This is France, and yet nothing here resembles France: In the Southern Hemisphere, several days’ sail from any trace of urban life, adventurers make camp in these hostile yet fascinating lands. An ocean stretching as far as the eye can see, unstoppable winds; among penguins and marine mammals, a few scattered human shelters in the midst of immensity: such is the “French Southland”, now a haven for naturalists and ornithologists.

Bruno Fuligni has traveled to these remote territories: the Crozet, Kerguelen, Amsterdam, and Saint-Paul Islands, along with their sister islands, the Éparses Islands—Europa, Juan de Nova, Bassas da India, the Glorieuses, and Tromelin. Enchanted lands, whose archives he was the first to unveil. Set sail with him across time and oceans, to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.