Friday, March 20: Martinique
Martinique, as you might have guessed, is a former French colony and, although it is much larger than Iles des Saintes, it has a similar French feel. Our stop in Martinique was in
Fort de France, the capital.
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| Part of Fort de France. Most of the large building on the right is unoccupied |
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| The other side of Fort de France harbor, to the right of the big building above. |
The first part of our shore excursion was a walking tour of Fort de France.
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| On the waterfront. They love New York! |
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| In the local market |
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| Sales activity in the local market |
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| Inside St. Louis Cathedral |
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| Inside St. Louis Cathedral |
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Place Monseigneur Roméro, a plaza in front of the cathedral
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| Schoelcher Library, built in France and shipped to Martinique |
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| Inside the Schoelcher Library |
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| Along the waterfront in Fort de France |
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| Josephine seems to be missing her head |
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| Some art-deco along the waterfront |
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| The actual "fort" of Fort de France |
After our tour of Fort de France, we headed to
Jardin de Balata,a botanical garden located about 10 miles out of town.
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| On our way out of Fort de France |
On our way to the gardens, we stopped at Sacré Coeur de Balata, a church modeled after Sacré Coeur in Montmartre (Paris).
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| Sacré Coeur de Balata |
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| Inside Sacré Coeur de Balata |
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| A view of the area around Sacré Coeur de Balata |
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| A more distant view |
The gardens were very impressive and well-kept. Definitely worth a stop if you are in Martinique.
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| Even the lizards enjoyed the garden |
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| Some hummingbirds at the garden posed for us |
After the garden tour, we returned to the port, and to the ship.
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| At the port |
The only ship activity we hadn't done yet was to lie on the netting in the bowsprit. The last time I tried this, I dropped my camera into the Caribbean. This time I was luckier.
Saturday, March 21: Back in Barbados
After arriving back in Barbados, we got off the boat at about 9:00 AM. Our flight wasn't until 2:30 (which meant that we had to be at the airport at 12:30), so we contracted with a local taxi driver to give us a tour of the island.
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| Back at the dock in Barbados |
Since Barbados was a British colony, the architecture and driving habits reflected that.
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| Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Company, dating from the late 1800's |
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| Barbados Free Library |
One of our stops in Bridgetown was at the
Nidhe Israel Synagogue. It was built in 1654 and is the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere still in use. Unfortunately, it was Saturday, and we couldn't get into the synagogue or the museum next door.
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| Nidhe Israel Synagogue |
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| In the synagogue cemetery--lots of tombstones from the 16th century and later |
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| More recent headstones |
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| Synagogue Museum, next door |
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| Some of the earliest tombstones |
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| A side street in Bridgetown |
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| Barbados Parliament |
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| Statue of Lord Nelson in Bridgetown |
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| Panorama from National Hero's Square in Bridgetown |
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| The Careenage in Bridgtown |
After visiting Bridgetown, we went on a tour of the rest of the island.
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| The highest point on Barbados, in the center of the island |
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| View from the center of the island |
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| St Joseph Church, with cracks from an earthquake in 2007 |
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| Some housing near the Atlantic coast |
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| More housing near the Atlantic coast |
Our last stop was at Bathsheba, on the Atlantic (eastern) side of the island. The coastline here is spectacular.
We finished things off with a cold Banks at the Sea Side Bar.
We made it to the airport in plenty of time. Unfortunately, that's more than can be said of our incoming flight, which was delayed for 3 hours due to a snowstorm in New York. Because of this, we missed our connection in Atlanta, and had the pleasure of staying overnight at the Quality Inn near the Atlanta airport--I don't recommend it. However, I do recommend the Royal Clipper.
