Question 1

Fort-de-France on Your Own

Accepted Answer

From the Pointe Simon pier you can walk straight into Fort-de-France, so the city is easy to see without a tour. Start with La Savane, the library and the cathedral, then the covered market, and take the ferry across the bay if you want more. La Savane and the library: The Bibliothèque Schœlcher stands at the corner of Rue de la Liberté and Rue Victor Sévère, facing the north corner of La Savane, the city's park of tropical trees. The cathedral: The Cathédrale Saint-Louis on Rue Victor Schœlcher was rebuilt around a metal frame by Pierre-Henri Picq, the architect of the library. Fort Saint-Louis: The fort runs daily tours, though part of it is still a naval base and closed to visitors. The market: The covered market, the Grand Marché, is at Rue Blénac and Rue Isambert. Across the bay: Shuttle boats cross to Pointe du Bout and Trois-Îlets about every 30 minutes, with the last boats between 5:45 and 8 p.m. depending on the day. Check before you go. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.

Question 2

Getting Around Martinique

Accepted Answer

In the city you can walk, and for the rest of Martinique the choice is a taxi, a hired car, the shared taxis or the ferries, because public transport is limited. Taxis run around the clock and charge more at night and on Sundays and public holidays. City buses run from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day. They do not take cash, so buy a paper ticket at a kiosk or use the MT Ticket app. Check before you go. Shared minibuses marked TC, the taxis collectifs, leave from the terminal at Pointe Simon for towns around the island, with no timetable. A rapid bus line has linked Pointe Simon with Le Lamentin and the airport since 2018. Driving is on the right, and the road between the airport and the city is busiest from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. and from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Question 3

What to Eat in Fort-de-France

Accepted Answer

Martinique's cooking mixes African, French, Carib and Indian traditions, and colombo, a curry of chicken, meat or fish spiced with a masala of Tamil origin, is one of its most famous dishes. Accras and boudin are sold at snack stands in town and on the beach. Colombo is sharpened with tamarind and often cooked with coconut milk, cassava, wine or rum. Desserts often use pineapple and rum. Fresh sugarcane juice, jus de canne, is sold from roadside vans; ask for it freshly pressed. Tap water is safe to drink, as in mainland France, and restaurants serve it at no charge. The local beer is Lorraine.

Question 4

Gardens, Rum, and the Ruins of Saint-Pierre

Accepted Answer

Martinique's rum is rhum agricole, distilled from fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses, and distilleries around the island welcome visitors. Inland from Fort-de-France are the Balata garden and a copy of the Sacré-Coeur of Montmartre, and Saint-Pierre keeps the ruins left by the eruption of 1902. The Jardin de Balata, about 10 km from Fort-de-France on the Route de Balata, was begun in 1982 and has about 3,000 kinds of tropical plants, including 300 types of palm. The Sacré-Coeur de Balata, a replica of the Montmartre basilica in Paris, was built in 1925 on a cliff above the rainforest. In the city, the former Dillon distillery has a small museum on rum making. Saint-Pierre, once known as the Paris of the Caribbean, keeps the ruins of the town destroyed in 1902, and its Musée Frank-A.-Perret is devoted to the volcano. The poet Aimé Césaire, one of the main figures of the Négritude literary movement, is perhaps Martinique's most famous writer.

Question 5

Colonisation, Abolition, and the Volcano That Destroyed a City

Accepted Answer

Fort-de-France grew around a fort the French began in 1638 and became the colonial capital in the 1680s, but Saint-Pierre outshone it until Mount Pelée destroyed that city in 1902. Slavery here ended on May 22, 1848, after an uprising of enslaved people. First peoples: The island was home first to the Saladoid people and then to the Kalinago, who called it Madinina. Columbus, 1502: Columbus charted the island in 1493 and landed on June 15, 1502, staying three days to take on water. The French, 1635: Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc landed at Saint-Pierre on September 15, 1635, with French settlers and claimed the island for Louis XIII. Fort Saint-Louis, 1638: His nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet, ordered a fort here in 1638. It was rebuilt from 1669 on a Vauban design, and the town around it, Fort-Royal, became the colonial capital in the 1680s. Slavery: Sugar plantations worked by enslaved Africans spread from 1654, and Louis XIV's Code Noir of 1685 set the rules of slavery in the French colonies. British occupations: Britain attacked or occupied Martinique several times in the 18th century and held it for most of the years from 1794 to 1815. Abolition, 1848: Slave rebellions and abolitionists such as Cyrille Bissette and Victor Schœlcher pushed France to end slavery, and Martinique's governor proclaimed abolition before the decree signed in Paris on April 27 had arrived. Earthquake and fire: An earthquake struck the city in 1839, and a fire in 1890 burned part of it, including the cathedral. Pelée, 1902: On May 8, 1902, Mount Pelée erupted and destroyed Saint-Pierre, killing tens of thousands of people, and Fort-de-France became the island's main city. War and after: Martinique was under Vichy control in World War II until Free French forces took over on July 14, 1943, and in 1946 it became an overseas department of France. Aimé Césaire founded the Progressive Party of Martinique in the 1950s. To learn more ashore: Fort Saint-Louis runs daily tours of the parts of the fort that are not naval base, and in Saint-Pierre the Musée Frank-A.-Perret is devoted to the 1902 eruption.

Question 6

Fort-de-France with Children and Families

Accepted Answer

With children, a Fort-de-France day can be a short walk and a boat ride: La Savane and Fort Saint-Louis, where green iguanas live, then the shuttle boat across the bay to Pointe du Bout and Trois-Îlets. The Balata garden suits a longer morning inland. Younger children: The shuttle boats across the bay leave about every 30 minutes and avoid the road traffic. School age: Fort Saint-Louis has daily tours, and a colony of green iguanas, which are not native to Martinique, lives at the fort. Teenagers: Cascade Absalon, on the Route de Balata just past the garden, is a waterfall with a pool you can swim in. The steps down are slippery. Beach safety: Manchineel trees, among the most poisonous plants in the world, grow near beaches, and in Martinique their trunks are marked with a red painted band. Do not shelter under one when it rains. Sun: Bring sunscreen and water, because heat and sunburn catch out visitors who are not used to the climate.

Question 7

Shopping in Fort-de-France

Accepted Answer

Rue Victor Hugo is Fort-de-France's main shopping street, with small boutiques, island shops and sellers of fresh fruit and flowers. The Spice Market sells spices, herbs, fruit, vegetables and flowers. The island's shops sell French imports such as perfume, fashion and wine, as well as spices and rum made on the island. Very few shops open on Sundays and French public holidays. The Galleria in Le Lamentin, near the airport, is the island's largest mall. Some shops take cards, but shops do not accept US dollars.

Question 8

Beaches Near Fort-de-France

Accepted Answer

Across the bay, Pointe du Bout and Trois-Îlets are reached by shuttle boat. The white-sand beaches of the south and the black-sand beaches of the north are a longer drive. Sainte-Anne, in the south, is the way to the white-sand beaches there, including Les Salines, the most famous and often crowded. Le Diamant is a beach and diving town facing Diamond Rock. Manchineel trees grow near many beaches. Their trunks are marked with a red band, and their sap is corrosive, so do not shelter under one when it rains.

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