I got back late last night from my Rough Guides research trip to the Caribbean. I'm now sorting through mountains of notes and brochures with some tight deadlines ahead of me.
I've come back with so many impressions and observations, but I thought I'd come up with a very top five list of exciting places and amazing things I encountered over my weeks in Martinique and Guadeloupe.
1. Best hideaway that doesn't involve a turbulent sea crossing. Presqu'île de la Caravelle, Martinique. This quiet peninsula is comprised of little seaside hamlets, agricultural land, and protected parkland. It's got beautiful littoral forests, good beaches, and few of the big chain hotels and package tourists found across the southern Caribbean-side coast of Martinique. In an ideal world I'd probably stay at the Hôtel la Caravelle in Tartane (€71/night for a small studio) and eat at the hotel's restaurant, the highly-regarded La Table de Mamy Nounou.
Check out one of the peninsula's glorious beaches in the late afternoon:
2. Best condiment ever. Guadeloupe's M'amour banana preserves by Guy Lesueur. Morning baguettes were never as delicious before my discovery of M'amour's banane confiture, and they'll never be more delicious hence. That said, M'amour's caramel-banana hybrid I chanced upon on my final morning on Guadeloupe was so tasty that my bread became a mere utensil.
3. Best Caribbean airport. Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport. Le Raizet Airport is perfectly constructed for Guadeloupe's tropical environment. It filters light into the airport's interior and appears to float in sharply angled modern precision. The airport puts its counterparts across the region—with very few exceptions—to shame. There was possibly no better reminder that Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France than this airport. Here it is at 7 a.m.
4. Best stretch of beach. A tough one, but the beaches north of Saint-Louis on Guadeloupe's offshore island Marie-Galante are picture-perfect and sparsely populated outside of weekends. My favorites were the beaches of Moustique and Anse Canot. Take a look:
5. Best restaurant visited. An even tougher call, but I'd have to go with Le Poisson d'Or in Anse-Mitan, Martinique (at 12 rue des Bouganvilliers). Open for lunch and dinner every day but Monday, Le Poisson d'Or serves exquisite creole cuisine, which include lovely accras (fritters) and a fish in coconut milk that made my eyes glaze over. Second-place would go to the restaurant at Auberge Les Petites Saints (open for dinner every night but Monday) on Terre-de-Haut, Guadeloupe, which served me a delicious soup of local fish and a superb Basque tasting plate.
Hey Alex - Loved your post on Montserrat as well as the top 5 from the Antilles, but what is a Basque-tasting plate? Denise
Posted by: Denise Young | March 01, 2008 at 11:05
Hey Denise! Thanks for the comment.
The Basque tasting plate included greens, foie gras, pine nuts, duck gizzard confit, a smoked duck steaklet, chorizo, Bayonne ham, cheese of ewe, and a little pasta in a boletus sauce.
It's time for lunch.
Posted by: Alex Robertson Textor | March 03, 2008 at 12:59