The first of the French Islands… Guadeloupe and Les Saintes….

We delivered our Aussie friends Stu and Nat to Guadeloupe where they viewed a potential ex-charter catamaran with plans to go sailing with their 3 children later this year. We all enjoyed sharing our life at sea with these two lovely peeps! We accompanied them on the sea trial of the Catana 50 and they got to stay on the boat for the weekend. We poked into cupboards, bilges, lockers and systems, checking out the pros and cons and discussing the re-fit that would be required. We also had a few fun meals together before leaving Stu and Nat to continue their detailed inspection, make their decision and negotiate a final price (they went ahead with it! yay! another family out there boat-schooling and showing their kids the world!)

We popped into the markets at Pointe-a-Pitre to find a cafe for breakfast (but this was tricky- the French don’t do breakfast…just coffee and pastries as far as I can tell…). The market stalls lined up against the harbour dock featured colourful umbrellas and stalls loaded with vegetables, fruit, spices, flowers and fish. The scene would have been picturesque if it wasn’t a tad too grungy……This is the first place we felt the need to lock our dinghy.

The first thing that hit us as we tied up at the dock was the overpowering smell of urine. We obviously chose the wrong position because we saw many men and boys (and, to Kai’s shock: one well dressed woman) peeing onto the concrete dock…

We checked out downtown, found a street-food truck with ham and cheese toasties and were ready to head back to Tika. As we pulled up Tika-Taka’s stern anchor we tried to control our retching as we shook slimy fish guts out of our anchor rope whilst breathing in the stink of the pee-dock. Eeeew…

Sometimes when things don’t flow it can influence your experience of a place unfairly. We didn’t really give Guadeloupe a chance. The interior of the island looked spectacular- with steep, luscious topography- there was some hiking to be had there for sure. I am also convinced that French style must overpower grunginess in many of the quaint coastal towns that dot the coral fringes of this butterfly shaped island… Deshaies on the North coast looked fantastically cute from sea as we passed by on our way into Pointe-a-Pitre.

But for us, on that particular day, we were frustrated with a sequence of events that meant we couldn’t get our laundry done (laundry not open…. laundry open but marina shop where you buy the tokens closed….marina shop open but not willing to sell to non-guests…. Nat-a marina- guest came to buy us some tokens- shop had run out of tokens- “we will have some tomorrow”…the following day…shop closed due to carnival holiday, will be open the following day…we give up!…) and we let it get to us a little. Oh the trials of being a cruiser!

My point is that we left the mainland of Guadeloupe without a great impression, but realistically, we were tired, had run dry of clean clothes, hadn’t bothered to look around at any of the more rural, secluded anchorages, had spent a few days in a marina (this, for some reason, always makes us grumpy..) Oh and we had  inadvertently parked our dinghy in the toilet for the local fish and fresh produce markets…We probably didn’t do Guadeloupe justice…but we high tailed outta there all the same.

We took off for Les Saintes and in stark contrast to the mainland, fell in love…they had a laundry service (ha haaa!!). And a boulangerie. A cute little church. Cafes (with full breakfast menus ) Wonderful boutiques. A relaxed island feel with a French chic twist. Weathered, shuttered windows with distressed wood panels and houses with colourful walls, artistically rusted roofs, quaint picket fences (covered in vines and flowers)…. A pretty little protected anchorage. A market stocked to the hilt with French cheeses and wines. And, unbelievably the creamiest, house-made ice-cream…..

Russ decided he must have some French blood after witnessing a disproportionate number of French sailors out cruising. They always seem to have adorable little rowing dory’s and that self confidence that borders on arrogance but is admirable all the same…  And there are also many windsurfers amongst them!.

After checking out the boutiques, cheeses and cute little market stores, I decide that I also must have French blood. Have lived on a boat without luxury for too long.. a few Euros were spent in Les Saintes. Ooh laa laaah!…

Below right; provisioning always involved trays and trays of eggs in our family! Russ and Jaiya cannot get enough eggs…we have become experts at getting them back to Tika in the dinghy without any breakages…

Carnival is an old tradition that goes back to the time of colonisation. We got caught up in the beats and vibe of this colourful procession while shopping along the main street of Les Saintes…

We started school again after our summer/Christmas break! We had a big box of new materials/books sent to the B.V.I’s and so we started the term with all new books and also a new plan created with Kai and Jaiya’s input. It gives them the freedom to choose daily subjects and plan their own daily/weekly work schedules. Being Montessori kids, it works well for them. They have 20 subjects to complete per week (maths, science, daily journals, grammar, spelling, comprehension, Spanish, art and a research paper of choice) so they average 3 subjects plus journal per day (3-4 hours) 

Next post: Dominica! Canyoning, Spices and a Drama at the Anchorage…