St. Pierre

SAINT PIERRE

It was very picturesque driving the up the north Caribbean coast of Martinique to St. Pierre.

Saint Pierre was the capital of Martinique until it was totally destroyed by Mt. Pelee (photo above) erupting in 1902. They say the only person to survive horrendous  eruption was a man in prison! 

Now St. Pierre is known as the City of Art and History.

When I get home I'm changing my curtains!

And I'm going to grow beautiful bougainvillaea - in my dreams! Martinique is locally named, "Madinina," The Isle of Flowers.

Following our scout leader Greg in the green t-shirt with Kathy behind him in white.

Look at those veggies!

Chapeaus. Sombreros. Hats!

What's this? Ah, here comes Carnival . . .

Our scout leader leads us to an ice cold Lorriane beer!

Aftermath

(In aftermath from a hard day of farewell.)

In Memoriam: 27

"I hold it true, whate'er befall;

  I feel it, when I sorrow most; 

'Tis better to have loved and lost 

 Than never to have loved at all."

Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1850

Lauren

LAUREN CHRISTINE GRONINGA

     It's a squall of the greatest proportions to have a death in the family. 

     My niece Erin, my brother Mark's daughter, lost her 9.5 month old baby girl last Thursday, March 5, 2015. Erin & Chad, Lauren's father, knew she didn't have long to live once she was diagnosed type 2 Gaucher's Disease. 

     As you can see she was an angel from the get-go. Her brothers, Kaleb & Lucas, as well as her sister, Krista, and everyone actually, would like to know why. But why, as we all eventually learn, is an unanswerable question in this type of situation. But the below quote seems adds light. God Bless little Lauren.  

    “Perhaps God tires of calling the aged to his flock so he picks a rosebud before it grows old.” 

Wandering

WANDERING THE HABITATION

The paintings in the preserved homestead were fascinating. 

I think this is Mr. Clement.

Cutting sugarcane with machetes.

Going bananas!

HX FIGURES

THOSE WHO HELPED MAKE IT HAPPEN

Loved all these shots around the Centre.

Sugar Cane Grinding

THE INTERPRETATION CENTRE

Dispensing spray heads for cooling the rhum.

Cool!

Renting a car

RENTING A CAR

While waiting for the rental car Greg, s/v Indigo, ordered, I was fascinated with this painting of bananas (?) in the next door shop's window.

It was a trip to be in a little 5-speed 4 seater car going fast!

This winding road sign was different.

Hectares of banana plantations. The bagged ones are for export Kathy explained.

Finally figured out that this is a No Parking sign.

Our first stop: Habitation Clement. It is one of the seven rhum (yes French spell rum rhum) distilleries around Martinique. and I thought the French only did vino . . .

Sugar cane lined walkways were all over.

Greg & Kathy listening to the handheld electronic recordings that give info based on the signs that are numbered to describe the site purpose or happening.  

99 caskets of rhum on the wall

99 caskets of rhum 

take one down and pass it around

99 people come tumbling down!

The grounds were lovely.