I recently had the opportunity to sail in the French West Indies and we stopped in Martinique. We spent 2 days anchored by St. Pierre and another night by Fort du France before heading to Le Marin to drop off the boat.
I was apprehensive due to all the negative publicity and comments found on many of the forums but found myself pleasantly surprised by the interactions we had with the islanders. I have always found if you treat people with respect and attempt to converse in their language, most people respond well.
We had a delightful meal in St. Pierre at La Tartine restaurant. The hostess did not speak more than a handful of English words/phrases and our French was about as limited but we had some laughs and enjoyed a great meal in a pleasant atmosphere.
We were in Fort du France Sat into Sun. They roll up the sidewalks there about 1:30 Sat afternoon and don't reopen until Monday so our shopping was limited. However, some of my fellow crew members had very good interactions with the citizens of Fort du France and found them to be extremely helpful and accomodating.
The experience was repeated in le Marin...our meal was great, the people were friendly and accomodating, and the dock master went out of his way to make sure we had taxis, etc for our flight out the next morning.
I would love to return to Martinique because there is so much to see and I was there such a short time. I would NOT hesitate to return. My fears were put to rest.
Why don't any ships stop here?
in Martinique
Posted · Edited by sailingnurse
typos...ugh
I recently had the opportunity to sail in the French West Indies and we stopped in Martinique. We spent 2 days anchored by St. Pierre and another night by Fort du France before heading to Le Marin to drop off the boat.
I was apprehensive due to all the negative publicity and comments found on many of the forums but found myself pleasantly surprised by the interactions we had with the islanders. I have always found if you treat people with respect and attempt to converse in their language, most people respond well.
We had a delightful meal in St. Pierre at La Tartine restaurant. The hostess did not speak more than a handful of English words/phrases and our French was about as limited but we had some laughs and enjoyed a great meal in a pleasant atmosphere.
We were in Fort du France Sat into Sun. They roll up the sidewalks there about 1:30 Sat afternoon and don't reopen until Monday so our shopping was limited. However, some of my fellow crew members had very good interactions with the citizens of Fort du France and found them to be extremely helpful and accomodating.
The experience was repeated in le Marin...our meal was great, the people were friendly and accomodating, and the dock master went out of his way to make sure we had taxis, etc for our flight out the next morning.
I would love to return to Martinique because there is so much to see and I was there such a short time. I would NOT hesitate to return. My fears were put to rest.