Safely in Martinique!

Bonjour!

After a very long day of travel, we have arrived in Martinique. It was a long trip and we were happy to land in sunny 84 degree weather. Trooper, our miniature pinscher, did great despite not being able to go outside for 12 hours! Our biggest challenge for the whole move was how to get everything we needed down here to the boat. We settled on packing six plastic tubs full of kitchen items and linens etc plus a couple duffles of clothes. The airline people had never quite seen anything like it. Customs in Martinique raised their eyebrows but waived us through after we told them we were moving to a boat and sailing away. I guess they didn't want to take time to go through silverware and chart books! The real challenge was finding a taxi van big enough and willing to lift our tubs. Our driver grumbled money talks.

Our hotel room has a lovely view of lush gardens and the harbor where our boat is anchored. We close Monday afternoon and will probably be ready to stay on the boat Tuesday. In the meantime, Kent and I will explore the local restaurants and sights. There was a devastating volcano eruption here in the early 1900's and only one person survived (in a jail cell). I'd like to visit the museum here.

This is a French-speaking island and very few speak English. Since Kent speaks Spanish and I remember only the basics of my high school French, we may struggle but we have language apps on our phones to help us. The money here is Euros which makes it easier. The people are very welcoming and friendly. The Martinicans are very tied to France culturally and the food, music and art is very French with slightly less African and other Caribbean influences. It's a very expensive place to live, more so than most of the islands down here.

We will post pictures as soon as we figure out how!