Martinique travel notes for 2007

We went to Martinique the end of February and stayed through the first week of March, getting a view of Carnaval.

Overall, our brief glimpse of Martinique hints to us that it is surviving better than Guadeloupe. There were fewer gastronomique restaurants this year; most restaurants we ate at were Creole, but the food and service are still good. The service is not up to the classic European service when we first began our trips to the French West Indies, and even the gastronomique restaurants are understaffed now.

We met one American couple our second week there in a restaurant in Le Marin (their yacht had mechanical problems and they were at the marina for repairs), and our waitress at another restaurant was from America. At the airport, there were many Americans on our Delta flights, but we never saw any of them in our travels on the island. Club Med seemed to be the American magnet for many, but not all.

English seemed to be more common, as we comment every year, but we still recommend a smattering of French, especially for menus. Many road signs are now dual-language - French and Creole. The government of Martinique has several offices called CyberBase which offer reasonably-priced internet access. We saw many sailors in the CyberBase in Le Marin with headsets on, presumably using VOIP telephones to call home. Another CyberBase we visited was almost always full of teens using the computers to play online games, but they were well-behaved. The staff at both locations spoke English and were very helpful.

We think that Guadeloupe is going through a cycle of depressed economy and that St. Barth is going through a cycle of hyper reinvention as it tries to hang on to its tourists, but Martinique, as of this year at least, remains an island of tranquil beaches, nice restaurants, and much to do. We had a nice tour of Le Mauny Distillerie, for example, at no charge since we don't speak French, and a lengthy discussion about the process of making rum with an English-speaking foreman. Although not all the beaches are swimmable, there are plenty of them, and swimmable beaches are not uncommon. For a more detailed view of our trip, drop by our Martinique index page and browse our topics: beaches, carnaval, restaurants, and photos and videos.

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