Play Time in the Saintes

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It was a bouncy, blustery crossing from Dominica to the Saintes, but as we sailed in via the Southwest pass with the line of two-bladed wind generators on the shoreline, the magic of the Saintes started to take hold.  

The Saintes are comprised of four dry rocky islands plus a smattering of rock islets clustered south of Guadeloupe.  The main town Bourg des Saintes on Terre D'en Haute is surely the most charming town in the whole Caribbean.  Originally, it was a military outpost, then a center for fisherman, but now it is primarily a French tourist/retirement area, with lots of restaurants, cafés, boulangeries and sandwicheries.  Fast ferries bring day trippers from Guadeloupe in and out all day.  

The houses, clustered tight on the hillsides, are all invariably red-roofed, and the streets are built for scooters and golf carts, which are available in plentiful supply for rent.  

You can hear those scooters buzzing up behind you, but it's the golf carts with their silent approach you've got to watch out for since you pretty much have to walk in the street as vehicles are parked on the sidewalk!  Everywhere are hibiscus, oleander,  bouganvillea, frangipani and my favorite summer flower the blazing red flamboyant trees. 

 

     

 Plus, only 25 miles north of rainy Dominica,  the weather is dry and sunny!

We picked up a mooring off the waterfront midday on Sunday.  Although the cruising guide claimed that customs was open daily, it proved not to be true for Sunday afternoon.  So we carried our papers ashore to prove our good intentions, and found our way to Couleurs du Monde, a bar with Internet... and the only thing open!  To pay for our email updates, Skype calls and blog posts, we enjoyed icy Heinies and I had a Ti punch served in a skewed glass...a prediction, I guess of how the punch -- a potent concoction of lime, sugar and local lighter fluid -- will make you feel!

While at the bar we met a family with a huge Bouvier de Flandres, a really big black dog, who made an important introduction for us. While snapping a family photo for them, we asked if the restaurants would open on Sunday evening, and the answer was not only yes, at 7pm, but that papa himself was a proprietere of Ti Kaz' La.  

This turned out to be a lovely gourmet restaurant east of the town center (near the Carrefour Express) where Don had fish of the day in passion fruit sauce, Tom had beef carpaccio -- wafer thin slices of raw beef laid out in a handsome basket weave pattern, and Bette Lee and I had a house specialty, coquilles st Jacques with Antillean sausage and sweet potato.  For dessert we shared a mango soufflé!  Ah!  The meal was lovely, haute French, a far cry from Creole cuisine, and not a little "chere."

Two lessons we learned that first night:  one must pay close attention to the local French schedule and restaurants a quite pricey. 

Here is a typical day's timing.  The boulangeries with cafe, baguettes and patisseries open at 6-7ish and close by noon, shops open from 9-12, restaurants open for lunch 12-2, shops reopen 3:30 and stay open to six or eight, and restaurants reopen at 7pm and stay until sometime after we've gone home!

Here is some typical pricing:  a large coffee is 2.50€, a baguette ham and cheese sandwich (no crudités!) 5€, and a gourmet dinner entree 20-25€, and a golf cart 74€.  A Euro = $1.30.

Monday we largely frittered away with hand laundry, cleaning, boat and computer projects.  There was time for a swim in the afternoon, but, gluttons for punishment, we caved and went in for another dinner ashore at La Fringale, a restaurant near the dinghy dock featuring an outside garden terrace in back with lush greenery, a waterfall and lively tree frogs!  

Bette Lee was the big winner here choosing the evening special of tuna steak with foie gras on top.  Don was brave with octopus stew, I had lamb chops and Tom won the booby prize with "shrimp a la isopropyl alcohol".  I believe it was actually supposed to be either pastis or the local rum.  Probably the same harsh stuff that was in that first Ti punch!  Sad to say, I think we gringo sailors were a bit of a disappointment to the restauranteurs , bypassing starters, wine and desserts at Euro prices...Aieeee!

Still, no one was in the mood to leave, so Tuesday we went ashore early hoping for a Proustian revisitation of the memorable cafe au lait and petit dejeuner we had here 15 years ago.  Didn't quite measure up.  The French apparently don't heat their milk, so our coffees were all lukewarm.  Has it changed or are we just more coffee savvy these days?

But afterwards we rented a four-seater electric cart and took off for a superb day's adventure with Don at the wheel! He informed everyone at the outset that he would be following motorcycle protocol, that is, no Heineken while driving!  What with the steep hills, tight curves, narrow roads and odd two foot deep gutters, and remembering which side of the road to be on (and dodging others having the same issues!?) this was wise!  

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Ooops, back to the right side of the road, Don!  (St. Lucia and Dominica drive own the left, but France on the right!)

First stop was Fort Napoleon at the top of the hill east of the anchorage. We had not previously visited, but it was definitely a highlight.  

None of us had seen a Caribbean fort so substantial and well preserved.  

Topside on the battlements were stunning views and an exotic plant garden, and inside a very interesting museum, mostly of the navies and sea battles during which the fort was center stage.

 

 

From the fort we started a tour of the island's beaches.  First stop, Baie de Pompieres, which, once there, Don and I remembered from a visit 15 years ago...A bay with a golden sand beach almost completely circled by rocks and bedecked by a palm grove...a fantasy anchorage were it allowed.  Midday Monday it was not crowded at all!

Before swimming though, we enjoyed baguette sandwiches of ham and cheese which we shared with two mama goats and their kids!

 

Then we drove to each of the other four beaches, the driving being the adventure.  The roads are so narrow, with houses right up to the pavement and those deep culverts often along side, that two-way traffic is often a careful negotiation between drivers.  God forbid you meet an actual truck!  Many roads are one way, and it took us several loops and, in the end, a complete backtrack almost to Baie Pompierres to find our way west around town! 

 

Don and I snorkeled at two of the beaches, enjoying long swims but seeing little living coral or fish.  We are hopeful that the Virgins, where we know where to go, will be more rewarding.  Shallow beach waters are very often poor candidates for successful snorkeling.  I just hope it isn't a widespread symptom of global warming.

After surviving the land tour and returning the vehicle intact, we celebrated back aboard with thorough showers and scrumptious rum punches emptying a variety of juice cartons and adding fresh passion fruit.  We all had several, and Tom made h'ds with baguette, butter, Parmesan and anchovies!  They like their salt on this boat.   The sun went down, and dinner never happened! 

Departure set for Wednesday morning after petite dejuener and Internet ashore and a major baguette run to tide us over on passage. 

 Next stop:  the Virgins!