Market - Saint Pierre - Martinique The Saturday morning market on Saint Pierre's waterfront was a feast for the senses. The bounty of the vast array of crops grown on the mountainside was on display and included: lettuce, tomatoes, bananas, melons, plantains, pineapples, mangoes, coconuts, cucumbers, flowers, spices, beans, parsnips, papayas, cabbages, celery, carrots, onions and citrus fruits that were out of this world - grapefruits, lemons, limes, oranges and mandarins. As well, locally made basketwork and jewelry was available. On the sea edge of the market fishermen were selling their catch. This day is was marlin along with tuna, jack and snappers.

Theatre ruins - Saint Pierre - Martinique The first theatre was built in Saint Pierre in l786. It was restored in l8l6 and reconstructed in l83l. The depth of the stage allowed big productions and the slope of the land had been turned to maximum advantage by a remarkable set of stairways. The theatre sat 800. Plays were offered from classical to vaudeville as well as the great operas.

Prison ruins - Saint Pierre - Martinique The prison was typical of architecture in the nineteenth century. Prisoner Louis Cyparis, imprisoned for murder in a stone cell, was perhaps not the sole survivor of the catastrophe when the Mount Pelee volcano erupted in l902, but his destiny led him to be presented as such as a part of the American Barnum's circus. The thickness of the walls of his cell were believed to have saved his life.

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.

Sacre-Coeur de Balata Cathedral - Martinique High on the mountainside over-looking Fort-de-France is a duplicate structure of the cathedral that looks down from Montmartre upon Paris. We spotted it as we travelled by on the public bus. Even though we'd paid our fare to go all the way to Fort-de-France we hopped off as we couldn't miss the opportunity to visit such an amazing cathedral.

Ponds - Martinique's Jardin de Balata Located within the botanical garden grounds are 3 ponds - each a garden onto itself. Afloat on the surface were a multitude of gorgeous blooms and greenery. It would be an understatement to say the gardens were spectacular. We felt privileged to have the opportunity to stroll the magnificent grounds.

Jardin de Balata 10 km. up the mountain north of Fort-de-France is a spectacular tropical botanical park teeming with indigenous flora that evokes Martinique's original designation as "Madinina" - the island of flowers. This extraordinary garden comes complete with 3 ponds, a view over a tall stand of palms to the sea, shaded paths through lush ferns and a profusion of orchids growing in unique tree stump planters. The grounds are over-flowing with tropical species including torch gingers, antheriums, begonias, parakeet flowers and hibiscus.

Sight-seeing with "Ngoma" - Martinique We enjoyed a lovely day of exploring in the company of our friends Robin & Sandra (off of Ngoma-Zimbabwe). We took the ferry from Anse Mitan across the bay to Fort-de-France, and rode the communal taxi (T.C.) 10 km. up the mountainside to the botanical gardens. Afterwards we caught the public bus down to the cathedral and then again to Fort-de-France. With just our French language translation book to assist us we surprised ourselves at how easy it was to get around.

Sugar Mill - Pagerie plantation On the plantation property, adjacent to the home and kitchen are the partially restored ruins of the Pagerie sugar mill. The family lived in the mill after the home was destroyed by fire as there was no money to rebuild.

Empress Josephine's childhood home (Trois Ilets, Martinique) Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte married Josephine Beauharnais (born l763). She was the daughter of a Martinique plantation owner (Pagerie). We visited the Museum de la Pagerie which is located at Trois Ilets; the birthplace and home of Josephine until she was 16 years of age. At that time she travelled to France for a pre-arranged marriage. She had 2 children before her husband was beheaded for treason during the French revolution. She falsified her documents and married Napoleon, in spite of their 6 year age difference. At that time it was against the law for a woman to marry someone younger than herself. When they were married Josephine was 33 and Napoleon was 27. Their documents falsely show them both to be 28. She was Empress of France from 1804 to 1809. Napoleon divorced her as their marriage was childless and she was unable to give him an heir. The museum is located in the former estate kitchen. In it we saw Josephine's childhood bed, a passionate letter from Napoleon and many photos, drawings etc from their life together. The plantation home burned down and all that remains of it is the foundation.