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| Newly cultivated field with cane crop beyond. |
Day two of our land tour took us through Grande Terre which is flatter region that is more suitable for agriculture. Dan drove us past countless fields of sugar cane and through villages, large and small. At the center of the island (the “body of the butterfly”) the highway widened and then branched off in different directions to feed travelers northward, southward, or due east toward Le Moule, our first destination.
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| A few of the many Carib Indian artifacts found on Guadeloupe |
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| A similar tool like this one was found on our family farm decades ago. |
Le Moule was the first capital of Guadeloupe situated on the far eastern shore of the right wing. Today, Pointe-à-Pitre, which is situated near the island’s center (“butterfly body”) is the bustling capital city. From what we saw of Le Moule, it remains a pleasant coastal town. We stopped there to visit Musée Edgar Clerc which had recently undergone an extreme renovation. The museum artfully displayed the ancient tribal artifacts found on the island and also described some of the fascinating cultural practices. Now I believe I know why the early explorers thought that the Carib Tribes were cannibals. From what I learned at the museum, there is evidence that they weren’t.
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| Cane stalks being elevated into the crusher. |
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| The witch's brew of which we saw about eight vats. |
Not far away was the Distillerie de Rhum Damoiseau where visitors are welcome to do a self-guided tour. We have been to so many rum distilleries that this was easy for us. We watched huge wagon loads of cane being dumped onto an elevator for processing. We wandered through the facility at will and noticed that they age their rhum vieux in used Kentucky bourbon barrels.
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| A good old tractor for my brothers |
The fishing village of St. François was our lunchtime stop. Many simple restaurants and grills lined the dock area with their catch of the day menu prominently displayed on a sandwich chalkboard on the sidewalk. It was hard to chose a place to eat, but we finally moseyed into one with traditional Guadeloupian plaid table cloths and ordered our 3 course fresh fish meals for 10 Euros each. We were welcomed and well fed.
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| Fish nets waiting to be cleaned in St. François |
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| These were the largest fish traps we've ever seen! |
From there we headed toward the south-easternmost point of the island, to search for La Maison de Noix de Coco. The online information about this shop made us curious and it turned out to be more than imagined. It housed 4 or 5 small rooms whose walls were lined with shelves full of all sorts of handmade things. Elite craftsmanship was evident in most articles and many were made out of coco (coconut) shells or trees.
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| Point de Châteaux |
Richard drove us on toward Pointe de Châteaux where we walked to the rugged-rocky coast of the Atlantic. From there we looked out to spy Guadeloupe’s out islands of La Désirade and Marie-Galante. Other than that, this narrow tip of the right wing appeared to be not much more than a tour bus stop, as souvenir shops were plentiful.
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| Ilet du Gosier |
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| Even the cemetery in Gosier is a tourist delight. |
Rowena and Richard were curious about Gosier for a possible future anchorage. Gosier is colorful and quaint, but probably one of the most touristy destinations in Guadeloupe. We parked and strolled down to the beach of this popular seaside town. As it was nearly 5pm, some of the evening swimmers were already in the water stroking their way the 1km toward îlet du Gosier, a small island off the shore. Dan and I anchored here a few years ago and noticed the swimmers every morning and evening. It was refreshing to see such a huge number of people that dedicated to staying fit and by what better way than swimming.
Back on the road again, Richard wove our rental back through a bit of rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Pointe-à- Pitre. Thanks to the well-maintained two-lane highway, it decongested relatively soon. Then we crossed back over to Basse Terre and, finally, to our homes on the water in the bay of Deshaies. It was a grand two day tour!
2 comments:
Sounds like you guys are having a great time playing land tourist. Love the French islands and of course French food.
I always wondered what became of that Ford tractor we all learned to drive as four-year-olds in the hay fields so the "men" could load the wagons with bales.
Now I know!
Glad you and Dan continue to live the life. Back here, we are picking your broccoli, scallions, arugula and ought to harvest some of the lettuce soon.
Marty
PS: when we catch largemouths in the lake, we still put them back as Rosie fish.
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