Martinique

December 8-10, 2017.

December 8.

This trip came about sometime in November, when my friend (the one who showed me around Israel) found super cheap tickets through Norwegian Air to Martinique in December.  Before we went to Israel we were talking down by the shore (that's the Jersey Shore) about a flight to Iceland for $99, and I wasn't willing to book.  She then found the tickets to Martinique after we got back, and told me flat-out that I was not going to balk this time.  The prices were far too good to beat, and I had never been to the Caribbean, so I paid up and marked my calendar.

I called off work, went to the train station to head to Manhattan, where we met up to head to JFK together.  We realized in Israel that we have very similar travel styles, though she's still more "adventurous" than I am in the sense that she's way more of a backpacker type than I am, though we still prefer culture to dealing with tourists and resorts (we are not resort people).  While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, in the course of reading this blog and any future posts I might make, you will definitely see that I do not like the resort/luxury lifestyle.  I'm not bitter about the luxury part, I just don't like the idea of resorts simply because the idea of "all-inclusive" does not appeal to me.  I don't want to just sit on a beach all day and not deal with anything else.  I could definitely spend all day at the beach, but I also want, and need, to experience culture.  It's imperative.  I can't just go to another country or another place with another culture and not see it or smell it.  If I ever do, I could never claim to have been to that place.  Like I took a work trip to Dallas once, and never left the Hilton.  So while I can say I flew to Dallas, maybe that I spent some time in Dallas, I've never actually been to Dallas.

Anyway, I got super excited about this trip because a. it was my first ever trip to the Caribbean, b. Martinique is a French island.  So it's literally like going to Europe, and I can work with that.

I was actually pretty impressed with Norwegian.  It's absolutely a budget airline and they remind you of that, but it's pretty comfortable for being one and they don't pretend to be something they're not.  I also appreciated the free WiFi on the plane, even if it just wasn't very good.  At least it was something.




So we landed at Aimé Césaire airport, and I got the stamp in my passport, and we stood in line for our rental car since we figured it'd be the best way to move around the island.  We were right, and our AirBnb host even met us at the airport to show us the way, since the place was about an hour outside of Fort-de-France, the capital.  The house itself was lovely, owned by our host's mother, who was a dear and actually made us traditional food before we arrived.  It was night time so we couldn't see much on the drive, but the weather already felt amazing and definitely beat the awfulness that was New York.

After dinner, we took the car and headed off to a nearby beach town called Le Marigot, where the water was not very nice, very choppy, and the area was recovering from some devastating rains that thankfully we'd missed.  We drove around some more and walked along the beach, toes in the sand, the Caribbean lapping at our heels.  I was already enjoying the Caribbean.

December 9.

Woke up the next morning to warmth.  The sea breeze, warm air, humidity...  Everything I absolutely loved about summer was right there in my face at the beginning of December.  And now that it was broad daylight, I got to see everything.  All the colors of the tropical flowers, the green of the trees and grass.  So lush and gorgeous.

We weren't staying that close to the water, but we could see it, and hear it, like thunder.

We figured out where we wanted to go, hopped in the car, and drove off.  We stopped in Sainte-Marie on the way, which was a small rum-producing town that has an overlook over the water.  The eastern side of the island is generally more rough and windy than the western side, since the eastern side is more oceanic.

It was still breathtaking, with the wind-blown palm trees and the rough waters, it was a sight to be seen.

In the background is actually the beach we'd walked on the night before.

The church at Sainte-Marie.  It was closed so we couldn't go in, but it was classic European Caribbean.

Sugarcane plantations.

We got back in the car and kept driving, finding our way to the bottom of the island, which was where all the great beaches were supposed to be.  We played it by ear, saying things like "I think we should go right.  Okay.  Keep going straight.  We'll make this right here..."  And it took us to Anse-des-Salines, and wow.  Just.  Wow.  This was the Caribbean, and you'd be hard pressed to make me want to go back to New York after this.

I actually have no words.

It was my goal before I even got there to find a "bent palm tree" and I scored.

We stayed on the beach for a good few hours, just soaking in the sunshine, relaxing in the water, and overall enjoying the fact that we were not freezing our asses off back in New York.

We headed back to the car, stopping to get drinks (pina colada, yay!) and meeting a friendly cat (because I am a cat lady and I will make friends, or at least attempt to make friends, with every cat I see), and being very well aware of the fact that this is definitely a French island and we were not the only tourists, though we were the only Americans, so that was nice.  Most Americans still don't realize that Martinique exists, so even though it's far from undiscovered, it was exactly the kind of trip I like to take.

Pretty kitty!

I JUST.  PALM TREES.

COCONUT PALMS.

GIVE ME ALL THE PALM TREES.

It was still a bit early, so when we got back in the car, we went looking for another beach.  We just randomly made turns, and my friend who was driving, decided she'd figure out how to get to the next beach, and we came across a much smaller beach, but with not less charm.  This one even had a restaurant.  This one was Anse Figuier.

A stop we made on the way to Anse Figuier

We sat down under a bent palm tree, it being my main goal to find at least one, and I found one at every beach we stopped at.  Which leads me to believe they're not that rare, but they're still awesome and they made me happy.  So we set up camp under this bent palm tree, and as my friend got caught up with life outside (my cell service only works in North America, but I can work with it), she found out that it was actually snowing at that moment in Manhattan.  And, well, we were under a palm tree in 85F heat, and it was absolutely glorious.  Just please don't remind us that we have to leave tomorrow...

This was where we were sitting when we heard it was snowing in NYC.  It's my current phone background.

We ate lunch a little while later, a nice fish dish with fries.  I love beach food.  I love seafood.  I love everything about the beach.  Winter has decided to stick around as I'm writing this, even though it's one of the few nice days we'll be having for the next two weeks.  I need the beach again.  *sigh*

Yum.

Anyway, we finally finished up at the beach, and made the drive into Fort-de-France, the major city on the island.  It was virtually empty except for people congregating along the wharf and dock area, which was a bit weird, but as was explained to us later by our Airbnb host, everything shuts down on Saturday because of French labor laws.  Of course.

Fort-de-France was a cute little city, and we walked along some of the more slum-like areas, bringing to reality what life is really like for locals in the Caribbean who don't live off the tourist industry.

The main church in Fort-de-France

We did a bit more walking, and then headed back into the car, because my friend wanted to check out the chabad (Jewish center) in one of the neighboring towns.  Many Caribbean islands actually have a very active and large Jewish population still, which I didn't know but now I do, and I think it's one of the beautiful things about the Jewish community as a whole.  We looked around the synagogue, and I stopped and chatted with a family who lived next to it, me being the one who could speak better French (though it's embarrassingly rusty), about where to find more of the community.  It wasn't completely a bust, though, because everything's a learning experience.

We headed back to the AirBnb, and begrudgingly went to bed, since we had an 8 o'clock flight out the next morning.

December 10.

Sad day.  The end of the beautiful and warm weather.  Back to the cold.  It's technically spring right now but winter hasn't ended weather-wise.  Snow is expected in the next few days.  I've almost forgotten what it feels like to be warm and comfortable, and even happy with the weather.

It's really too bad I have to wait another two months for the next actual tropical vacation I have booked.

Puerto Rico from the air.

No, I'm not going to Puerto Rico.  As far as I know.