French Is

French West Indies

The islands are shared by two separate governments: Saint-Martin to the north is a dependency of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France; the southern portion is Sint Maarten of the Netherlands Antilles.

As legend has it, boundaries were agreed upon between a Dutchman and a Frenchman who started out back to back and walked along the coast of the island until they met again. That the French ended up with more of the island (21 sq miles to the Dutch 16) has been attributed to the Dutchman’s shorter legs.

Pt de Basse Terrie

Guadeloupe

The charming town of Marigot Bay is lovely with a long, hotel studded beach. Swimming is pleasant enough in the clear waters, although not much to admire underwater in the fish department. We took our dinghy to Grand Case for the cross-island footpath over to Oriental Bay. Though we departed early morning, the black rocks lining the beach trail was a killer in the sun. A cool swim was in order to revive a member in our group who suffered a minor heat stroke en route.

Bartering for spices and local crafts (especially wood carvings) in the small boutiques and outdoor markets was a real delight after our long trek. Genuine French croixsantes became a favorite of the kids at the local bakery. Go early and sample it with morning coffee out of tiny teacups, while watching the locals head to work and the children to school.

Being a duty-free port, yacht provisioning was easy and fun, not to mention the joy of speaking French, even if you sputter through it. We anchored in Simpson Bay outside the bridge and dingied to Budget Marine and Island Water World, both with dockside tie-ups for dinghys.

If you're dying for the exotic French cuisine, take a taxi to Grand Case - carry extra cash for the bill you'll be shocked to see! The quaint town is purported to be the gastronomic capital of the Caribbean with dozens of restaurants bordering beachfront road..

Gustavia Street

Of all the French islands, St. Barts is the most mountainous with a tropical lushness. It is also very chic – it’s not uncommon to spot a celebrity amongst the beautiful and thin people donned in designer clothes. The prices onshore were shocking, so we didn’t stay long. Just strolling along the hilly, skinny roads bordered by red roofed Gingerbread houses – many with boutiques and open air cafes between them – was a treat in itself.

Columbus named the island after his brother, Bartholomeo. The Carib Indians remained here longer than on any other Caribbean island. Today, islanders are descendents of the Norman and Breton settlers, some still dressing in the style of those times, regardless of the skimpy bikinis and Bermuda shorts of their island visitors.

Marigot Bay

Simpson Bay

Town of Gustavia

Deshaies Anchorage

Christopher Columbus first landed here 1493, naming it for the monastery of Santa Maria de Guadeloupe in Spain, fulfilling a vow to the monks at a monastery for having survived a storm.

French colonists arrived nearly 150 years later, gradually conquering the indigenous Carib people. It was the Carib who first named the island, Karukera ("land of beautiful waters"). Governmental rule passed between the British and French a couple times, until settling down in 1763, when it again passed to France.

Slaves worked the lands for sugar, bananas and rum, until slavery was outlawed in 1848. Only eleven percent is cultivated today. Infrastructure funds are supplied by France, with a strong dependence on tourism. With 180 miles of hiking trails, the island is a favorite amongst the non-cruiseship crowd.

La Soufrière Volcano

We caught the local bus Basse-Terre from our favorite anchorage of Deshaise, to begin our trek to La Soufriere. Located at 4,183', it means “big sulphur outlet” in French. Fog and mist enveloped the trail most of the way, then cleared at the top for a quick photo, before reappearing again. The intriguing trail wound through tropical rainforest and hot springs, across rugged gorges. A picnic lunch at the peak made it all worth the effort.

Steaming fissures, fumaroles and sulphurous vents are still active. On our trek, certain trails designated as dangerous, were cordoned off.

The beauty of Deshaies is stunning. A 'swooshing' sound resonsates across the harbor from the hills, joined in with tropical bird calls for a complete melody. Perfect, after loud island tunes that wafted over most harbors in the Virgins.

Adam and Warren, with a cruising friend, jump off the dock with local kids - a favorite afternoon pasttime.

Adam & Warren take the lead, as we straggle behind.

La Soufrière last erupted in 1976 , which led to an evacuation, but no loss of life. It is still active today.

View from Fort Napoléon

Terre-de-Haut Island

The Îles des Saintes means, "Islands of the (female) Saints". Seven islands make up Les Saintes: only Terre-de-Haut Island and Terre-de-Bas Island are populated. We anchored in the natural harbor at Terre-de-Bas Island, where we were surrounded by coffee, cotton, pepper, and bananas trees. After our trek up the steep hill to Fort Napoléon, we stopped for ice cream at one of the many sidewalk cafes that fringed the narrow road of the village center.

The islands were named Los Santos by Columbus, who arrived there on All Saints' Day of 1493. Like Guadeloupe, French colonists arrived nearly 150 yrs later and were fought over by the French and British due to its strategic position. The final battle was coined the Battle of the Saintes, under French control since 1816. The people of the islands are known as Saintoise, are renowned as skilled fishermen, and trace their lineage back to Breton settlers.

Montagne Pelée: the Fire Mountain

Pointe Marin

Farmers Markets

Downtown Fort de France

St Pierre Then

Montagne Pelée Eruption 1902

Rue du Pavé Evacuation

St Pierre Today

We were delighted with the winding streets and colorful markets of Fort-de-France, the island’s capital.

If you're in search of a catamaran for purchase,
this is the place for you. We anchored at Saint Anne for easy access to Cul de Sac du Marin , where we walked the docks to view the latest designs of cats. The bay swells with boats.

Boat Markets

"I felt a terrible wind blowing, the earth began to tremble, and the sky suddenly became dark. I turned to go into the house, with great difficultuy climbed the three or four steps that separated me from my room, and felt my arms and legs burning, also my body. I dropped upon a table. At this moment four others sought refuge in my room, crying and writhing with pain, although their garments showed no sign of having been touched by flame. At the end of 10 minutes one of these, the young Delavaud girl, aged about 10 years, fell dead; the others left. I got up and went to another room, where I found the father Delavaud, still clothed and lying on the bed, dead. He was purple and inflated, but the clothing was intact. Crazed and almost overcome, I threw myself on a bed, inert and awaiting death. My senses returned to me in perhaps an hour, when I beheld the roof burning. With sufficient strength left, my legs bleeding and covered with burns, I ran to Fonds-Sait-Denis, six kilometers from Saint-Pierre." Report by Compère-Léandre, a man who lived at the edge of the city, stated when asked about his survival in 1902.

The other survivor was Louis-Auguste Cyparis, a felon held in an underground cell in the town's jail for wounding a friend with a cutlass.

St. Pierre was covered with a layer of white ash. Reports recall how wild and domesticated animals grew agitated before the eruption. A massive swarm of ants and foot-long centipedes, invaded the Guérin Sugar Works near Saint-Pierre, biting horses.

In Saint-Pierre, hundreds of frantic snakes slithered through the streets, biting anybody they encountered. Attempts to quell the snakes by shooting failed and many people and domesticated animals died from the deadly invasion.

The Carib people, knew it as "fire mountain" from previous eruptions in ancient times. Montagne Pelée is French for "Bald Mountain", a volcano that buried Saint-Pierre and was the worst of the 20th century. The eruption killed about 30,121 people from deadly pyroclastic flows in 1902.

On Monday, May 5, a tsunami hit, first receding 330 feet, then rushing back, flooding parts of the city at about the same time a great cloud of smoke appeared over Mt Pelée. When a crater wall collapsed, a mass of boiling water and mud were propelled, flooding the Guérin sugar works and burying 150 victims under 200-300 feet of mud.

In the morning, a second gigantic mushroom cloud rolled upwards from the peak, darkening the sky in a 50-mile radius. The initial speed of both clouds was later calculated to be over 420 miles per hour. The city burned for several more days.

Invasion of Snakes Strikes Islanders

Tsuanami Floods City

" My Legs are burning!"

A Survivor's Account

The is a marvelous museum in St. Pierre that displays good historical accounts of the 'Fire Moutnain'.

St Martin

St Barts

Iles des Saintes

Martinique