Martinique

Hi everyone,

We spent a week at Fort de France in Martinique.  We got out and about to explore the island with Helen and Steve of sv Cerulean.  We hit the shops - hard!  The supermarkets - Carrefour, Leader Price and LeClerc - are excellent.  The Decathlon sports shop is a death trap for your credit cards.  We hired a car for two days to tour the island.

St Pierre street art

Our first couple of days were spent reprovisioning at LeClerc in the La Galleria shopping centre and shopping at Decathlon.  Both were reached on the 'bendy bus' which runs past the anchorage in Fort de France.  Always good to stock up the boat.  And the gear bought at Decathlon was all Capital Investment - clothing and gear which will last years.

On day one of our car tour we explored the north. We started in St Pierre which was destroyed by an volcanic eruption of nearby Mt Pelee in 1902.  About 20,000 people perished.  We visited the museum, walked around the town which is still has many original ruins, and had a good local lunch.

1902 Catastrophe Museum in St Pierre

The eruption was clearly a furnace

Tiny jail house in which the 'sole' survivor was found

Photographs of catastrophe victims on a building in St Pierre

Next was the Earth Sciences Discovery Centre.  It was interesting and we watched a video about the eruption.  Photography and early film making was available in 1902 and watching it made the disaster very real.

Earth Sciences Discovery Centre with Mt Pelee behind

Interesting exhibits

Next was the Depaz Rum Distillery which is set in magnificent grounds under Mt Pelee with a view over the Caribbean.  The 'chateau' and surrounding gardens and grounds are impressive.  The rum tasting was limited to one sample per person but the rum was very nice indeed.

Depaz Distillery

Depaz 'Chateau' and gardens

Inside the 'chateau'

Shopping for Rum!

On day two we explored the southern half of the island.  We drove to the southern town of Diamond and the nearby memorial to slaves drowned in a shipwreck in the bay.  We had a close look at Diamond Rock as we sailed from Martinique - see the next post.

Cap Slave Shipwreck Memorial near Diamond

Diamond Rock

From Diamond we drove up the SW side of Martinique to Grande Anse d'Arlet.  The snorkelling was reported to be very good there and we had brought our gear with us.  Sadly we didn't bring our underwater camera since the coral, fish and turtles were very good indeed.  Huge schools of small fish, quite a few moderate sized fish, two turtles and nice coral.

The beach at Grande Anse d'Arlet

Next we drove to Marin in the SE part of Martinique.  We visited two chandlries which we both disappointing.  From Marin we drove on to the town of Sainte Anne where we had lunch at a beach-side cafe.

Helpful cafe loo door in Sainte Anne

From Sainte Anne we drove N to the Habitation Clement park and distillery.  The historic distillery grounds hold a park with many interesting artworks.  The distillery estate buildings have been adapted to hold art too, and the main estate building is impressive.  The old distillery is preserved with the current product is produced in a very modern factory building.  The tasting was unlimited here - quite hazardous!

Habitation Clement

Interesting flora

Interesting artworks

Convex side of a statue

Concave side of same statue - very clever!

So much rum!

Just a little more

Sugar Cane Train

Clement House

Inside Clement House

We finished our car hire with a raid on the big Carrefour in the suburbs of Fort de France.

With the car returned we spent a couple of days walking around Fort de France.  We did so during our first visit in 2016 and it was just as nice this time.  There's a good market, several very nice old buildings and some great street art.

Fort de France market

Fort de France cathedral

Fort de France street art - writ large!

Bibliotheque Schoelcher in Fort de France

Street art

Street Graffiti

We loved our week in Martinique.  Initially it was a bit of a culture shock being back in a 'first world' developed economy.  Shopping malls, modern busses etc.  But good to stock up the boat and great to tour the island and take in some of its history.

Trust all's well where you are!