St Lucian Carol Singers

Last night, several car loads of people came down our road, stopped outside Catherine's house and sang loads of traditional carols. They were from the Church of the Nazarene in Castries and the group included my friend Mary. They gave me a large delicious slice of banana cake to take home and eat!

Holiday in Martinique

Here, at last, at the pictures. I apologise for the fact that they end rather abruptly on Sunday afternoon, but after all the partying, food and drink I was too exhausted to take any more pictures!

Here are Julius and Maurice looking down into the water before we set off. It was arranged that Julius would stay, with me, at Francois' house so that I would have someone with me who spoke English.

We left Castries harbour on Friday afternoon. These are two of the large cruise ships in the harbour.

Here are Catherine and Andrina on the ferry. Andrina (on the right) looks happy enough here but both crossings were very rough and she was sick in both directions. I was fine - I like a rough sea!

First stop was at the home of Luciana, Andrina's mum. He she is on the left of this group. Andrina is wearing the yellow T-shirt. Photo taken at picnic area on Saturday.

This is the inside of Francois' house, where Julius and I stayed. You can see the French influence here.

After breakfast on Saturday we were taken on a tour along the west coast up to the north of the island. We stopped finally at a viewpoint from which we could see Dominica as a shadow on the horizon and then turned round and headed back the way we had come.

We stopped at a little bay with blackish sand for those of us who wanted to have a swim. I spotted this little old bridge across the road.

At around 1 pm we arrived at Case Pilote, a small town with an 17th century church, the oldest on the island.
Our feast was to take place in a small picnic area between the town and the beach.

Pulled up on the shore nearby was a gommier - a traditional Martinican fishing boat. During WW2 the residents were forbidden to leave the island so those who wished to fight for France escaped in these boats to British-ruled islands like St Lucia and made their way to France from there.

First there was the obligatory long period of chatting and drinking before preparation of the meal got under way.
Once it did, the visitors were in for a big surprise - a truly traditional Martinican feast!

First the tables were covered with fresh banana leaves. Bread, soaked in water and squeezed out by hand was then crumbled over the leaves to make a base for the meal. (Note the ubiquitous bottle of Martinique rum!)

Delicious seafood was added - shrimps, saltfish, octopus, crayfish, tiny crabs still in their shells, and lots of yummy sauce. Plates are considered superfluous, the traditional way is to eat with one's fingers straight from the table!

After the meal Maurice insisted on taking this picture of me - in case, he said, people didn't believe that I'd really been there! Beside me is Marie-Ange, a tiny lady with a huge grin that frequently erupts, transforming her face.

In the evening Raymond barbecued for us to a background of traditional music. Here is Francois teaching Serge some traditional dance steps.

Sunday lunch was another feast, this time at Serge's house. This was just the first course, and beautifully presented. An elderly gentleman took a fancy to me at this party so we pretended I only spoke English, which he didn't. OK, except that I had to remember not to understand anything the others said to me in French!

At the end of the meal Michel collapsed onto Charles. I felt like that for most of the time !!