We raised anchor and set sail early — between 6 and 6:30, and began under motor to head northwest towards the Guadeloupe islands. Once we got to the main harbor on Marie Galant, Grand Bourg, a couple crew had to set out quickly to clear customs. We had arrived once again in France. When the ship arrives in the harbor of an island that is governed by a different country, a yellow flag needs to be raised, along with the flag of the country being visited. Once we have cleared immigration, which can be a long process, the yellow flag comes down and the other stays aloft. While we waited for the clearance, many jumped in the sea. It was a bit rough in that harbor, with lots of rocking and swells, so I simply enjoyed the sun and watched.
We had lunch on board, a Corsican fish soup/stew that was the recipe of Captain Rony’s grandmother, and discussed the plan for the day. We all agreed that a quieter harbor would be preferable, so we motored a bit further around this island to St. Louis. Unlike some of the other islands, Marie Galant is rather flat, sort of like a pancake. Apparently there are several reefs around it, and some really lovely white sandy beaches, that seemed to go on and on as we traveled north. This island, like so many in the Caribbean was named by Christopher Columbus on one of his many voyages to this area. Having run out of saints, it is said he named this one after his mother.
Many of us opted for a shuttle ride over to one of those lovely beaches, where we snorkeled a bit, and swam and lazed around. There was plenty of shade for those that wanted it, and plenty of sea glass for others (like me)! What there wasn’t was lots of fish. The area off shore was grassy, so we had hoped to find some turtles, but no luck there. I headed out alone and did discover a couple sharks — not sure if they were reef sharks or sand sharks — just about 3 ft long, but I was startled and a little nervous, so swam back to shore quickly. Where I was told that they weren’t the type of shirt to be nervous about. As we sat on the beach, we could see their fins — they seemed to stay in the same spot for quite awhile.
Also from shore we saw a smallish ray, which was swimming back and forth in knee-deep water. And then a rather large crab. Some others snorkeled out and saw a starfish in the grass, and several large conch, which might still have creatures inside. I did go out again a bit later, but failed to find what the others had seen, and the sharks had moved off. After awhile the sand fleas/flies started being annoying and as we had several hours to be on the island, find dinner and then get the dingy back, I walked down the beach toward the sleepy little town of St. Louis with two of the other guests — Karen and Lilly. There were several beach bars that looked appealing but they were all closed. Apparently some do open for dinner, but not until 7, and it wasn’t even possible to get a drink. So we walked on.
At the end of the beach was La Rouge Baleine, which was perfectly situated for sunset, appeared to be open (at least for drinks), and had a lovely menu. But it was clear that we were in France. Service was spotty at best, with many other tables being serviced well before we even had menus. By 6:30 or so most of the others from the ship had found this place and while some seemed to be served very quickly our table was largely ignored. So by the time we did get our orders it was after 8PM, and we were all a bit cranky and hungry and frustrated at the service. I suspect had ordered another drink the annoyance may have lessened, but I didn’t. So the hangry in me caused a bit of ugly American, although I had tried desperately to respect the French by at least trying attempting the language. The food, thank goodness, was delicious.
All the ship guests had all agreed to wait for each other and just call the shuttle to the ship once, so it was easily 9:30 before we headed back to the Florette. Having been in my wet and sandy suit since 2PM, I was well ready to get cleaned up and head to bed. It was a peaceful night; such a small harbor meant there weren’t any big yachts or cruise ships to blare music until all hours. And the rocking and rolling was barely evident. A very quiet night.
