Quick update on our trip to Martinique.  

In short, it's our new favourite place.  We rented a house very close to a development called Pointe du Bout.  It's not unlike Orient Bay, where it is a planned development.  There are hotels, restos, and a pharmacy, souvenir and clothing shops and smaller grocery, that sort of thing.  It has a couple of smaller beaches right nearby, but nothing so impressive as Orient Beach.  Our little 2 br, 2 bath house was right on the water.  By that I mean, you could take a long stride from the front deck and actually step into the sea.  That was amazing.  I would make coffee, and while it was brewing, take a quick snorkel and go see the fish.  One morning I saw a barracuda less then 20 feet from the loungers on the deck.  We couldn’t have been more pleased with the rental, best we ever had, and it was about $1800 Cdn ($1400 US?) net.  Fantastic.

What's there to like in Martinique?  First off it is so beautiful.  Almost the whole place is mountainous, stunning green, with the most amazing views every time you turn one of the endless corners of the roadways.  You know that view of Grand Case Bay when you crest the hill coming up from Marigot?   The one that takes your breath away?  You get that every minute of so as you’re driving around the perimeter of the island.  It's also much, much bigger than SXM, so many more choices of things to do, including waterfall hikes and a volcano.  Who doesn't like volcanos?  There is no Grand Case, so it took a few days to figure out where the best meals were, and we didn't even scratch the surface in our 9 days.  

SXM is miles ahead of Martinique in terms of tourism development and infrastructure.  I guess with a real functional economy, tourism hasn't been the priority, but it seems it is starting to change.  You know how you can get away with English pretty well anyplace in St. Martin?  Not so in Martinique.  We ran into many situations where our high school French simply didn't cut it, and communications was a combination of barely remembered French, similarly dodgy English, pointing, smiles, and gestures.  If you can't manage some French, this may not be the destination for you.

The one thing that is not readily available is the Orient Beach experience.  Some of you here don't like the busy bustle of OB, but I love it.  I love to get chairs and umbrellas at one of the beach bars and watch the people go by.  This is what I have come to think of in a Caribbean vacation, or at least I do for say 70% of the days I visit.  We only had a pale reflection of that experience on one day, and the small beach was limited to around 30 pairs of chairs and umbrellas.  

There is no direct flight from Toronto. We had to take a detour through Montreal. A bit of a pain, but okay. Those of you in the northeast can take Norwegian Air JFK to FDF for super cheap – like $149 each way.

So as much as I love SXM, I think that I’ll be returning to Martinique before I see SXM again. It was really great.