A piece of France away from France or a French baguette in the Caribbean (part 4)

Grande-Terre Island may be smaller and flatter than its big mountainous neighbour but it has some pretty stunning views as well... The Souffleur Beach is like an artist's palette.

There are also plenty of easy hikes along the coast like the one starting from the lagoon of Hell's Gate (Porte d'Enfer).

Impressive huge waves are crashing against some amazing shapes of rocks and filling the natural turquoise pools.

Castles Headland (Pointe des Châteaux) is another beauty with its rock formations in the shape of castles, La Desirade Island in the background and the 360-degree view from the top of the mountain.

It looks a little bit like the Great Ocean Road in Australia…

The drawbacks of Grande-Terre Island’s flatness and proximity to Pointe-à-Pitre and its international airport are the crowds of tourists staying at the hotel resorts in Sainte Anne or Saint François… The only reason we went to these two towns was to join a carnival parade at Sainte Anne and take the ferry from Saint François to the "off the beaten track" island of La Desirade…

La Désirade is the first land seen by Christopher Columbus after leaving the Canary Islands in 1493. The story says that Columbus’ crew cried out “Oh, desired island…” when they saw the land. This is how the island was supposedly named.

Even though La Desirade is much smaller than Grande-Terre, Basse-Terre or Marie-Galante - only 11 km long and 2 km wide, it is still quite large and half of it is mountainous! Covering it on foot may be a very bad idea, in particular if you take into account the extremely hot and dry climate and the absence of any shadow.

This explains the many cacti and iguanas that you will come across wherever you go.

The protected species of cacti called "tête à l’Anglais" or English head has a weird shape similar to the King's Guards’ bearskin hats.

Amongst the iguanas, there are unfortunately some invasive species but also the endemic Lesser Antillean iguanas.

Another animal which is ubiquitous on the island is the goat! Guadeloupean people eat a lot of goat meat!

If you simply want to explore the coast, a scooter or a bike may be a great option.

It will allow you to stop at the many charming beaches and the blowholes of the Hummingbirds' Promontory (Pointe des Colibris) which looked even more impressive than those we had seen in Western Australia!

You can take a delicious break in the tiny quaint restaurants or "holes in the walls" along the road to try a bokit - a Guadeloupean fried sandwich with various fillings, or some grilled fish. For cat lovers, there will always be a cute kitten hanging around!

In the evening you may even have to do some DIY as upon ordering a ti-punch, you will be provided by the owner not with the drink itself but with a glass with some sugar and a lime zest and… the whole bottle of a 50° rum! The quantity of rum you will put in your glass depends on how far away your accommodation is (there is only one hotel on La Desirade…)! This is how chill and authentic the island is!

If you want to dig deeper and see the mountainous part of La Desirade, you may need to rent a quad, an electric bicycle, or, for the bravest souls, a regular bicycle. The slopes and rocky dirt roads are extremely steep and uneven and you may, like me, end up falling and badly hurting a knee and an elbow (I still have the scars)… The problem is that if you fall on the top of the mountain, you still need to bring your bicycle (and yourself) down and it demands a lot of courage! Unless you are an extremely great off-road mountain bike rider, I would strongly recommend opting for the quad or, even better, sunbathing on the beach instead!

If you are not keen on renting any vehicle at all, you can still stay at the town of Beauséjour where the ferry will bring you and go for a steep hike to the cute Notre-Dame du Calvaire Chapel, the view is stunning!

The last island we visited is one of Les Saintes Islands. Christopher Columbus discovered them on 4 November 1493 and named them “Los Santos” in reference to All Saints’ Day which had just been celebrated. Out of the 9 islands of Les Saintes, only 2 are inhabited - Terre-de-Haut (“Highland Island”) which is more accessible and therefore more touristic and Terre-de-Bas (“Lowland Island”) which, we were told, is larger, less accessible (there are less ferries) and therefore perfect for hike, nature and R&R lovers. The names may be misleading (again!) as they derive from the marine vocabulary which refers to islands exposed to the wind as "highland" and those protected from the wind as "lowland", nothing to do with the height!

We decided to stay for two nights on Terre-de-Haut and come back for Terre-de-Bas another time. One of my tips when going to the smaller islands of Guadeloupe is to try to get the evening ferry where there are usually only locals - it is much less crowded and you can enjoy the beautiful sunsets!

It is also always a great idea to stay overnight on the different islands as you have tons of daily tourists during the day while only locals remain in the evening and the peace and quiet are guaranteed!

A lot of people from Brittany and Normandy had settled on Les Saintes Islands during the centuries which may explain why they appeared to us as the least Guadeloupean of all islands of Guadeloupe!

It felt a little bit like we were in quirky Key West or even in Brittany or Capri instead but topped with lots of tropical vibes!

However, the views of the Bay of Les Saintes - one of the most beautiful bays in the world - are so gorgeous and the islands are so picturesque that there is no doubt they are Guadeloupean enough after all!

The ferry ride from Trois-Rivières on Basse-Terre Island to Terre-de-Haut is, like all ferry rides in Guadeloupe, shaky but stunning!

There are few cars on the tiny island which is pretty steep… Therefore you have the option between a scooter, a golf cart or an electric bicycle. Given my recent injury, we opted for a golf cart which was a first and quite nice but in normal circumstances our preferences would have gone for the bikes!

There are plenty of cute places where you can stop...

The church, made of volcanic rock…

Sugarloaf Beach which is a tiny bay rather than a beach…

Grande-Anse Beach on the rough side of the Atlantic Ocean…

The white-sand Pompierre Beach…

The turquoise blue Marigot Bay…

The most gorgeous of all is Fort Napoleon at sunset.

This Vauban-style fort is now a museum surrounded by a beautiful cacti garden.

It is overlooking the Bay of Les Saintes and the 360-degree views are jaw-dropping…

There are lots of goats roaming around, iguanas hanging from the branches and delicate butterflies feeding on tropical flowers.

No visit to the island will be complete without trying the local specialty of tourments d’amour (literally meaning “agony of love”). These small tarts are tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside and are made with coconut, banana, pineapple or guava filling. The wives of the sailors prepared them while waiting anxiously for the return of their husbands. Pure deliciousness!

When we were considering which islands of Guadeloupe to visit, I went through a couple of blogs. Some people were saying not to miss Les Saintes Islands, others were preaching the same for Marie-Galante or La Desirade…

The truth is each island is so different and has so much to offer that the only question, or I would say dilemma, in front of you will be to consider what you love the most while travelling and even more important, how much time you have! Even a month will be too short of a visit for so much beauty!

Ovwa and mési (goodbye and thank you in Creole) for all the memories, beautiful Gwada! We hope to see you again one day!

Published in Elle Bulgaria in December 2024.