island. They were subsequently replaced by 6 state-of-the-art wind turbines, less noisy and capable of producing a rated power of 275 kW each in light winds. The second site was located on the heights of the Baie Mahault section: 35 wind turbines of 60 kW. The electricity produced by the La Désirade wind farms is 3.8 mW; it is injected into the Guadeloupe electricity grid via a submarine cable because it far exceeds the consumption of local inhabitants. Water It was not until 1991 that La Désirade was connected to the water network of mainland Guadeloupe. Previously, the inhabitants used rainwater collected in cisterns and drew water from springs on the island. Since the breakage of the submarine cable supplying electricity to the island by Hurricane Dean in August 2007, the municipality tried to improve its autonomy from the mainland. As a result, community cisterns were rehabilitated and individuals were encouraged to install individual cisterns. Transport The first lighthouse was constructed in 1933. It was later replaced by a modern concrete lighthouse. The municipal government of La Désirade launched a bus service called Désirbus in November 2012. Two minibuses (9 and 17 seats) and five drivers run rotations between 5:10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Sundays and holidays included. Maritime boats operate from the island to Grande-Terre and, more specifically, to the municipality of Saint-François. And the island is also accessible by tourist planes that can make rotations at the airfield of La Désirade de Grande-Anse, mainly from the Guadeloupe-Polo airport in the Caribbean. Main settlements Beauséjour The main settlement on the island is the village of Beauséjour, which has a