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Martinique and Guadeloupe Page Two A Bit of Normandy and Provence in the Blue Caribbean The Sophisticated And Tropical French West Indies, Where You Can Own For Less Than $50,000 by Steenie Harvey

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Sun and rum rations As you reach the long sands of Anse Diamant, the coast opens up to reveal a huge rock jutting from the sea. This is Rocher du Diamant, Diamond Rock, captured by British soldiers in 1805. Maybe the combination of sun and rum rations addled their brains, but they designated it as a warship, titling it HMS Diamond. The French chucked them off after 18 months. Facing the long palm-fringed beach, there are some lovely Creole-inspired homes in Diamant’s Dizac quartier. You’ll pay around $174,000 for a 1,400-square-foot villa; $133,000 for a three-bedroom duplex apartment in a residence with a pool and large gardens. Martinique’s south coast, le Grand Sud, offers views as grand as you could wish for. You can even glimpse the neighboring island of Saint Lucia. There are day trips to Saint Lucia from Le Marin, a marina town of ships chandlers and yacht brokers set amongst hummocky green hills. It has a distinct international feel and the harbor’s Mango Bay bar was packed with yachties ashore for a late breakfast.

Sophie Hamon of Neuf Immo speaks a little English. One-bedroom furnished rentals in Le Marin average around $560 monthly. To buy, studio apartments start at $69,000, though it costs at least $192,000 for a two-bedroom bungalow-style villa with a sea view. Incidentally, Sophie’s office is beside the cheapest Internet café I discovered on Martinique: it charges $6.35 per hour. Outlets in Pointe du Bout and Fort-de-France rook you for $10.55 to $14.25 per hour. 
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Pig’s-blood sausages, anyone? . You can sample classic French dishes on both islands. One night I had foie gras followed by magret de canard (duck breast) in the excellent La Terrasse on Saint-François marina. Another night (this harbor-side restaurant deserved a repeat visit), I chose the set menu for $27.50: a starter of acras de morue, followed by lobster, and some divine chocolate profiteroles. . What’s acras de morue? Well, you’ll almost certainly see it in restaurants specializing in Creole cuisine. Recipes often borrow from the islanders’ African heritage and these spicy codfish balls are a menu staple. They make a tasty snack, but you’ll also come across many other delights...fillet of red snapper in banana leaves...sautéed shark with fresh coriander ...beef fillet adorned with sticks of natural vanilla...puddings such as mango soufflé…  . The only thing I didn’t enjoy was lambis. I’m always hungry for esoteric taste experiences, but the innards of conch shells were too gruesome even for me. If you have a delicate stomach, Creole boudin is something else you might want to avoid. Soft, squidgy, and spicy, these black sausages are made from pigs’ blood. .  ¿Por Que?

Martinique’s volcanic north
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The Last Days of St. Pierre: The Volcanic Disaster that Claimed 30,000 Lives "The eruption of Mount Pelée on the Caribbean island of Martinique in the spring of 1902 destroyed the entire French West Indies city of St. Pierre. A hundred years later, natural disaster buff Zebrowksi has pulled together enough records to create a subtle though gripping book about the eruption that combines powerful human drama (and tragedy) with a well - documented report of catastrophe in paradise. His account dwells on how easily the French bureaucratic order buckled like Walter Lord’s A Night To Remember cast on an island fixed in a sea of cataclysms over the Atlantic Tectonic Plate. And like the Titanic disaster, this one came at just the moment when science (early seismometers were in place on the island) and undersea cable communications seemed capable of defending cities against forces of nature.

Martinique’s north is more luxuriantly green, but beaches are gray and the sea pounds far more fiercely. Plus it’s rather too close to Mont Pelée for comfort...this volcano wiped out 29,000 people in 1902. I made a day trip to Saint-Pierre, which served as Martinique’s capital until the volcano erupted. In those days it was the French Caribbean’s premier city. Old photos show men in top hats and ladies in fashionable frills. The latest Parisian plays were performed in its theater. The cathedral must have been something special. According to one 19th-century traveler: “Thrice daily, from the towers of the white cathedral, a superb chime of bells rolls a carillon...the effect is startling, all the city vibrates to a weird sound difficult to describe, an abysmal quivering moan.”  Now the old cathedral’s great carillon bell is a twisted relic, an exhibit in Saint-Pierre’s vulcanology museum. Most guidebooks say only one citizen survived the volcano, but the museum guide said this isn’t true. Wisely heeding rumbles and other seismic warnings, around 1,000 locals left before Mont Pelée blew. The single survivor myth was engineered by the American circus, Barnum. They persuaded Louis Cyparis, a Saint-Pierre local, to appear in a sideshow exhibiting his burns. A drunkard, he survived through being in jail when the volcano erupted. Existing only on the water trickling down the underground cell walls for four days, he was rescued by a neighboring village’s parish priest.  Nowadays, 5,000 people live in Saint-Pierre, but I thought it seemed quite run down. However, it is worth visiting. Although the old town was almost totally destroyed, you can visit the ruined theater and foundations of the jail. Outside the museum, a pillar commemorates U.S. Consul, Thomas T. Prentis. He too was a victim of the volcano.   Read, "The Last Days of St. Pierre: The Volcanic Disaster that Claimed 30,000 Lives," for an excellent account of the eruption and the events surrounding it. In The Last Days of St. Pierre, Ernest Zebrowski, Jr., counts down the days leading up to the catastrophe, and unfolds a tale intertwining human foolishness and heroism with the remarkable forces of nature. Illustrations contrast life in Martinique before and after the eruption, and eyewitness accounts bring the story to life.

A Martinique property sampler • In the Terreville hills of Schoelcher, 15 minutes from Fort-de-France, a renovated studio apartment in a residence with a pool and tennis courts. Price: $42,000. • At Anse à l’Ane (just west of Trois Islets), a bijou 376 square foot apartment, ideal as a holiday rental property or a small pied-à-terre’. It’s second-line beachfront, has one bedroom, and is being sold furnished. Price: $63,000. • Opposite Le Marin’s marina, a furnished air-conditioned studio in Résidence de la Baie. Price: $73,000.  • A three-bedroom bungalow-style villa near the sea in Sainte-Anne’s Cap Chevalier area. In good condition, the surface area is 1,470 square feet and the 5,000-square-foot includes a small pool. Price: 145,000. • A 1,200-square-foot three-bedroom house with a sea view in the wooded hills above les Anses d’Arlet. Price: $167,000. • A 1,300-square-foot first-floor apartment with an 86-square-foot balcony in Fort-de-France’s sought-after Pointe des Nègres sector. Set in pretty gardens, the pink-painted residence is low-rise (four storys), air-conditioned, and residents have a private pool and tennis court. Price: $222,000 plus $160 monthly charges.

Agence Tropic (Mr Schafer), Marina de la Pointe du Bout, 97229 Trois Ilets, Martinique; tel. (596)66-00-22; fax (596)66-01-87; e-mail: tropic.immo@wanadoo.fr; website: www.fnaim.fr/tropicimmo 
Diam Immobilier (Henry Leenen), Arcades Pagerie, Pointe du Bout, 97229 Trois Ilets, Martinique; tel. (596)66-00-24; fax (596)66-10-06; e-mail: henry.leenen@wanadoo.fr 
Immo Neuf (Sylvie Hamon), Les Rivages d’Ulysse (face Marina), 97290 Le Marin, Martinique; tel. (596)74-72-22; fax (596)74-83-21 
Guy Hoquet Immobilier (Marie-Alice Gouait and Sylviane Londé), 9 rue du Commerce, 97200 Fort-de-France, Martinique; tel. (596)48-45-18; fax (596)60-35-08; e-mail: guyhoquet.fortdefrance@wanadoo.fr; website: www.guyhoquet.com 
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Diving On Martinique - Because of the constant trade winds, diving on the western side of the island can sometimes be restricted, however, there is diving on other parts of the island with varying depths that is not to be missed. Diving is year round and caters for beginners as well as experienced divers who will enjoy some of the more challenging sites on offer. Diving in Guadeloupe - Learn to dive or explore the beautifully preserved underwater sanctuary around the Pigeon Islands in the enchanting Cousteau reserve... without forgeting the impressive wreck of the Franjack, now home to a multicolored fauna... Turtles, perrot fish, barracudas, groupers... View More -

Emerald-green Guadeloupe Effectively two islands in one, Guadeloupe’s description as le papillon d’émeraude is spot on. Wings spread under the blazing sun, it looks just like an emerald butterfly. Separated by the river Salée, this island of 420,000 inhabitants is divided into Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre. Although its official capital is Basse-Terre town, the main commercial center and port is Pointe-à-Pitre.  Some smaller inhabited islands also come under Guadeloupe’s administrative structure: Marie-Galante, Les Saintes, and Désirade (all under an hour away by catamaran ferry). Further afield lie Saint-Martin (shared with the Dutch) and Saint-Barthélemy. Basse-Terre sounds as if it should be the lower, flatter part of Guadeloupe, but it’s not. This is where you’ll find the island’s mountain peaks including volcanic Soufrière (4,813 feet.) Much of this part of the island is a national park, blanketed in dense, humid rainforest laced with cool waterfalls. Fiery flame trees stand sentinel on the traverse road through the park, the best way to reach Malendure.  Midway up Basse-Terre’s west coast, Malendure is the jumping off point for the Pigeon Islands—three islets at the center of the Jacques Cousteau Marine Reserve. Warmed by hot springs, it boasts some of the Caribbean’s most varied marine life. Not that you have to scuba dive or snorkel to enjoy the underwater scenery of corals and fish. Simply catch the Nautilus, a glass-bottomed boat sailing from Malendure four times daily. The 90-minute trip costs $19 and the first boat leaves at 10.30 a.m.

Noticing Immo Karukera had an 8,600-square-foot lot with sea view at Trois Rivières village for $48,500, I asked Marie Saminadin how much it would cost to build a two-bedroom house on the land. She quoted me $105,000.

Basse-Terre’s beaches are described as black, but they seemed more gray to me. Guadeloupe’s snow-white strands are all in Haute-Terre, which is much more of a vacation destination. The main resorts, Gosier, Saint-François, and (another) Saint-Anne are all in the south.

A wild headland of rocky outcrops

I stayed in Saint-François. Fabulous beaches and views eastwards to Pointe des Châteaux, a wild headland of rocky outcrops where the Caribbean officially becomes the Atlantic. Medieval castles? You’d need to sink a fair bit of rum before Pointe des Châteaux fits the tourist board description, but that’s a minor quibble. There’s a marina, deep-sea fishing, every watersport imaginable, boat trips to three of Guadeloupe’s island dependencies, and a golf course. Also Jean-Philippe Cremoux, an English-speaking realtor.

Saint-François studios can be had for $47,000, but they’re small, at only 330 square feet with a terrace. Larger one-bedroom apartments in luxury residences at the Marina generally cost $84,500 to $137,000. Annual costs for insurance, water, energy and all taxes are likely to be around $1,600.

Jean-Philippe also has some pretty villas along Haute-Terre’s south coast but this is a more expensive area than Basse-Terre. At Sainte-Anne, a two-/three-bedroom villa, built in the Creole-style, on an 11,000-square-foot lot is $370,000. But it has a pool and fabulous sea views.

A Guadeloupe property sampler

• A one-bedroom duplex apartment with two terraces, a small private garden, and a view over the Saint-François golf course. Price: $80,000.
• At Bouillante, a 966-square-foot house on a 2,150-square-foot lot with views of the sea and Pigeon Islands. Price: $107,000.
• A 1,075-square-foot house on land of 2,600-square feet in Vieux Habitants, an attractive seaside village between Malendure and Basse-Terre town. Price: $121,000.
• In the low hills above Saint-François, a two-bedroom mezzanined villa with a lavish 10,700-square-foot garden, a pool, and an independent guest bungalow. Price: $270,000.

Guadeloupe realtor contacts

Immo 97.1 (Jean-Philippe Cremoux), Avenue de l’Europe, Immeuble Golf Marine 97118 Saint-François, Guadeloupe; tel. (590)85-12-20; fax (590)85-12-23; e-mail: immo97-1-stf@im-caraibes.com 
Immo Karukera (Marie Saminadin), 5 rue Lardenoy, 97100 Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe; tel. (590)81-40-55; fax (590)81-75-56; e-mail: Immo-Karukera@wanadoo.fr 
Immo+ (Gerard Bique), 6 rue Schoelcher, 97100 Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe; tel. (590)81-94-40; fax (590)81-94-44; e-mail: immo.plusgpe@wanadoo.fr 
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Language lessons - “Parlez vous anglais?” The reply was usually “pas de tout” (not at all). As the majority of visitors are French, few islanders speak English. A phrasebook is adequate for vacation purposes, but living on either island would mean learning French.  That’s standard French...islanders use Creole patois amongst themselves. Originating during the days of slavery, it was used for basic communication between African laborers and their white masters. A hodge-podge of languages, it was formed from French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi. Nobody called me doudou (darling) and nobody wanted to give me a ti-bo (kiss), but these phrases in the “Lexique Créole” may prove useful: An noy ay! : Let’s go An nou ay zouké: Let’s dance Bonjou: Good morning Bonswa: Good evening Ka ou fé: How are you? Sa ka maché: I’m fine Pani problem: No problem

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