FORT DE FRANCE, MARTINIQUE

Our tour begins with a panoramic drive through the residential area of Fort De France with colonial style mansions and streets with a stop at the Sacred Heart Basilica (Parisian Montmartre on a smaller scale).

Our tour begins with a panoramic drive through the residential area of Fort De France with colonial style mansions and streets with a stop at the Sacred Heart Basilica (Parisian Montmartre on a smaller scale).Our next stop will be at the Balata Gardens, a superb man-made botanical gardens, filled with plants and flowers by owner Mr Jean Philippe Thoze – a botanical and landscape gardener – who has been collecting specimens for over 20 years. As we travel along La Trace road via Morne Rouge and through the rainforest with amazing views of mountain rivers we reach the town of Saint-Pierre. The town was totally destroyed in 1902 by an eruption of the volcano and 30,000 inhabitants were killed. Here we shall visit the ruins and the former theatre that used to host performances from many famous singers of the time.As we return to our ship in Fort De France along the Caribbean coast, we travel through Carbet where, according to tradition, Christopher Columbus landed in 1502, the fishing village of Bellefontaine and the developing towns of Case-Pilote and Schoelcher, where the University of the French West Indies is located.There is approximately 1 hour of walking involved with this tour and many steps to encounter at the theatre in Saint-Pierre.

DESCRIPTION CORRECT FOR 2007 CARIBBEAN SEASON