We are anchored near Pigeon Island Park and enjoy the concert of birds early in the morning and at dusk. Pigeon Island has a spicy history dating as far back as 1550 when French pirate Jambe de Bois (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francois_le_Clerc) used the island as a base for raiding passing Spanish vessels.

Today Jambe de Bois has a cute thatched roofed restaurant named after him...

Two centuries later, English Admiral reinforced the fortifications and used the premises to keep an eye on the French forces of the neighbouring island, Martinique (21 sea miles away). The view from the Fort is amazing, showing the artificially made causeway between Reduit Beach and the village of Gros-Islet and turning the island into a peninsula. . And, when that conflict was over, the USA used it as a post for their Signals Operation during WWII…

And yes, rust was building and lots of it!

Mermaids work hard! Even when the sun is hot and the wind so strong that it makes the paint lierally fly from the brush!!!

And when the wooden pieces seem to fit, black caulking will make it look "natural" again!

A time for work and a time for play...in every boater’s life! After each long passage at sea, there is a salt crust forms on all parts of the boat and our beloved La Buena Vida looks like a pretzel…and that would be ok with us because the first rain rinses it down! However, persistent rust streaks reminded us that underneath the wooden toe rail, there is rust build up! OK, the weather was sunny, there was wind (a times too much…paint flew away from the brush) and we had the stamina to start the job, which took about 5 days to be completed!
After assessing the problems, we gathered the right tools and went for it!

And now what??????

Back in StLucia, Rodney Bay..anchored close by to Jambe de Bois and awaiting the Jazz festival wich should start in a week or so. It's delightful here!

And so, on the way back, we drove past Fort-de-France, Terres-Saintville with hundred of houses glued to its rocky hills, it was a nice contrast to the lush greenery of the mountains! And there were traffic jams..but all of this was not that as bad as it may sound! We were in such good company! Pam and Bill entertained us, humming soft jazz tunes as we slowly drove back to Le Marin. They were great company and contributed to make this trip a truly unforgettable experience! Notre chemin du retour nous amena vers Fort-de-France..et la vue de Terres-Sainville avec ses maisons a flanc de colline contrastait avec la nature sauvage d’où nous revenions! Evidemment, c’etait l’heure de pointe…pas beau d’etre dans le traffic aux environs de Fort-de-France a cette heure! Mais nos chers amis Pam et Bill, en plus d’etre de tres bonne compagnie, nous ont fait l’honneur de quelques air de jazz qui ont fait passer cette heure de traffic tres agreablement!

Our beautiful adventure made us tired and thirsty and so Heiner had the great idea of driving direction Saint-Pierre to the Depaz Distillery in order to sit down at the Case Louisette and drink sugar cane juice! As Pam and Bill never had visited this area, they were delighted by the idea! It was a wonderful and refreshing break ! We all felt so thirsty and loved the sugar cane water!!! Pam and Bill decidedly love this little place and had to have their picture taken under the huge huge rubber tree that throws shade on Case Louisette. We of course finalized this visit with a rum tasting! The Ti-Punch (white rum, sugar cane sirop, ice and a piece of lime) made with the white Depaz rum was just to die for!

Notre belle aventure tirait a sa fin: nous avions soif et nous etions fatigues! Nous avons aime la suggestion de Heiner de bifurquer vers Saint-Pierre, plus precisement vers la Rhumerie Depaz (http://www.depaz.fr/pages/rhum.html ou nous avions deguste notre jus de canne il y a quelques semaines de cela avec notre ami Uwe. Ce fut une tres belle halte a la Case Louisette et nos amis Pam et Bill ont absolument adore les lieux ainsi que la degustation a la fin de la visite!!! Ils ont tellement aime qu’on les a photographies sous l’immense gommier qui ombrage ce coin de la plantation!

Our next destination was to drive almost to the top of Mont Pelee, the “killer” volcanoe of Martinique whose eruptions in 1902 killed more than 30,000 people in the area. That day, Pelee’s top was not to be seen very clearly with sudden waves of fog and clouds enveloping us…

Notre prochaine destination etait la montagne Pelee – nous voulions prendre la route qui nous menerait jusqu'au Refuge de l’Aileron!

Il y avait des nuages, evidemment, mais c’etait quand meme fascinant de se trouver si pres du sommet et encore plus impressionnant de se faire soudainement envelopper par de soudaines vagues de nuages et brouillards gris!

In order to reach the Caribbean coast from Grand-Riviere, one has to hike in the tropical forest for about 16 km in order to get to the town of Le Precheur. We hiked about 3km of this path in the rainforest – its beauty just breathtaking with giant ferns, red tropical flowers peaking through lush foliage, wild growing fruit trees, bamboos, and giant vines strangling gumtrees!

Entre Grand-Riviere et Le Precheur, une courte randonnee nous offrent un avant-gout des paysages forestiers tropicaux haut en couleurs qui characterisent ce coin de pays!

The last destination on the Atlantic stretch of the road was Grand-Riviere! That's where the road stops...Grand-Riviere, c’est le bout du bout! Puisque si on veut faire le tour de la pointe nord, il faudra faire 16km a pied pour rejoindre le village du Prêcheur, qui lui donne sur la mer caraïbe! Il y avait une atmosphère un peu spéciale à Grand-Riviere, avec les barques multicolores des pêcheurs qui vont braver les eaux tumultueuses qui séparent la Martinique de la Dominique…on les a d’ailleurs vu revenir avec plusieurs bonnes prises de thons et de daurades! Here nature is predominant with its tropical forests, its black sand beaches (of volcanic origins), and this little corner of paradise is home to fishermen who brave the tumultuous waters between Dominica and Martinique on board their multicoloured wooden skiffs!

Comme l’ecrivait Maryse Conde, auteure antillaise, la plage du nord « avec son sable volcanique endeuille comme les ongles d’un pied mal lave » est loin d’evoquer la douceur des plages blondes du sud du pays…

While these Northern towns are nested in an incredibly lush and wonderful nature, the towns themselves are not geared to attract tourists: their cafes have “inside” sitting tables in sometimes really dark rooms which natives love because they are shady and cool! But they are not very inviting to us, tourists, as we like to be outside sitting in the sun !!!! under an umbrella, of course! We therefore only drove through…of course, the fact that we drove though around noon time did not make those places more attractive. From noon to three o’clock all businesses are pretty much closed and streets are utterly empty! Siesta time! We decided therefore to eat our “home made baguette sandwiche lunch” in the forest, amid huge trees and lush greenery.

Avec la fin de l’esclavage, l’essor économique a périclite! Il fallait bien remplacer les esclaves par d’autres travailleurs mal payes …de la, les immigrants de l’Inde! Il y a donc aujourd’hui encore des population à forte concentration indienne dans des endroits comme Basse-Terre, Macouba…bien que les cartes et les guides aient fait allusions a des temples hindous perdus dans les bananeraies, nous n’en avons vu aucun. Ces villes de la cote nord ne sont pas aussi attirantes que celles du sud…cela dit, nous y sommes passes au moment creux de la journée, soir entre midi et 15h00, au temps de la sieste! Alors affames, nous sommes allés manger nos sandwichs baguette (fait chez nous!) au beau milieu d’un sentier de foret tropicale et de bananeraies…c’était assez spécial d’être entoures par tant de nature verdoyante!

Once we reached the town of Sainte-Marie, the landscape began to change..white sandbeaches and round and grassy Mornes (hills) yielding to a more rugged coastline and increasingly tropical vegetation. Ths area, by the way, was a very prosperous one in the 18th and 19th century thanks to rum and sugar plantations. With the end of slavery, this industry slowed down considerably and East Indians were imported (as cheap labor, with very poor working conditions) to these regions. As a consequence, the population of northern towns such as Basse-Pointe and Macouba has a significant percentage of people with East Indian descent. Here is a glimpse of the most renowned rum distilleries of Martinique (Rhum JM) owning its fame to its Vieux Rhum.

En arrivant a Sainte-Marie, les paysages commencent a changer…la « gentille » nature du sud cede sa place a des pointes escarpees, des plages de sable noir, et un vegetation de plus en plus tropicale. Les plantations de rhum et les usines de fabrication du sucre ont ete a l’origine de l’essor de la Martinique..La distillerie JM est une des plus renommee de l'ile, ce renom etant du en grande partie a son Rhum Vieux...

http://www.cartemartinique.com/la-martinique/carte-de-la-martinique.php

After sailing up and down the west coast of Martinique, it was time to explore its Atlantic shores and discover its tropical forests! We rented a car with Pam and Bill on board s/y Songbird and early morning on Tuesday we “boarded” our air conditioned little diesel car and up we went! (For those wondering, renting a car was very affordable at 33euros for 24 hours and we had to fuel for 19euros at the end of the day). We left from le Marin and headed straight to the Atlantic coast to destinations such as Le Vauclin, Le Francois, and Le Robert. All these towns are famous for their white sand beaches and coves. Places that we could only visit by boat if the trade winds are really mild..which of course happens most frequently in summer months! Otherwise, the landscape was one of rolling hills, banana crops, and grazing cattles offering at some turns of the road glimpses of the Big Blue!

Entretemps, nous connaissions bien la cote ouest de l’ile et nous avions envie de decouvrir la cote atlantique et les forets topicales du cœur de l’ile. Nous avons donc decide de louer une auto et de faire ce periple avec un couple de plaisanciers que nous aimons bien, Pam et Bill du voilier Songbird. Notre route allait nous mener du mouillage du Marin jusqu'au littoral atlantique. Les villes du Vauclin, de Le Francois, Le Robert sont paisibles, mignonnes sans plus, leur veritables attrait etant leurs plage aux sables blanc ! Mais voila, les plages on en voit sans arret alors nous avons bien vite fait de continuer la route …

Happy Easter!
We have been anchored in the large bay or Cul-de-sac-marin of Le Marin, in southern Martinique, for the last few days in order to go shopping and also execute several little maintenance jobs that we had not had time to do so far. We have provisioned on wine, smoked chicken, plantains and christophenes but also on sweets (dark chocolate but also treats like small jars of Cremes au café, Haribo Licorice for the captain, and of course a bottle of Champagne…it’s Easter!) and may be sailing around the Pointe du Marin tomorrow in order to go swimming and hiking to the Grandes Salines beach. Easter is a long celebration here and there will be plenty of boats and people in all anchorages of Martinique…many French from mainland France have flown here for the Easter holidays and will be chartering sailboats. Always a concern for us as many charterers are sloppy with their anchoring techniques! We will enjoy the warm air and water for all of you in Northern climates…we remember that lilies commonly associated with Easter are found in stores but not in frozen gardens!

Joyeuses Paques!
Nous célébrerons la Paques ici, au mouillage du Marin au sud de la Martinique. Nous avions une longue liste de projets – dont les plus courts sont maintenant terminés- mais nous ferons une courte escapade au mouillage de Sainte-Anne, question d’aller se baigner et marcher jusqu'à la Grande Anse des Salines. Nous ne serons pas seuls, ça c’est certain! Il y aura foule dans les mouillages et sur les plages puisque c’est une longue période de vacances pour tous les Martiniquais et les Français du continent! Il y aura beaucoup de charterers ce qui nous inquiète un tantinet puisqu’ils n’ont pas toujours le know-how nécessaire quand il s’agit de jeter l’ancre! Mais bon…Nous avons fait le plein de bonnes choses, du vin, du poulet boucané, des plantains, des chouchous et bien sur, des sucreries comme du chocolat noir, des petits pots de crème au café, des réglisses Haribo pour le capitaine et du Champagne évidemment! Nous penserons donc à vous qui rêvez de fleurs (dans vos jardins et non des magasins) en nous promenant dans les allées fleuries et sur les plages chaudes de la Martinique!

Saturday night, music was streaming from the waterfront and we could no resist the temptation to check out the artists! The sounds of drums, the voices were very appealing…These were local artists (from Guadeloupe and Martinique) with songs in creole singing the rights of people and emancipation ! Music and instruments were strongly influenced by African music and the voices of these performers were just amazingly clear and strong…En soirée, des tambours et rythmes africains ont attire notre attention…nous nous sommes rendus sur place et nous sommes laisses envouter par les voix et rythmes de groupes locaux (guadeloupéens et martiniquais)….nous avons été très impressionnes par les voix, fortes et cristallines des chanteurs et chanteuses…

Other goods were also sold as well as fruits and vegetables…sweet oranges were the big seller! Mangoes are still very green…but christophenes are just huge and succulents!

And we had the pleasure of drinking Sugar cane water…made on the premisces!

This water cannot be found in supermarkets as it does not keep well…so , everytime it is available, it’s wise to enjoy it…
Other market stalls specialize in rum punches but also in aphrodisiacs and treatment of ailments of all kind…how about a solution of undiluted rum and camphre for treating your back pain????It’s certainly is cheaper than Myoflex!

En plus des fruits et légumes locaux, nous étions enchantes de trouver un kiosque avec une famille qui y faisait des jus de canne a sucre….c’est toute une opération et comme l’eau de canne ne se conserve pas, on doit absolument la consommer sur place! Une opportunité a ne pas manquer!!

Bons baisers de Fort-de-France…time has come again to let our friend Uwe go!

Instead of having him spend 60 Euros for a taxi to Lamentin airport (yes, taxis are sinfully expensive), we bring him with La Buena Vida to Fort-de-France…and what a great time we have!Just anchoring in front of Fort Saint-Louis is attractive…but we also the Pitons du Carbet (1200 m elevation) as a backdrop for the Saint-Louis Cathedrale very imposing!

Au revoir Uwe...Au lieu de lui faire payer 60 Euros pour le taxi vers l’aéroport, nous décidons d’aller mouiller a Fort-de-France…non seulement, est-il très pittoresque de mouiller sous les murs du fort Saint-Louis, mais la vue de la cathédrale Saint-Louis qui se découpe sur le fond montagneux des Pitons du Carbets (1200 m) offre un magnifique panorama!

Fort-De-France (so named by Bonaparte in 1802) is the largest city of the island with some 100,000 inhabitants called Foyalais. This town has had its share of catastrophies, from inundation to earthquake and yellow fever epidemy…Throughout the years, it often competed with St-Pierre for the title of Capitale de la Martinique…after the 1902 earthquake, Fort-de-France was to become and remain the capital of the island !While we enjoyed strolling in its busy commercial street, we were thrilled that our visit happened at the time of the Foire de l’Agriculture and Mega-Marché de Pâques (Agricultural Fair and Easter Mega-Market). Dozens of tents hosting merchants lined up the waterfront and gave us the opportunity to enjoy local food and music! We especially loved the Poulet Boucané (smoked chicken)…smoking has become an art here and the Art to Smoke was shown by folks from (French) Guyanna! While this Poulet Boucané tasted great, the chicken prepared by Madame Touville and her husband in Saint-Pierre was tastier!

Fort-De-France a souvent change de nom mais c’est l’appellation de Bonaparte (1802) qui est restée…avec ses quelques 100, 000 habitants (les Foyalais), elle est évidemment la lus grande ville de l’île…Cette ville en a vu de toutes les couleurs, en passant par les inondations, les cyclones, tremblements de terre et épidémie de fièvre jaune. Fort-de-France et Saint-Pierre furent toujours en compétition pour le titre de capitale de l’île ..mais c’est l’éruption de la Pelée qui mit fin a la compétition avec Fort-de-France restant la seule option possible!

Bien que nous ayons aime nous promener dans les rues commerciales de la ville, nous étions enchantes par l’activité sur les quais…Tous les ans, le début avril est marque par la c’est Foire de l’Agriculture et Mega-Marché de Pâques.
Des dizaines de tentes alignées sur les quais abritent des marchands de toutes sortes,…nous donnant l’opportunite de déguster les produits et mets locaux…notre coup de cœur va Poulet Boucané …ici, fumer les viandes et poissons est un art! UN artisan de la Guyane française donnait une démonstration de ses techniques…bien que nous ayons aime son produit, je dois avouer que nous avions trouve le Poulet Boucané de Madame et Monsieur Touville de Saint-Pierre plus succulent!!

This visit will remain in our memories then it was also our 35th anniversary....which we celebrated with a drink of freshly pressed sugar cane water!

Cette visite restera memorable puisque le 1er avril etait le 35e anniversaire de notre union!!!Quoi de mieux que de celebrer avec...un sirop de jus de canne fraichement presse!!!!

The visit of the rum distillery was very enjoyable as it highlighted all stages of rum production, from the selection of sugar canes, to its bath in the pure waters of the Roxanne river, and then canes being pressed into water, distilled into a wine before being stored in oak barrels or stainless tanks, depending whether it is going to be white rum or dark rum...

La visite de la distillerie fut agreable en plus d'entre instructive...expliquant tous les stages de production du rhum...de la selection de la canne a sucre, en passant par son trempages dans les eaux pures de la source de montagne, sa pression et sa distillation avant d'etre mise en fut de chene ou d'acier inox, dependemment si le rhum sera blanc ou vieux!

Highlight of our trip to St-Pierre was the visit of the Despaz rum distillery...it was a wonderful hike from St-Pierre, along a road with tropical plants, always under a very fine rain ...no wonder it was so lush here!

Nous avions planifie de visiter la Distillerie de Rhum Despaz lors de notre sejour a St-Pierre! Ce fut vraiment le clou de notre sejour dans cette region , longeant la route bordee de fleurs tropicales, sous une pluie fine...rafraichissante pour nous ..et pour le paysage!