Tomorrow we bid au revoir to the French islands as we make our journey over to Antigua and Barbuda. We spent our final days in port getting Galt ready to sail and visiting with friends we had met in Grenada over the summer. As our goodbye meal, we all decided to go to the Moroccan restaurant that was just outside the marina. On arrival, the restaurant was closed so we determined Moroccan food on a French island was not meant to be. Our next logical choice was Vietnamese food. So, we had two Americans and two French Canadians attempting to order Vietnamese food from a French waitress. We basically ended up pointing to the food on the table next to us and saying, “add meat”. You would think the French Canadians would speak French well enough to figure it out but even their version of French often caused confusion for the locals. I am guessing it is like Americans speaking English to the Brits….close but not just quite right! We left on Thursday hopping our way up the coast of Guadeloupe to better stage for the jump to Antigua. The seas have been flat which was a blessing but the winds have also been flat which makes for rolly anchoring. Boats are designed to automatically turn into the wind if left to their own devices. When there is little to no wind, the boat is at the mercy of the swells. The swells turn the boat sideways so the waves are bumping the side of the boat which makes it rock side to side mercilessly. It makes for a miserable anchorage. We had those conditions the last two nights but are currently anchored in a nice cove so hoping for a peaceful night before our 9 hour crossing tomorrow. Once we reach Antigua, we will do our usual routine of figuring out the immigration processes as well as internet connectivity. Wish us luck as we make the passage!
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It is official. We have stayed too long in the French islands because I had a dream last night in French….and I don’t even speak French! I have given up trying to learn because it really does not make logical sense to me. The town signs in Guadeloupe have the name of the city/town and then below the name, the sign has the pronunciation. While they are all illogical, I present the best of the bunch to you:
Pointe-A-Pitre = Lapwent Deshaies = Day Baie-Mahault = Maywo Grand Bourg = Granbo Roussel = Wose It is no wonder we can never find what we need! We have also been intrigued by car names on the island as well. Most of the cars are made by Peugeot and Citroen. While the US names most of our cars to represent power and speed (F150; Mustang; Cobra; Charger), the French cars seem to be named at random and definitely do not inspire visions of racing down the road at Mach speed. We have seen the Twingo, the Stepway, the Clio, the Kaptur and our overall favorite…the ever-so-speedy Cactus. We were laughing the other day watching a person try to park in a Twingo. The Twingo is smaller than a VW Bug and it must have taken the driver three tries to park. We tried to imagine him parking an Oldsmobile and that entertained us for quite a while! Our final adventure in Guadeloupe was a trip over to the island of Marie Galante. We decided to take the ferry which was a very quick one hour ride instead of taking Galt which would have been a turtle slow four hour jaunt. Marie Galante is approximately 61 square miles and the majority of the island is sugarcane fields. As we traversed the island, we began to notice that we would enter a town and then 45 seconds later, we would leave the town. I counted on the map and there were in the vicinity of 165 towns on an island that was 61 square miles. We figured the mailman would have no issues delivering the mail since there were only two to three houses in each ‘town’. No week would be complete without our visits to the distilleries and Marie Galante had three offerings. They were all very small in comparison to the large operations on the mainland but given that the locals were still cutting the sugarcane by hand would definitely make production on a grand scale difficult. The Bellevue Distillery had a very nice restored windmill which made for some lovely pictures. We then drove to the site of the most famous windmill on the island. I must say we were sorely disappointed by the fact that it had only two vanes and sat in a field full of cow patties with a doublewide trailer behind it. Did not make for a lovely picture. We spent most of the afternoon eating lunch beachside while watching the locals gather mussels by the reef. The water was so shallow that the men were only knee deep two to three hundred yards offshore! Other sites on the island included a lovely Sally and Bill walk to Gueule Grand Gourffre which was an arch formed by the waves and several soft sand beaches which have been rare on the volcanic islands. The next day we explored several ruins that remained from old plantations and enjoyed another seaside lunch before taking the ferry back to the main island. If the weather cooperates, my next blog should be from Antigua which will definitely help me understand my dreams again because it is an English speaking island. Until then, have a wonderful week….or as the French would pronounce it, “a a woo wee”…. It has been a week of Guadeloupe discoveries as well as self-discoveries! Join us as we jaunt to waterfalls, explore gardens and attempt to figure out French schedules during a holiday week. I will start this week’s blog with our new found self-discovery based on our explorations of Martinique and Guadeloupe. We like to walk. We do not like to hike. We wish we were the type of people who like to hike. We are not. Our new definition of an acceptable walk is the following: less than 30 minutes one way; a clear path (a few rocks and roots are acceptable); gradual incline is fine, steeper incline must be short in duration; bar and snacks within 10 minute drive from walk. Our definition of hike is the following: more than 30 minutes one way; path full of rocks and mud; root systems that consist of root ladders for climbing as well as ‘oh shit’ root handles; slippery rocks; steep hills with nonstop steps; no bar or snacks in sight, only trees. You will need to remember these definitions for the remainder of the blog.
We began our explorations on Grand Terre which is the wing of the island with no rainforest. The terrain reminded us a lot of central Florida. We stopped by Fort Fleur d’ Epee for some good pictures of the nearby beaches. The fort itself was small and sat adjacent to the parking lot so it definitely met the definition of a nice walk. Our next destination should be no surprise for you…Distillerie Damoiseau…more rum! Damoiseau’s unique offering was a direct view of the sugarcane machinery which was running and we were able to stand above it on a catwalk to view. Very cool! From the distillery, we headed out to the furthest point on the east end of the island, Pointe des Chateaux. The point had huge rock formations and the waves would slam ashore making quite the show. I took pictures from the parking lot and then told Bill we needed to get closer to the action. We surveyed the situation. Well-marked path, sand, a few bushes, less than 15 minutes, snacks well within sight…good to go! By this time, we were ready for our Airbnb which ended up being a really nice resort with an amazing pool! We enjoyed our night minus the 700 children that were in the pool with us. The French definitely do not average 2.5 children like the States! They are baby making machines! We headed out the next day to the north side of Grand Terre to Lagon de la Porte d’Enfer. This area was also high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean and the water below churned roughly forming caves over thousands of years. After a quick perusal of the walk versus hike checklist, we agreed it was a good walk and we made our way out to the point for some spectacular views. Having completed our rum distillery obligation the previous day, it was now time for the cemetery obligation. Not just any cemetery. The cemetery Morne-A-L’Eau was touted as the Caribbean’s best cemetery. Considering how many cemeteries we have visited in the Caribbean, we had our doubts. Pulling into the small town of Morne-A-L’Eau, we made our way down the main street searching for the supposed best cemetery ever. We rounded a corner and sat stunned. Blinking to clear our eyes, we set our gaze upon the most unique cemetery we had ever seen. There were hundreds of mausoleums that were in perfect alignment. Tiled from top to bottom, most with black and white tiles, they had porches and windows and benches. Some of the mausoleums were two and three stories high. The entire cemetery looked like a small neighborhood and you expected someone to come out and invite you into dinner. Thank goodness no one appeared to invite us to dinner or we would have had a heart attack. Of all the wonders we had experienced over the past two days, this manmade wonder was one that I will never forget. Our exploration of Basse Terre (the rainforest wing) began with a rough start. It was Good Friday but we had checked online ahead of time and the national Easter holiday on Guadeloupe was Monday so we figured everything would be open as usual. Our first attempt was the Distillerie du Domaine de Severin. Not only was it closed, it appeared to be closed permanently. We made our over to Reimonenq Distillery….closed. Fearing the worst, we headed over to Deshaies Gardens. Not only were the gardens opened, they were packed! We waited patiently for a parking spot and then enjoyed a beautiful walk through the gardens. The funniest part of the garden was the trained koi fish in the pond. The pond was at the entrance of the gardens and as soon as someone purchased a ticket, the fish would rush to the side of the pond waiting to be fed. From the gardens we headed to the Guadeloupe Zoo and were pleasantly surprised it was open as well. The zoo had a good variety of animals including lemurs and a red panda that I wanted to steal as a pet. The zoo was beautifully designed and we meandered our way through the forest on well built boardwalks enjoying a lovely day. As we finished our visit, we were surprised by how many people were eating at the snack bar. Not wanting to wait in line, we left….a decision that would definitely come back to haunt us. For our last visit of the day, we drove to Cascade Ecrevisses which was a waterfall that was reportedly so easy to reach that you could go in a wheelchair. Definitely met the Sally and Bill walk definition! It also met everyone else’s definition of a good walk because it was packed! It was at this time we realized that our Covid plus days were over…everyone else in the world was travelling again and we would have to learn to share. Leaving without a swim, we drove into town to get something for dinner prior to checking into our Airbnb. We soon discovered why everyone had been eating at the zoo’s snack bar. Nothing was open. No restaurants, no grocery stores. No food. Poor preparation made for a dinner of salami, bread, cheese and watermelon that we had leftover from earlier in the day but we survived. Saturday morning, we began with a trip to Saut d’ Acomat which was another waterfall. We approached the entrance and found a semi-rocky path with a few roots. It was a short walk so it made the list. What everyone had failed to mention was that ‘saut’ in French means to jump. If we had that information prior to beginning our ‘walk’, we would have aborted the mission. Our easy walk soon turned into a root infested path. As we neared the end, we had to turn around backwards and climb down the roots like a ladder. Once we reached the bottom of the path, the rocks by the river were very slippery and each step I took felt like a broken bone waiting to happen. I finally sat down on one of the rocks and Bill patiently stopped to wait on me. Overtaken by a panic attack, I announced that I was not moving from where I sat. Bill nodded, took the camera and made his way over to the waterfall to get a picture for me. After watching several seven year old children bounce across the rocks, fall, get up, fall again, I decided my panic attack was warranted and waited for Bill to return. From the death falls, we went to Fort Louis. On the way, we searched for food but found nothing open. We finally found a grocery store and grabbed some quick snacks. By the time we arrived, the fort was closing so we took a few pictures and made our way to the Vieux-Fort lighthouse. You would think a lighthouse would be easy to find but it was not. We found one trailhead that led to the lighthouse but the trail did not meet the Sally and Bill walk guidelines so we hopped back in the car. Bill finally found a road that took us directly to the lighthouse with no walk or hike involved! What a good man! The final adventure for the night was the usual hunt for the Airbnb. Once again, no address. By luck and one well written review that gave some landmarks, we found the Airbnb. The hosts spoke no English but through our translate app, we were thrilled to find that the host would cook us dinner for an additional charge. Since we had lived on bread and cheese for two days, an actual meal sounded amazing. It was amazing. We had fish, shrimp, salad and enough rice to feed all of China. It was a feast and we enjoyed every bite! Final day of touring. Easter morning. We had little to no hope that anything would be open. Bill studied the map and we found a trail that led to the Cascade de Carbet. Carbet was three falls but we knew we would only want to do one fall (due to the walk vs hike rules). We arrived at the parking lot and were met with a long road. The walk was reportedly 20 minutes one way so off we went. The path became very rocky but still manageable. We met some people returning down the path and a man spewed off a sentence in French which we met with a blank stare. He then said in English, “Path no good. No good. Turn around.” Seeing much younger and healthier people turning around, we quickly followed and made our way back to the car. Bill pulled out the map and found another possible route to the falls as well as to a lake. We drove up the mountain and as we passed a lot of cars parked on side of the road, we determined it must be the hike to the lake. If the words, “Where is the trailhead?” comes out of either of our mouths, we automatically get back in the car because we know that will be a hike, not a walk. We continued up the mountain and came upon a glorious sight. An official entrance to the Carbet Falls! The guard directed us to the ticket office and we gladly paid our entrance fee which had obviously been put to good use. Concrete paths, followed by laid rock paths, followed by boardwalks, followed by an observation deck. Twenty minutes later we arrived at the Falls and happily walked our way back to the car. Not one ‘oh shit’ root needed on the entire path! We have extended our stay in Guadeloupe for an extra week so we can finish our sight seeing as well as a few chores. Until next week, I hope you had a wonderful Easter or Passover! I miss my chocolate Easter bunny so bite an ear off for me! **Look for more pics on the Pictures tab later this week We began the week with our departure from Martinique. We decided to hop up the coast and anchor at St. Pierre to make the jump over to Dominica a little shorter. We dropped anchor at St. Pierre and made our way over to town to check out of the country. The checkout computer (that’s all it is in the French islands) was located in a restaurant so we decided to eat lunch while we were there. Much to our surprise, the menu was German food! German food in the islands was a first and when our pork and sauerkraut arrived, it was a feast. We also voted that the best meal we had on French Martinique was a German meal….that would make the French cringe! As we prepared for our night at anchor, we found out what the locals do for entertainment on a Friday night. Just before sunset, speedboat after speedboat began to arrive and they tied up together in the bay. The music began to play loudly and as more boats arrived, the party barge grew. Luckily, the French were an early crowd and dispersed shortly after sunset unlike the Dominicans that would have partied until morning!
The next morning, we headed out for our long day sail over to Dominica but Galt was jetting along so it was an easy ride. We dropped anchor for the night and left early the next morning to continue our journey over to Guadeloupe. We arrived in a group of islands called “The Saintes” which are a part of Guadeloupe. If you have never seen Guadeloupe on a map, I encourage you to look at it because the shape of the island is very unique. All the other Caribbean islands are either tall and round or flat and oblong. Guadeloupe is the shape of a perfect butterfly with one wing being volcanic and arid while the other wing is a rainforest. The main island in Les Saintes was Terre de Haut so we settled in the bay ready to begin our exploring. Our first surprise of the day was that our dinghy motor decided it had given us its’ last hint. It had been doling out hint after hint for several months that it was ready to retire. We kept running the poor little thing because dinghy motors are expensive and difficult to find in the islands for a price we are willing to pay. Finally, Houdinghy’s motor just stopped. Nothing Bill tried was going to convince that motor to start. So, break out the oars! Time for some exercise! Rowing into shore was not an easy task and I certainly figured out I need more upper body strength but Bill was a champ! Checking into Guadeloupe was quite easy so we set out on a search for food. We quickly discovered that finding food between 2pm and 7pm was not an easy task. The restaurants were open from 11am to 2pm and then they all closed down until 7pm. Several restaurants remained open in the afternoon but no food was served…only drinks. After grabbing a delicious lunch of gelato, we decided dinner would have to be on the boat because there was no way we were going to make it until 7pm for dinner. If there was one lesson we learned in The Saintes, it was the lesson of We are Americans. We eat dinner at 6pm and we do not eat for three hours. Trying to convince the French to bring you a check at the end of a meal takes an act of Congress! We spent our first full day in The Saintes with a lovely snorkel in the bay followed by an afternoon of relaxation on the boat. We were treated to an amazing sunset and another beautiful day was done. After our calm day, we were ready to explore the island. First thing in the morning, we made our way into town to rent a golf cart. Our choices of vehicles on the island were electric bikes, scooters or a golf cart. Since the electric bikes and scooters seemed to require a death wish, we voted for the golf cart. One thing that has puzzled us since arriving in the French islands is the fact that the vast majority of the islanders only speak French. On all of the poorer islands in the Caribbean, the locals speak at least two languages and many speak three languages. We always do our best to speak the local language and we did quite well in the Spanish speaking countries. Not so in French. We basically have hello, goodbye, please, thank you, yes and we don’t speak French. However, we spend most of the time correcting ourselves to French from Spanish. For example, our most common yes response is “Si…Oui” which causes the locals to laugh and repeat, “SiOui” while shaking their heads. Our second most common is the infamous “por favor….oh crap…s’il vous plait” which elicits another laugh and head shake. At least we try! This diversion brings us back to the golf cart rental. We walked up to rent the cart and as soon as the employee knew we spoke only English, he signaled for the other employee who spoke English to come assist us. The hilarious part is that the employee who spoke perfect English was from Mexico! He spoke Spanish, English and French which meant he really confused our brains that immediately went back to Spanish. We’ll just call our French island abilities Spench instead of Spanglish and move on! The best news of the day that our French and English speaking Mexican friend gave us was that all of the Stupid protocols, including mask wearing, were officially OVER! Ah, glorious, mask-free, PCR test free freedom! Each day, a new island joins the list of places that have done away with all the restrictions so we keep our fingers crossed that swabs up our noses and paying hundreds of dollars for a five minute test are now not so fond memories. After grabbing our golf cart, we made our way to the only tourist attraction on the island of Terra de Haut, Fort Napoleon. The fort was very well preserved and had a nice museum…even if it was only in French! After the museum, we did our usual Sally must see the cemetery tour followed by a snorkel at a beautiful bay. As we walked back up the path from the beach, we stopped in at a restaurant for lunch. The employee told us he had just seated his last table for lunch so we could not be seated. It was 1:00pm. Quite hungry, we drove to several more restaurants that were also no longer serving lunch until we came upon one that took pity on us and kept the kitchen opened for a few more minutes. We enjoyed a delicious fish dish with an amazing bay view. After lunch, we made our way “downtown” which was made up of a single street but it was pedestrian only so we did not have to be wary of the suicidal bikes and scooters. I left Bill at a watering hole while I went to peruse the local shops. We had decided earlier in the day to embrace the French way and stay out for dinner at 7pm. By 5pm, we were breaking out the cookies and by 6pm, Bill was very hangry. We walked the streets once again looking for sustenance and came upon a pizza place that opened at 6:30pm. Again, the owner took pity on us and started our pizza early so we would not starve. We have decided that the reason the French are so skinny is not because they are healthier than Americans. It is because they are starving to death! After another day of relaxation and prepping the boat for the sail to mainland Guadeloupe, we checked our weather reports and were ready to make the run. We have three weather reports that we check daily and all three reports predicted easterly winds and waves with a following current. I think that most people picture Galt as running like a cruise ship. Smoothly barreling through waves and churning along without issue. The reality is quite different. On this particular day, all three weather reports missed the mark by a longshot. As we made our way through the cut to Guadeloupe mainland, the wind, waves and current were all on our nose slinging Galt and his unfortunate passengers in all directions. Once this type of slaughtering begins, all we can do is hang on and try to figure out a way to possibly make the ride go a little more smoothly. We put up all the sails and then changed course direction which helped a bit but there is really not much to be done except to wait until the conditions change. Luckily, our beating only lasted a couple of hours but much like Gilligan, our three hour tour turned into a five and half hour slogging (see the picture below for how the salon looks after a good slogging). As we turned into the channel heading toward the marina, we figured our difficult day was complete. Not so. Just as we were turning to back Galt into the slip, the engine died. The engine dying as we enter a marina crowded with boats has been one of my biggest nightmares. The nightmare had now come true. Bill raced down into the engine room to work some engine magic while the dockhand who was in a dinghy managed to hold us off other boats while I put out fenders to soften the blow should we bump into another boat. Just as the dockhand and I were trying to ease Galt into the slip with only dinghy power to push Galt, Bill got the engine running and we then slid into the slip without any issues. Whew! A rough end to a rough day but all was well! We even managed to find a restaurant that was serving “snacks” at 5pm so we grabbed a quick burger and headed back to the boat to recuperate. Just to prove that they do not like to be predictable, the French surprised us once more. As we were relaxing and watching tv around 8pm, we heard a loud noise filling the night air. We looked at each other with puzzled and confused looks….”Is that BAGPIPES?” we asked at the same time. We ventured up on deck to find three Frenchies marching along the dock in full kilts playing the bagpipes as if it were the most normal thing in the world on a Friday night on the French island of Guadeloupe! We have now officially seen it all! My daughter later texted me, “Can you imagine the struggle of being a French child with a dream of playing the Scottish bagpipes?” On that note, we put a very strange day to bed. **More pics on Pictures tab |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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