Shootin' the Breeze: MARTINIQUE

MARTINIQUE

We've spent a month in the beautiful bays of Saint Pierre, Grande Anse and Sainte-Anne in Martinique.

Katz was in Lagoon heaven!

We're loving this island and all it offers. There is beautiful snorkeling and diving, amazing white, palm fringed beaches, great food and shopping, and we got to spend our time with our French friends on Ercolausa, aka the French Fries.

It's so sad to see all the small reef fish being caught in this manner

Good Times on Club Med Beach

Fathers Day Caribbean Style

We spent long lazy days on the Club Med beach in Ste Anne, braaing chippolata's and drinking beer under the trees, we paddleboarded and skied and watched local fishermen bring in their catch. We did beautiful walks along the edge of the sea and spent our evenings drinking Ti Punch and witnessing the most beautiful sunsets.

Club Med Beach, Sainte-Anne

The French Fries and ourselves hired cars on a rainy day and shopped up a storm. We visited La Galleria near Fort de France, the first shopping mall we've visited since leaving the USA 9 months ago. We were overwhelmed by the noise and the continual buzz, we live in a quiet world out here. We went to Galleries la Fayette, a huge department store and caught up with the French trends in the beautiful designer boutiques and bought much needed cosmetics and clothing. The quality of the French clothing is far superior to that in America. We visited Hyper U and Carrefour for groceries, what a treat to have such a variety to choose from! Thank goodness we had our French friends with us, no one speaks a word of English and they were able to show us where to go and tell us what to buy. The food labels don't even have an English translation so we spend a lot of time in supermarkets trying the fathom out what the hell we're buying!

Some rest from shopping

The kids insisted this hat was made for me...LOL!

But one day was enough for us. We were very happy to get out of the traffic and busyness of the city and back to the calmness of our home on the water. We had such fun unpacking our purchases, we bought beach chairs, a Foosball game, a cooler box, new bathing costumes, make-up, some clothes and lots of groceries. Martinique is the last place to provision with pate's, pesto's, pasta sauces, biscuits and concentrated juices before heading south, so we are now very well stocked. We do find this island really expensive because everything is priced in Euro's and our exchange rate is roughly €15 to R1 at the moment.

We're definitely adapting to the French way of life pretty well, we're living on baguettes, cheeses, salami's and prosciutto, drinking good coffee and wine and having a little siesta in the heat of the day. The church bells wake the town at 5am, the shops open early and close between 1pm and 3pm. The villages come alive in the evenings, with everyone sitting around the town square and eating at outdoor restaurants. The conch shell is blown in the mornings when the fishermen have had a good catch and the fish gets sold at the outdoor fish market. There are local produce markets selling an amazing variety of fruits, vegetables and spices and all sorts of homemade rum cocktails and medicinal concoctions, one with the name of "clitoturb" got us laughing!

Some practical homeschooling

Not only are the pizza's delicious but what a beautiful box

Just to prove why we can't eat out too often......multiply by 15 then x4 people!!!

We sadly said goodbye to our French friends Samuel, Corrine, Erwan and Laurianne from Ercolausa in La Marin. We had such fun times with them, Stephen and Samuel forever scheming how to 'make good business' and the doers of a great beach braai, the kids skateboarding, paddle boarding and hanging out together, and Corrine teaching me about French foods and cocktails. They've taught us all to talk a little French and sold us their guitar which will always remind us of them. They sailed from France 4 years ago and have been in the Caribbean ever since. They homeschooled their children and have now decided it's time to settle down and enroll the kids in a local school. They don't want to go back to Paris and will be living in the marina in La Marin and sending the kids to a school across the road from the dock. We wait to see what 'good business' Samuel has going when we return in October.