Thus far on our voyage we have visited four distinct and different countries: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia. This morning we called at our fifth and final country: France. On this island flying the French tricolor, we were told that our phones would be charged European roaming charges, euros are the local currency and dollars not accepted, and French is the native language taught in schools instead of Creole, Patua, or English. The Overseas Department of Guadeloupe is an official maritime department of France, much like Hawaii is an American state, and we were eager to experience and explore the differences of a French Caribbean island and culture.
And French it is. Our visit focused on the small group of islets known as Iles des Saintes, first named by Christopher Columbus as “Los Santos” in honor of All Saint’s Day. The French names are not the most creative, so we landed in the town of Bourg (meaning “burg” or “town”) on Terre de Haut (“High Land”), as opposed to the island of Terre de Bas (“Low Land”) astern of the ship. The difference from our other islands was marked and pleasant. The well-kept villages were brightly colored and punctuated with patisseries and cafes, high quality art galleries and stylish clothing stores. The atmosphere is relaxed but active, and Sunday morning ferries arrived from nearby islands and ports bringing locals to attend mass at the Catholic church on the main square before meeting family and friends at seaside restaurants for poisson or fruits de mer and glasses of wine or Corsair beer.
Iles des Saintes offered a lot of different options for us as visitors, which is perfect for our final day as many of us have different ideas of how to wrap up our week in the Lesser Antilles. But of course, Lindblad Expeditions travelers want to do it all, so almost everyone took the local shuttle vans or hiked up to the impressive Fort Napoleon high above the harbor. Historian Tom Heffernan guided the visit through the expansive fort that was more of a deterrent and never tested in battle.
Fort Napoleon houses an excellent maritime museum that recounts the consequential Battle of the Saints in April of 1782, where the English Admiral Rodney caught the French and Spanish fleets under the flag of Admiral de Grass and through the good fortune of a timely shift in winds, “broke the line” of the French frigates and thereby won one of the largest and most important naval battles in the Western hemisphere, preserving the important English sugar-producing colony of Jamaica. Fort Napoleon also afforded beautiful views of Sea Cloud below, and the cactus gardens were home to a number of land iguanas that heat their reptilian blood in the morning sun.
Everyone then returned to the very photogenic town of Bourg for a little shopping and walking before taking Zodiacs over to the nearby island of Cabrits (“Goat Island”) for a final swim or snorkel in the clear waters. The signature parmesan pasta wheel lunch back on Sea Cloud as we left the harbor left us all digesting in deck chairs for the final afternoon of sailing, with plenty of time to reflect on a most varied and interesting sailing voyage. The guest slideshow that followed our farewell dinner, brought back many memories and images that some of us had already forgotten were part of the same voyage! It has truly been a wonderful and relaxing week of tropical square-rig sailing.
