Saint Pierre - Martinique From Anse Mitan we enjoyed a pleasant sail north along Martinique's west coast to reach Saint Pierre, at the foot of Mount Pelee. Anchor to Anchor - Feb. 5, 2009 - Anse Mitan to Saint Pierre, Martinique - 13.7 miles - 4 hours On May 8, l902 the eruption of Mount Pelee completely destroyed the town of Saint Pierre, also known as the Little Paris of the West Indies. Most of its 30,000 inhabitants perished, with the exception of a single prison inmate. We spent a week, along with our friends Robin & Sandra (Ngoma) exploring the area. We visited the museum which is dedicated to the l902 eruption, as well as ruins of the prison and theatre. Of interest we noted the old cobbled streets throughout town as we could see where the fresh water from the mountainside formerly ran down their centre to supply the town. The charred boulder ruins were visible everywhere. Post-disaster buildings have been built onto old structures, so many new buildings share at least one wall with the past. Ruins also form garden walls, and some have been tidied up as historical icons. On the water-front a replica of the original financial centre has been re-built.