La Pointre-à-Pitre

Place de la Victoire opens up to Darse, the city’s inner harbor, where moor fishing boats and luxury charter yachts from visiting islands. This old basin also receives boats coming from the islands of les Saintes and Marie-Galante, a luxury charter region. During your stay you may encounter fishermen from neighboring islands selling their fish here, livening up the harbor as visitors disembark with families and board buses ready to take them on tours of this Caribbean gem and friendly merchants encouraging them to buy local goods such as cold refreshing drinks and candy. Each morning bustling passages become crammed with stands offering fresh frayed barracuda, scampi and lobster overflowing in big baskets. Tempting colors and fragrances will be your guide. And in the evening, your magnificent charter crew will certainly prepare a savory dinner prepared with fresh local products; a meal ready to enjoy on the flybridge of your luxury charter catamaran.

Every 10th of August, the bustling island of Guadeloupe celebrates its women cooks coming from all parts of the island. It is no coincidence that the celebration takes place in this day as August 10th is the day of Saint Lawrence, patron saint of cooks. Clothed in traditional outfits with baskets full of delicacies, women gather around the Pointe-à-Pitre main basilica. The celebration begins with a blessing and continues with a rich feast on the courtyard of a nearby school where during a festive meal the best women cooks are revealed.

After shopping for local souvenirs on the market or in the many quaint boutiques on Faidherbe street, it is essential to stroll down the promenade in order to reach the doorsteps of this museum. John-Perse was a Creole poet and diplomat born in Guadeloupe in 1887 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 . The museum was open in 1987 to celebrate 100 years since the birth of Alexis Léger. Personal souvenirs are not the only reason to visit this enchanting museum. The exhibition is a genius reconstitution of life in the past century.

Victor Schoelcher was not only a French deputy of Martinique and Guadeloupe but above all an abolitionist writer thanks to whom in 1848 slavery was abolished in French colonies. This heroic act made him a prominent figure in the French Antilles. This museum is a collection of personal souvenirs but also an interesting historic source of facts about the abolition. Dating back to July 3rd, 1887, this was Guadeloupe’s first museum. It was Schoelcher himself who was the founding father making an considerable donation for this museum that he thought important for the development of appreciation for art on the island. Miscellaneous objects comprising the exhibition as well as a section dedicated to Victor Schoelcher and some contemporary paintings are what exhilarate visitors.

A stroll through passages from another era leads to the square of the city’s main basilica. The building’s metallic structure is supposed to protect it from earthquakes, not uncommon in the Caribbean region. The basilica was built in 1847 after the original building was victim of the earth’s upheaval. Sunday mass is always a big event with powerful church bells announcing the end of the celebration. With doors open to visitors, grand statues of the two saints on the outside welcome visitors inside. Ringing bells are heard all the way until place Gourbeyre, the city’s fragrant flower market. Scattered around the cathedral’s naves are children and parents clothed in their Sunday best showing that religion is an important part of their daily lives.

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