We woke up early this morning! That’s a first for our time on Guadeloupe as the room we sleep in is super dark and quiet. Had a quick cup of coffee and bit of breakfast and set off for a morning ride to beat the heat. We rode to Pointe de Chateaux which was blissfully quiet except for cyclists buzzing by on their morning rides and a few couples. Then rode to the outskirts of Saint Francois, turning around before it got too crazy. About 13 miles and only a moderate amount of sweating.
After managing to get a video of the local dancer from Natalie’s iphone to my Android we headed into the Saint Francois marina to visit Nicole – recommended by George’s mother as the best company for boat excursions to the islands. Got the last 2 seats on a catamarran to Marie Galante tomorrow. Sorry Pearl, this is an all day excursion so you will have to take a rest day. Did a bit of shopping and had a leisurely lunch on the Marina.
Drove to Petit Canal where we toured a memorial to the end of slavery in Guadeloupe. A long set of stairs led up to a church with each landing representing a people that had been enslaved in Guadeloupe mostly to work on the sugar plantations.
On the way back we found ourselves and many other cars behind a peloton that 100% owned the road for quite a few miles. The attitude to cyclists here is a stunning contrast to that at home. Everyone waits patiently behind the group ride or the single bike until it is safe to pass.
We stopped at the Colonial Mansion in Le Moule on the way home expecting to just poke around a bit. Instead, a guide that spoke English had us join her tour and did a summary translation for us along the way. She was the third(?) person to ask if we came on the Norwegian flight from the US and said that we were the first Americans to tour the mansion. The island knows the Americans are coming and seems quite pleased to see us! The mansion was part of the main sugar processing plant. Very interesting tour that ended with a nice fruit punch. As I sipped my punch I noticed they had bottles of rum available so you could punch it up!
Will have a quiet dinner tonight in the bungalow and early to bed for 7AM departure!