Martinica, num piscar de olhos

The classic tour of Martinique travels north along the Caribbean coast to St-Pierre, the "Paris of the West Indies" until 1902 when Mont Pelée Volcano erupted and turned the city into a New World Pompeii.
A museum on the spot vividly portrays the tragedy. A convenient way to reach this historic site is on a little train, the Cyparis Express.
One-hour tours on weekdays and half-hour tours during weekends cost about 6€ for adults, 3€ for children.
The fee includes train fare and the tour.
In l990, St. Pierre was designated a Ville d'Art et d'Histoire.

The drive from Fort-de-France takes less than an hour, but several sightseeing stops along the way are highly recommended, including the fishing villages of Case-Pilote and Bellefontaine, as well as Carbet, where Columbus landed in 1502 and where Gauguin lived and painted in 1887. The Gauguin Museum is well worth a visit.

Inland is Morne Rouge, a pretty town with a cool climate and the site of MacIntosh Plantation, named for the renowned cultivator of Martinique's best-known flower, the anthurium. Nearby is La Trace, a dazzling route through the rain forest. This mountainous region in the northern half of the island is lush with banana and pineapple plantations, avocado groves, cane fields, and lovely old island inns such as Leyritz and Habitation Lagrange.

Other noteworthy communities in the north include Le Prêcheur, the last village along the northern Caribbean coast, known for hot springs of volcanic origin and the Tomb of the Carib Indians; Ajoupa-Bouillon, an enchanting flower-lined town with a nature trail called Les Ombrages and nearby the Gorges de la Falaise, mini canyons along the Falaise River that lead to a waterfall; Grand Rivière, a picturesque fishing village constantly braving the fierce Atlantic Ocean; Trinité and the Caravelle Peninsula, where at the very tip of land stand ruins of the Château Dubuc, a spot that evokes memories of the intriguing people who have lived here - such as Louis-François Dubuc, the man instrumental in preventing the spread of the French Revolution to Martinique, and Aimée Dubuc de Rivery who, like Joséphine, was destined for history. Returning home to Martinique after her schooling in Nantes, she was captured by pirates, sold into slavery, then given as a present to the Sultan of Constantinople. Aimée became Sultana Validé, mother of Sultan Mahmoud II. Close