Today we decided to buy a walking tour app through GPSmycity. We used the app and completed the City Introduction Walk of Fort-de-France in Martinique! We actually didn't 'buy' the app as they had a 3 day trial for free - so used it very successfully. This is the summary of the first 7 stops on our tour of 11 sites to see:
The island of Martinique is owned by France. It is an overseas territorial collectivity, not a separate country or colony. Residents are French citizens (who speak French!), the currency is the euro and it is part of the European Union. In 1946 the country voted to become part of the French Republic.
Our first stop was at the Departmental Museum of Archaeology. Once we had paid our 4 Euros (€) to enter and quickly learned that we would be putting our French to good use to read every single information sign inside the building! A person shouldn't be surprised - Martinique is owned by France!
This was the coolest mural on the floor. It showed all the Caribbean islands and how they are positioned on the map. J is pointing to Martinique with his foot. You can see Sainte-Lucia is below his foot (and therefore further south) so we know we are heading north now back towards Florida as we make our way to Antiqua tomorrow.
A more complete view of the floor mural.
We made our way across the street to Savannah Park. A beautiful, vibrant, huge park in the centre of the city.
At each of these stops, we could play a recorded message, telling us more details about the site we were seeing. We then went to Schoelcher Library. This is where we ran into a friend we met at the Cruise Critic meeting so she joined us for several stops until we got to the Central Market.
We then went to the Old Courthouse, where the square out front of the courthas has been a focus of discussion. It formerly featured a statue of Victor Schoelcher, a figure associated with the abolition of slavery in French colonies. The statue was vandalized in recent years, sparking debates about the role of historical monuments. Remember Victor Schoelcher was against slavery, not in favour of it.
We then went to Saint Louis Roman Catholic Cathedral - which has a spire 59 metres tall. The cathedral's framework, is engineered to withstand various natural disasters, including fire, earthquakes and cyclones. That is quite the feat, given that construction was initiated in 1895 (after a cyclone destroyed the previous cathedral in 1891).
Inside Saint Louise Cathedral
We then went to the Grand Market where spices, fruits, vegetables and souvenirs were sold.
We then made our way to the Theatre Aime Cesaire - which at one time was the Town Hall - and now houses performing arts shows.
J took this photo from inside looking outside of the Theatre Aime Cesaire.
We then found a traditional French bakery where we bought a sandwich on some lovely bread. We laughed as we ordered (in French) asking for a jambon et fromage sandwich, to which they replied no fromage. Okay, then juste jambon! Then we asked them to cut it in half. The older woman at the till said, no, and the younger woman, with the sandwich in hand said oui and was cutting it in half. Then the older woman gave a chuckle. J in his halting French said, "Nouse aimons les Français!" The young girl smiled and laughed and we said Merci and bonjournée!
We walked down the street to our next stop and ate our delicious sandwich and drank our juice before entering in the Regional Muscum of History and Ethnography. It gave us a glimps of the Creole culture of the late 19th century. Though it was predominantly French, this museum did have English translations beside the French information. Again it cost 4 € to enter the museum.
J enjoyed trying to pick a mango from a tree in front of the museum! He left the fruit on the tree!
While the Fort Saint Louis is a Must-see attraction, it is only to be seen from the outside. We were advised by somebody who works there that it isn't open to the public. Though we later met a family that said if you could find where to buy tickets, a tour was being offered at 2 pm. That was cutting it a bit tight for our all - aboard time of 3:30 pm.
And right across the street from Fort Saint Louis is French Beach.
You can see more of Fort Saint Louis behind French Beach here
We have had glorious weather here in the Caribbean for both of our cruises. Today it mercifully clouded over as we ended our walking tour. I was dripping with sweat and looking for shade.
We headed back to the ship about 1:30 pm and ate a little more lunch. We then went up on deck 17 to have a lukewarm hot tub (perfect) and then sat on a lounger to read under the cloudy skies!
Supper was lovely (if slower than usual tonight - and I was hungry!) Tonight's entertainment was Jassen (sounds like JAYson) Allen who performed Lionel Richie music. He was a Las Vegas calibre entertainer.
One more port tomorrow - and then two sea days before our lovely vacation is over!
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