Bonjour and Au Revoir Martinique!
April 6, 2009
Monday
We arrived in Fort de France, Martinique, on Friday, March 27, 2009.
We had another great sail....about 20K, beam reach and sailed right into Baie Des Flamandes, dropped the sails and motored into the anchorage. It was quite a shock coming around the corner and seeing a "city" and a zillion boats anchored there!!!! It made us miss Dominica even more!!
We checked in to Customs the following day. It's quite different here in France.....all we had to do is go to the local chandlery, sit at a computer and fill out the forms...then a clerk just stamps and signs them. Doesn't sound very official, but it works!
I carry around the "French for Cruisers" book by Kathy Parson, just in case I have to try to speak the language. But Jim can get us by with his high school French....plus he always first tells them he doesn't speak French, in French!! So...people really seem to be very tolerant if we at least try!
We really just provisioned and relaxed in Fort de France.
It's a big city with real live grocery stores, a mall, alot of clothing and lingerie stores, and the local fresh market. We walked around the city and found the fresh bakery and the cheap wine store!! I stocked up for the remainder of our cruising season this year (I hope!!) We did find a beautiful library in downtown Fort de France, the Schoelcher Library,
named after Victor Schoelcher that was an anti-slavery advocate, according to the Doyle guidebook. The library was constructed of metal, riveted together after being shipped from Paris. Jim and I walked in to peruse the old books and I was suprised to see so many authors that I recognized with their books translated into French!
We passed the local school and there was a huge wall with a mural carved on it with the history of slavery and the abolishment. I took several pictures....it was really impressive.
We walked up the road toward the distillery, passing all the French homes on one side with sugar cane and flowers on the other. Again just beautiful flowers and saw the cutest pink pineapple growing off a long stalk! 
At the entrance to the distillery there was a huge Baobob tree (my favorite)! The first one we ever saw was in the British Virgin Islands on Salt Island. They are so large and old looking!
The grounds of the Depaz rum distillery are just beautiful!
We walked up the long drive to the office where we were hoping to have "free tastings" after our long walk....all uphill!! But....alas....they were closed for inventory!!!! Luckily the restaurant was open and we decided to treat ourselves to lunch and a rum punch!! 
Jim, the official spaker of French, ordered for us and got us through the menu, and all was very good. While we were eating....a group of four came in (obviously not French and obviously cruisers)...and they had to have an interpreter come over from another table to order!! The waitress just smiled at Jim. The lunch was excellent and we limited ourselves to only one rum punch....knowing we were going to walk back down the road to St. Pierre! After lunch we walked around and took the self-guided tour. They had arrows and plaques telling you the process of making the rum. I really liked the artwork....they painted scenes on the oak barrel lids and had them hanging on the walls. Luckily the gift shop was closed or we might have one hanging on Bees Knees!!!
We walked back down the road into St. Pierre
...and just as we were approaching, a taxi came by and picked us up to take us back to Fort de France...about 10 miles up and down the road! The following day we went to the fresh market in town....picking up green onions, pineapple, grapefruit, canteloupe, green beans, potatoes and fresh vanilla beans with a cocoa stick. Bees Knees never smelled soooo good with that fresh vanilla smell just filling up the boat!! After getting all of that back aboard, we headed out to the local supermarket for our other provisions and more wine!
After we got all our provisions put away, we were ready to move on to another anchorage....a little more quiet and less rolly. The anchorage at Fort de France is well protected, but the ferry service is non-stop all day and they leave the biggest wakes where we pound up and down! So....we lifted our anchor and hoisted our jib and sailed off with the wind abaft of beam....down to Grand Anse D'Arlet....about 5nm only...on the SE side of Martinique.
We arrived in Grand Anse D'Arlet on April Fool's Day.....no kidding!
Really didn't do much here other than swim and relax....took a few walks around the small town....tried to find WIFI in a little cafe. I cleaned the waterline of Bees Knees while Jim took the dinghy ashore to clean the growth off the bottom! Things are starting to grow!! The interesting thing about this little harbor are the 3 large sailboats that are "careened" up on the rocks along the shoreline! Really makes you want to check your anchor after it's set!!!!
We attempted to leave on Saturday, the 4th, but as we rounded the SE corner of Martinique, the wave size increased and the wind increased to about 22K...and we were just trying to go about 12 nm to St. Anne, but it would have been slogging right into it....so we turned around and went back to the same anchorage at Grande Anse D'Arlet.
So, who cares if we spend another couple of days in a beautiful anchorage???
Today we are heading to St. Lucia.....leaving Martinique, the last French island that we'll visit for a long time! Hope the wine holds out!! Au Revoir!
Monday
We arrived in Fort de France, Martinique, on Friday, March 27, 2009.
We had another great sail....about 20K, beam reach and sailed right into Baie Des Flamandes, dropped the sails and motored into the anchorage. It was quite a shock coming around the corner and seeing a "city" and a zillion boats anchored there!!!! It made us miss Dominica even more!!We checked in to Customs the following day. It's quite different here in France.....all we had to do is go to the local chandlery, sit at a computer and fill out the forms...then a clerk just stamps and signs them. Doesn't sound very official, but it works!
I carry around the "French for Cruisers" book by Kathy Parson, just in case I have to try to speak the language. But Jim can get us by with his high school French....plus he always first tells them he doesn't speak French, in French!! So...people really seem to be very tolerant if we at least try!
We really just provisioned and relaxed in Fort de France.
It's a big city with real live grocery stores, a mall, alot of clothing and lingerie stores, and the local fresh market. We walked around the city and found the fresh bakery and the cheap wine store!! I stocked up for the remainder of our cruising season this year (I hope!!) We did find a beautiful library in downtown Fort de France, the Schoelcher Library, named after Victor Schoelcher that was an anti-slavery advocate, according to the Doyle guidebook. The library was constructed of metal, riveted together after being shipped from Paris. Jim and I walked in to peruse the old books and I was suprised to see so many authors that I recognized with their books translated into French!On Tuesday, March 31st, we decided to hop on the local bus and ride North to the town of St. Pierre.
St. Pierre lies at the foot of Mt. Pelee
....a volcano that erupted in 1902 and wiped out the entire town....a population of 30,000 (according to our Doyle guidebook). So, it's a very historic town with alot of ruins still remaining. But they also have a distillery just a short walk out of town. The bus ride, again, was a blast.....the only non-locals aboard and the bus driver zooming around the winding road up and down the mountain. Just a riot. The island bus drivers have to be the best drivers around....other than probably NY taxi drivers!! We were dropped off in St. Pierre and walked around the town for a short while. We picked up some local pastries and went to the town park and sat in the shade. Then we decided to walk the "2 kilometer" hike to the distillery....directed by a local shop owner. 
St. Pierre lies at the foot of Mt. Pelee....a volcano that erupted in 1902 and wiped out the entire town....a population of 30,000 (according to our Doyle guidebook). So, it's a very historic town with alot of ruins still remaining. But they also have a distillery just a short walk out of town. The bus ride, again, was a blast.....the only non-locals aboard and the bus driver zooming around the winding road up and down the mountain. Just a riot. The island bus drivers have to be the best drivers around....other than probably NY taxi drivers!! We were dropped off in St. Pierre and walked around the town for a short while. We picked up some local pastries and went to the town park and sat in the shade. Then we decided to walk the "2 kilometer" hike to the distillery....directed by a local shop owner. We passed the local school and there was a huge wall with a mural carved on it with the history of slavery and the abolishment. I took several pictures....it was really impressive.
We walked up the road toward the distillery, passing all the French homes on one side with sugar cane and flowers on the other. Again just beautiful flowers and saw the cutest pink pineapple growing off a long stalk! At the entrance to the distillery there was a huge Baobob tree (my favorite)! The first one we ever saw was in the British Virgin Islands on Salt Island. They are so large and old looking!The grounds of the Depaz rum distillery are just beautiful!
We walked up the long drive to the office where we were hoping to have "free tastings" after our long walk....all uphill!! But....alas....they were closed for inventory!!!! Luckily the restaurant was open and we decided to treat ourselves to lunch and a rum punch!! Jim, the official spaker of French, ordered for us and got us through the menu, and all was very good. While we were eating....a group of four came in (obviously not French and obviously cruisers)...and they had to have an interpreter come over from another table to order!! The waitress just smiled at Jim. The lunch was excellent and we limited ourselves to only one rum punch....knowing we were going to walk back down the road to St. Pierre! After lunch we walked around and took the self-guided tour. They had arrows and plaques telling you the process of making the rum. I really liked the artwork....they painted scenes on the oak barrel lids and had them hanging on the walls. Luckily the gift shop was closed or we might have one hanging on Bees Knees!!!We walked back down the road into St. Pierre
...and just as we were approaching, a taxi came by and picked us up to take us back to Fort de France...about 10 miles up and down the road! The following day we went to the fresh market in town....picking up green onions, pineapple, grapefruit, canteloupe, green beans, potatoes and fresh vanilla beans with a cocoa stick. Bees Knees never smelled soooo good with that fresh vanilla smell just filling up the boat!! After getting all of that back aboard, we headed out to the local supermarket for our other provisions and more wine! After we got all our provisions put away, we were ready to move on to another anchorage....a little more quiet and less rolly. The anchorage at Fort de France is well protected, but the ferry service is non-stop all day and they leave the biggest wakes where we pound up and down! So....we lifted our anchor and hoisted our jib and sailed off with the wind abaft of beam....down to Grand Anse D'Arlet....about 5nm only...on the SE side of Martinique.
We arrived in Grand Anse D'Arlet on April Fool's Day.....no kidding!
Really didn't do much here other than swim and relax....took a few walks around the small town....tried to find WIFI in a little cafe. I cleaned the waterline of Bees Knees while Jim took the dinghy ashore to clean the growth off the bottom! Things are starting to grow!! The interesting thing about this little harbor are the 3 large sailboats that are "careened" up on the rocks along the shoreline! Really makes you want to check your anchor after it's set!!!!We attempted to leave on Saturday, the 4th, but as we rounded the SE corner of Martinique, the wave size increased and the wind increased to about 22K...and we were just trying to go about 12 nm to St. Anne, but it would have been slogging right into it....so we turned around and went back to the same anchorage at Grande Anse D'Arlet.
So, who cares if we spend another couple of days in a beautiful anchorage??? Today we are heading to St. Lucia.....leaving Martinique, the last French island that we'll visit for a long time! Hope the wine holds out!! Au Revoir!
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