Deshaies to Les Saintes

Got up early (0630h) and dinghied into town and got cafeand delicious pain au chocolat at Les Amandines. They had tables set up on the sidewalk and we watched the people come and go. Gilles from the restaurant came by and greeted us. I almost felt like a local! We walk the town a bit, bought some fruit, and wandered by a man selling fish from a cooler. They were beautiful and probably just caught that morning. Unfortunately, we didn't buy any. They weren't cleaned and the knives on the boat aren't up to the task.

Then back to the boat to pull anchor and motor to Les Saintes. It was another long sail motor, which we had to do because we were heading straight into the wind. My stomach was still feeling a bit off so I spent some time napping. The day was beautiful--sunny and breezy.

We stopped at Pigeon Island to do some snorkeling. Apparently, Pigeon Island and the Jacques Cousteau Underwater Park are considered one of the world's best dive destinations. Kent wasn't impressed, but there were lots of fish doing fishly things that I found interesting. We saw a couple of parrotfish, some vertically striped fish (angelfish?), and some kind of flounder. It looked very lichen-like and my suspicion that it was a fish was confirmed when it swam away. I didn't know that flounder had blue spots. It was very striking. Big fish, little fish, red fish, blue fish. We didn't spend much time before heading off again.

Guadeloupe is a beautiful island and very lush. It was probably the lushest island we saw. There's a lighthouse at the southern tip, and was the only lighthouse we saw:



As we got closer to Les Saintes, Tom spotted a sea turtle. But it didn't stay on the surface long and by the time I got to the bow, it had dived and swam away. So I missed seeing a whale and a sea turtle. We pulled into Bourg des Saintes, which is the only town in Les Saintes. Doyle's had warned that it might be difficult to anchor with certain types of anchors because of the hard sand bottom. We must have had one of those anchors. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get the anchor to set--and if it did set, we were too close to other boats. We eventually got an anchorage just off a cute little resort.

We spend a lot of time during the time we spend motorsailing thinking about food--either what we're going to cook that night, or if it's dinner on shore, what restaurant we'll visit. And of course, the trip to Les Saintes was no exception. We are, after all, still in French territory, and the food is divine. After combing through Doyle's, we were set on Le Genois, reservations recommended. We couldn't raise them on radio because someone was locked on that channel. So once again, Tom and I provided reconnaissance activities. We dinghied over to Le Genois, and it looked very, very closed. No wonderful food smells wafting out. In fact, all that I could smell was a rather odiferous drain. This didn't bode well. So we walked around a bit. Well, a lot a bit.

Bourg des Saintes is a cute town with lots of brightly painted houses. Most of them (all of them?) don't have air conditioning. Instead, the windows are covered with shutters, which allow air in and keep the heat out. Walking during the early evening was interesting--motor scooters zipping about (highly annoying), mothers pushing strollers, children playing in the narrow streets, dogs trotting about (most looked like they were on a mission). We walked past a church and were stopped dead by angelic voices wafting from within--choir practice. I don't know what they were singing, but the harmonies were heavenly.

Bourg des Saintes church


We found a couple of possibilities for dinner--Chez Mamie, which was cute, but looked to be a little warm, and the restaurant at the cute little resort near where we were anchored. We decided that Nancy would prefer the resort restaurant--it was a little more upscale-looking and overlooked the bay. The menu was in French and English, the food interesting, and the prices reasonable. What more could you ask for?

By the time we got back to the dinghy, Le Genois was open,but the dining room was small and that drain still smelled. That sealed it. The resort restaurant it would be.

The resort is La Kanaoa. The food was very good. We started off with a Punch Coco, which is coconut milk, sugar syrup, and rum, with a little grated cinammon stick. I don't know what the proportion were, but it was rather tasty. I don't think I'll be able to recreate this at home, though. Tom and I shared the shrimp cocktail which was served with a French dressing instead of the usual (American-style) cocktail sauce. The others got a mixed salad, which consisted of sliced tomatoes and grated cucumbers tossed with a light vinaigrette. It was very refreshing. I had Poisson au Gingembre (fish in ginger sauce) and while very good, it wasn't quite what I expected. The ginger sauce was cream-based and was light and rich at the same time. I had coconut flan for dessert, but it wasn't as good as the one at Les Canons de Baie.

Tomorrow we'll go into the town at 0800h to shop for souvenirs for a couple of hours, then we'll get underway so we can get to Point a Pitre before immigrations and customs close. We're still in illegal alien mode.