Une semaine dans l’île de Martinique n’est pas assez.
Fran and I were in Martinque for a total of seven days. Well, actually really only 5 1/2 because two of them were travel days and we couldn’t do much. We thought going in, that a week would be a good amount of time to spend on the island and would be enough to go to museums, head to the beach, go on a hike or two, see our families and maybe go to a bar. No. We thought wrong. Very wrong. One week flew by in the blink of an eye. We didn’t make it to any museums. We did make it to the beach a couple times and each got our own shiny, new sunburns. We did go to a bar or two and drank quite a bit of Lorraine (their local beer) and Ti Punch (rum with cane sugar and lime (YUM)). We went on half of a hike and we saw both of our host families. AND we spent New Year’s on the island, so that wasn’t half bad.
SO.
The first day we arrived, as you already know, I was sitting in an airport for quite a few hours waiting for our dear boy Fran’s plane to arrive. My host dad ended up coming to the airport an hour before Fran’s plane landed so that I didn’t have to wait alone. So very nice. Then, after 4 hours of my butt being in the same metal airport chair, we all hopped in the car and departed the Aimé Césaire Airport for Fort-de-France city. My host papa kindly dropped us off at our Airbnb in town and we made plans to come over to their house for dinner the following day. Bises (Kisses). And we had to move into our first-floor apartment for the week. After dropping our bags and shedding a few layers, we headed out to walk around town and find somewhere to eat. We ended up eating at a restaurant that we made fun of quite often two years ago. It is called Hasta la Pizza. If you couldn’t guess, they serve pizza. So, we both got pizza and beer, then walked around some more until we were both tired enough to go back to the apartment.
our beers at Hasta la Pizza that night.
End day 1.
On the second day on the island we took the opportunity to walk around. A lot. We went to Le Grand Marché (aka Le Marché Couvert) to find breakfast. Le Grand Marché, meaning “The Big Market,” is a two-story covered market place that sells anything from fruits and vegetables to souvenirs and clothing to accras and crepes, and on the second level is a creole restaurant. We never got an opportunity to try the restaurant, but it is on the list for next time. We ate some accras (fried fish fritters (YUM)) and drank some espresso. Well, I had an espresso because, let’s be real, we all know that I cannot survive without it and Fran had grapefruit juice because I don’t know why. Something I love about the island, regarding espresso, is if you order just a regular coffee, you will automatically get an espresso. There is no room for that weak drip-coffee.
ACCRAS
After the market, we roamed around town a little bit to try to get a better feel for the city that we hadn’t seen in two years. Also, Fran was on the hunt for contact solution. We ended up walking into three different pharmacies and learned the word for contacts (les lentilles de contact), but we still had no contact solution. We discovered you had to go to an eyewear store to get the goods, so we wandered over there and finally found a travel-sized bottle of la solution des lentilles de contact. It was a learning experience. Definitely.
We then proceeded to head back to the apartment to drop off our things and then went back out on the town to find something to eat. Our Airbnb host told us that a cute bar, owned by two Germans, existed in town and it was called La Garage Popular. It was pretty adorable and rather affordable.
At the bar, we sat down and order two Lorraines and two BMW Crustys (basically a pizza with salami, tomato, and cheese). We happened to sit next to this man named Mike. Mike liked to talk. So, we found out that Mike was from the UK originally and lived on his sail boat and is on course to sail around the world. He started his adventure two years ago, but was currently in Martinique waiting to pick up some friends. We also found out that that day, December 29th, was in fact this man’s birthday. Fran bought him a birthday beer and then he bought us rum, so everyone was rather content. After talking with him for a few hours, we had to head back to the apartment to get ready for dinner with my host family. I also really wanted to shower.
A pic of Fran and our Lorrianes before Mike started talking to us
I was able to shower. Bless. And my host dad came by at 17h30 to pick us up. At dinner, I was able to catch up with my host family and listen to what they had been up to since we left. My host dad had retired, but never actually stops working on new projects and my host mom was still doing her professor stuff. I was also able to meet Ryo, who was staying with them for the month. Ryo is a student from Tokyo who is writing a thesis on Aimé Césaire and had to come to Martinique to do research. We had dinner and drinks and spoke a lot of French. But then we had to get back to the apartment because we were exhausted by 22h30.
End of Day 2.
Day three started a bit earlier, as we had to be ready by 9am for my host dad to pick us up. We Were headed a little bit further south on the island to Le Rocher de la Diamant, the Diamond Rock.
Our drive started and our first stop after leaving Fort-de-France was at the Pottery Village where they produce and sell pottery. After buying a souvenir or two and walking around for a minute, we continued our drive. The next stop was a beach that near Tois-Îlets, but that wasn’t Trois-Îlets. I think it was called Anse à l’Ane, but I could be very wrong. It was pretty through and my host dad said that the ferry also went there. Then we got back in the car and continued the drive. My host dad wanted to stop at his friend’s house to say hi since he was usually not over this way to say hi. They lived on top of a very steep hill, but there was an INCREDIBLE view off the patio. After that half-hour pit-stop, we continued down the way to Morne Larcher. We were supposed to hike this mountain, see incredible views, and picnic on top. HOWEVER, none of us were prepared and all were wearing sandals and shorts. Soooooo, we stopped half way up the trail and went off to a side patch of grass and had a little picnic there. We had meat pastries, liver sandwiches, cake, and an orange (all very tasty, if I may say so myself). Then we hiked back down (aka walked for 5 minutes back to the car) and then headed to a beach in L’Anse Mitan. It was a very calm beach and we were one of two groups of people there. So fresh.
Then we continued our drive to Rocher de la Diamant. Le Rocher de la Diamant actually has a cool history that I was very unaware of beforehand. So, without going into too much detail, it is an uninhabited island that played a big role in the Napoleonic Wars. The Diamond Rock was fought over by different countries because whoever had the rock also controlled entry to Fort-de-France and is situated strategically at the north end of the St. Lucia Straights. It was British and French owned at different points in time. Here is a link to the history if you want to know more: https://www.lerocherdudiamant.com/l-histoire/
Le Rocher de la Diamant
Next, we stopped at La Maison du Bagnard, the Convict’s House. Which is a tiny little house on the coast. I honestly did not understand what it was or why it was there or why we were stopping to look at. It is a small and colorful house. So, I looked up a little bit of the history to enlighten all of us. A sculptor named Médard Aribot lived in this small house, and the legend goes that he was convicted for sculpting an effigy of Colonel de Coppens (the owner of the Dizac Distillery). Honestly, that might be wrong because all the websites are kind of confusing. But it’s something.
After the Convict’s House, we went to the Aimé Cesaire Memorial Walk where there was also La mémorial de l’Anse Cafard, the Anse Cafard Slave Memorial. This statue is actually a statue of 20 slaves, all 8 feet tall and hunched over with their heads down. They are situated in the shape of a triangle to represent the triangular trade and are facing the ocean at 110°, that is directly in line with the Gulf of Guinea where many of the slave ships originated. It is a very powerful monument to stand in front of. And the reasons for the color, location, direction, and formation of the statues are all very present. It was erected in 1998 in commemoration of the 150-year anniversary the emancipation of slaves in the French West Indies. If you would like to read more about the history of the monument you can go to this link: https://www.uncommoncaribbean.com/2010/11/03/uncommon-attraction-anse-cafard-slave-memorial-martinique/
After walking down the Aimé Cesaire pathway and being present at the Anse Cafard Slave Memorial, we headed down to a beach bar to get a drink before heading back to the city. We went to this small little beach with a cute bar right on the water. I got an espresso because I had not had coffee yet today and I was feeling the caffeine headache coming on. Yes, I am fully aware I am addicted. It’s fine. My host papa got a ti punch, Ryo a bottle of Dider (some real good sparkling water) and Fran a 7-year rum. We were all very pleased with our choices. We then hopped back in the car after enjoying the salt water air, and missed the rush hour traffic (thank goodness) and got back to town at about 4pm.
Fran and his 7-year rum….
Fran and I were both craving a nap, but we had to get moving. So we both showered and dressed decently and after a small break of just sitting on the couch and staring off into space we were back up and moving. We wanted to do a nice dinner at a cute restaurant, but we ended up just grabbing a panini and a beer. It was tasty and cheap and we had no complaints because we are college students that are travelling on a budget and could not afford the majority of the prix fixe menus on New Year’s Eve Eve.
The New Year’s Eve Celebration took place tonight, on December 30th and not actual New Year’s Eve because the 31st was a Sunday (meaning everything was closed already) and the 31st generally seems to be more of a family celebration in Martinique anyway (correct me if I am wrong).
There was a street fair that was just opening up with food trucks and little shops. We wanted to get a crepe, but the crepe trucks were just setting up and we were impatient. So, we went over to La Savane. La Savane is a park right in the heart of Fort-de-France that is right near Fort Louis, where they also have little restaurants along the side of the park (and where we thought they served crepes). We sat down and were told they were not making any more crepes for the night. So we ordered our trusty Ti Punch and then got an ice cream sundae, because why not, we are on vacation after all. We sat there for a while and enjoyed the people watching and the brass band walking by. Then we decided to head out to go back to the water front and stake out of place for the fireworks. The fireworks were being set off from Fort Louis in the Fort-de-France Bay. After a nice little speech about New Years and asking all of Fort-de-France to turn off their lights, the fireworks began. It was quite a show! They lasted for about 20 minutes and were pretty dang amazing if you ask me, complete with overly dramatic music in accompaniment. I would have loved to have had a friend with a boat and been on the water to watch the firework show. I’m looking at you Mike.
After the show, everyone was invited to go over to La Savane to attend the free concert in the park. Fran and I decided to go for “one song.” We ended up staying for the entire hour and half concert. The concert was that of Victor O, a Martiniquan artist that would categorize his style as a mix of creole pop, reggae and soul, and his two guests Jocelyne Berouard and Dominik Coco. Even though we were very tired of standing, we enjoyed the concert very much. The music was good, the dancing was fun, and the people watching was incredible. However, we did wish we had a cold beer in our hands. Many of the other attendees had their nice cold Lorraines or Desperados, but we had no idea where they were buying them and getting back so quickly, and we also knew that once we left the park we were not likely to come back. Turns out there were little vendors on the side of the park. The more you know. The concert was a nice mix of locals and tourists, but the locals were mostly the ones that stuck it out to the end and then there was also us.
We thought about going to a night club called Dream, but we were both tired and had been standing for close to 4 hours, and I was also wearing Birkenstocks and did not believe that I would be let into any club in those. So, we decided it was time to go back to the apartment.
End of Day 3
Day 4 was New Year’s Eve. We had not had a beach day yet, and we were determined to. When we were here two years ago, we frequented a beach at Trois-Îlets. Trois-Îlets (which us cool kids always just called Trois [twahz]) is one of the more touristy parts of the island that has small boutiques and cafés, and to be honest, quite a few tourist traps. But the beaches there are nice and easy to get to. Anyway, we tried to get on the ferry to Trois Îlets, but I misunderstood the man that was there to tell you which ferry to get on, so we missed the ferry that we were supposed to take and then we were kindly reprimanded by the ferry man for not getting on the ferry that he had pointed to earlier. We waited an extra hour. During that hour, it started raining. Like a lot. Fran even said at one point “it seems like it is lightening up,” then it started raining harder and the wind picked up. So he was lying.
“it’s lightening up”
We finally got on the ferry and we felt like we were in the beginning of a thriller movie. You know, the ones where they get stuck in an emergency in a location with nothing else and everyone there has to work together to survive. Yup. That’s the one. At one point, due to the clouds and rain, when we were in the bay between Trois-Îlets and Fort-de-France, that we could not see either of them and it was just us, the boat and the water.
We got off the boat at Trois-Îlets already soaking wet, and then we proceeded to walk through the rain to try to get to a dry restaurant that would let us sit down. We had yet to make it to the beach, but it looked like we had already been swimming.
We found a nice little outdoor restaurant with plastic chairs that we wouldn’t ruin by sitting in. We each had a crepe and a beer. For me it was my 200th different beer of the year!! A true milestone. I logged in my Lorraine Amber on December 31st and had successfully reached my goal of trying 200 different beers in 2017. Then Fran ate a desert crepe and we both closed the meal with a ti punch. Ti punch is generally an aperitif (a drink served before meals), but if you ask me it can be served at any point throughout the day or meal. Then we finished the rest of the trek (really only a five-minute walk) to the beach.
MY 200TH BEEEEEEEER THIS YEAR !!
We tried to go to the beach bar we had a habit of attending two years ago, but they had just closed at 4pm. So, we walked around a bit and went along the coast and over to some old structures. Then went back to the beach and actually swam for a bit while it wasn’t raining and disgusting. Surprisingly, there were a decent number of people in the water. When I say decent I mean about 20. We had hung our clothes to dry while we were in the water. But after an hour of hanging there, they were still drenched. Delightful. You know, ça va.
We hopped on the ferry back across the bay, and we were able to see the lights of Fort-de-France by night from the ferry. Pretty sweet if you ask me. We sat on the top deck so we could get a better view and also Fran and I reminisced on our last night at Trois-Îlets two years ago when there were 6 of us all drunk on the upper deck of the ferry going back to Fort-de-France. The only time we were ever really okay with being the awful, obnoxious Americans.
After walking back to the apartment, and getting a little lost, we got ready for New Year’s Eve dinner with my host family. We had a 5-hour dinner with my host parents, their Japanese student, Ryo, and some of their friends and neighbors. It was truly non-stop eating and drinking.
Let me tell you about it: we started with an aperitif (Ti Punch, of course). Then it was a few appetizers: boudain, jambon de Noël and fois gras on toast. Boudain is a blood sausage that you have to (for lack of a better word) slurp out of its casing. It sounds repulsive in written description but trust me, it is truly amazing. Jambon de Noël, translated to Christmas ham, is ham that is baked with pineapple slices on it so that the skin can caramelize and be sweet. Super tasty. Then fois gras is goose liver pâté, and it was served on toast. Fois gras is illegal in California and I wish I didn’t like it, but it is so rich and tasty and I have lived with too many French families to not eat it. The next course was Sushi. Ryo decided to make us sushi for New Year’s Eve, what he would traditionally have on New Year’s. The next round of food was pork skewers, also prepared by Ryo in the fashion that he would eat them at home. Up next was fromage. CHEESE. I love goat cheese, and they had three types of goat cheese to choose from, all different tastes and ages. Then, the next course was cake! It was a sweet vanilla cake. Super sweet and super rich, but also fluffy and nice. It paired perfectly with our New Year’s glass of champagne! HAPPY NEW YEAR. It was now 2018, but the dinner that we started in 2017 was still incomplete. Ryo pulled out traditional Japanese cakes that were made out of rice. One of them was green and a little squishy and was made with matcha, and another was a little sweeter, chocolatier and more firm, and that one was made with green beans. Odd, new, but also not bad. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we had different wines to pair with each part of the meal. Then we talked some and drank some tea. And Fran was almost falling asleep at the dinner table, so my host dad was so kind to drive us back to our apartment so we could go to sleep.
End of Day 4
Day 5 is New Year’s Day and the day of the surprise! Fran only told one member of his host family that he was coming back to Martinqiue, for all the rest of them, it was a big S U R P R I S E !! We slept in a little bit today and then took our time getting ready because we were tired from our extended New Year’s Eve dinner and also we weren’t being picked up by Fran’s host sister until noon. Then at noon, it was a round of hug and hellos, and then it was off to the surprise! We got out of the car and Fran led the way, he walked up to the door where is host dad was standing and his host dad just stuck out his hand for a handshake and said, “bonjour monsieur.” He would later admit that he thought we were a different couple that were friends of the host sister and in fact did not recognize Fran at all. But when the host sister said “IT’S FRAN,” he stumbled back a little bit and accused Fran of giving him a heart attack. Then the host mom came out and was also very very surprised and was overjoyed to see Fran again. First things first, after getting into the house and everyone realizing that Fran was in fact back, we had ti punch. His host dad made ti punch, not with cane sugar, but with hibiscus syrup. I honestly think that it was the best ti punch that I have ever had. We ate a big New Year’s lunch of boudain, roasted chicken and pork, rice, plantains, salad, wine, and probably more food that I am currently forgetting Then it was coffee and dessert. Then more chocolate and tea. The family was so welcoming and warm. We joked around and talked and traded gifts. His host dad showed us renovations made to the section of the house that Fran had stayed in two years prior. Then, it was unfortunately time to go, and his host sister dropped us back off at our Airbnb.
the view from his family’s home
We chilled for a minute. Then we were back out on the town, but the problem was it was New Year’s Day and everything was closed. So, we tried to walk in (aka break in) to a couple restaurants without any luck. In front of one of those restaurants we got questioned by a couple Americans if we had found anything open. We ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night, Chantelle and Chris from Florida, and going to a place called L’Instant Food for some chicken and rice and a couple beers. L’Instant Food (I’ll let you translate that one yourself) was nearly the only place in Fort-de-France actually open at this hour on this day. After our dinner, we tried to go to a food truck to get a crepe, but they were out of crepes for the night, so Fran and I got two more beers (what else were we supposed to do?) and the other couple decided to not get anything (obviously that was the other option of what we could have done). We walked along the water until I had to pee so bad that I thought my bladder was going to burst inside my body. So, we left and strolled back to our Airbnb (which, in this case in particular, we were very happy with how centrally located it was). Then it was off to sleep for us.
Chilling for a hot sec in the apartment…
End of Day 5
On Day 6 we headed back to Pointe-du-Bout (where the ferry you are supposed to take to get to Trois-Îlets goes to from Fort-de-France) and hoped for a better beach day. We first went to a beach bar (the same one that we didn’t make it to a couple days prior), that used to have “the best burgers” as claimed by several people on our trip two years ago. However, the super madras burger was not written on the menu, and when I asked about the burger in question, he told us they no longer served it. We cried a little on the inside and ordered the Caribbean salad that was served with some accras. Then it was just chilling at the beach for the rest of the day. Or until we had to come back to the apartment at 4:15pm in order to be ready for Fran’s host sister to pick us up at 5pm.
She picked us up to take us back to her place for a drink and some snacks. She has an incredible view from her balcony. Like I cannot even put it into words, and I tried to capture it in a picture, but that also did not do it justice. We stayed there for a couple hours and chatted and hung out, and she even had a gallette for us. So, on January 6th, it is traditional to eat a gallette (a flakey cake, usually made out of ––). In the gallette there is one –– in the cake, and whoever finds the —- is the king. Fran, in this case, was the king and got to wear the crown. After Fran was crowned, his host sister dropped us off at the hotel where we were supposed to meet our professor for drinks.
She was our beginning French professor at UD and led this winter session’s group down to Martinique. We sat, ate some French fries and chatted with her for a few hours and then took a taxi back into downtown. We thought earlier in the day that we would want to go out at night, but we were both drained.
So, you guessed it off to bed it was
End of Day 6
On Day 7, it was the day to leave. I woke up at 5am to say goodbye to Fran when our Airbnb hosts were so kind to pick him up and take him to the airport. Then I went back to sleep until 8am. Half awake, I finished packing up all my things back in my one carry-on and one personal item. Now fully awake, next task was cleaning the apartment that we had been in for a week. There was a high quantity of sand, but other than that it wasn’t bad to clean. Then at 10am, I tried to go outside to walk around a bit before leaving, but it was a sudden down pour almost at the same instant that I put my hand on the door know to leave. So, I went back inside, opened a beer and drank that until the rain passed. Then at 10:45am, I went out and wanted to walk down to the water. But I ended up running into the UD study abroad group on their tour of Fort-de-France, so I said hello to my professor and hung out with them for a minute and gave them a couple suggestions of what to do if I were living my study abroad over again. Bottom line that I suggested was: enjoy it. Then, I peaced out, walked into the cathedral (finally after it being closed or in the middle of mass when Fran and I had walked by it before, and was under construction 2 years ago). It was beautiful. Worth the wait. And there were a high quantity of cruise tourists in there, so, I left again and just walked around the neighborhood. Took some pictures, took in the place and the warm weather, then met the hosts back at the apartment to return the keys. My host dad showed up a couple minutes later to pick me up and we headed back to the house to have lunch with him and my host mom and then an hour later, it was over to the airport to leave the beautiful island.
End of Day 7
For some reason, Martinique is one of the hardest places for me to leave. It is most definitely due to the beautiful nature, the welcoming people, the warm weather, the nice beaches, and the good friends. The connections that I have with some of the families there is strong, and the fact that Martinique is a destination and not ever a place that you will ever find yourself just passing through also makes it hard to say goodbye. I love Maritnique and will undoubtedly return.
Fran went off to go do marine archeology on St. Eustatius and be amazing, and I came back to the US. I was originally headed to Philadelphia and going to visit friends on the east coast, but then they were in the middle of a bomb cyclone, so I decided going home to California was a better choice. Also, all flights from Miami to the east coast were cancelled that night anyway, so my only choice was really to go back to California. It was an awful 22-hour travel day which included me “sleeping” in the Austin, Texas airport and almost getting my duty-free rum taken away, but I got home in one piece and am already on another airplane.
Can We Go Please? 