Contrarily to prejudice, Guadeloupe displays a relatively rich cultural and
historical background, which you can explore by visiting its numerous
museums and discovering the history of coffee.
Martinique prides in a rich cultural and historic heritage. If the weather is bad or if you simply can’t stand the sunburn, you also have a great range of museums to visit to brush up on your general knowledge of the island’s past from prehistoric times to our days.
Saint Barth’s Municipal Museum hosts an exhibition on the island’s history in all its contexts from geography to tourism, from the early days to today’s developed society. If you have the time, drop in to the International museum of shellfish, where more than 9,000 different species of this mollusc are displayed.
Located in Roseau, the small capital on the grid map has some beautiful Creole homes with coloured wood. Most of them have not been restored since the end of the colonial period, and are unfortunately in bad shape. These homes bear witness to the influence of the French on Dominica. They represent a curious mix between a simple yet solid structure, designed to withstand bad weather, and exaggeratingly complicated ornamentations (many louver boards, jalousie blinds pierced into the walls). Elsewhere on the islands, homes are generally made of sheet metal, which[...]
SAINT-KITTS & NEVIS
Philatelic Office. A few steps away from the
Tourist Office, this bureau is paradise itself for philatelists, with a wide
choice of commemorative envelopes.
Museum of Nevis History.
Box 563 (to the north, slightly off the seaside) Tel : (869) 469 5789.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
Entrance fee: 5 US$ (12 EC$), the price includes access to the Haratio
Nelson Museum.
The building itself is a stone edifice, severely simple in style, maintained
by the Nevis Historical[...]
An 18th-19th century sugarcane plantation and habitation, situated a few kilometres from Grand Bourg. A certain Dominique Murat, originally from the southwest of France (near Bordeaux, a great slave port at the time) moved to Capesterre with his 34 slaves and took the function of notary, negotiator and coffee planter in 1770.
Though they lived in the same age, he and Marshall Joachim Murat, king of Naples under the reign of Napoleon appear to have no common parantage. In April 1807, under the island’s last English occupation (1805-1815), Dominique[...]
The route to Fort Napoleon is lined with a multitude of cacti and shrub. An
interesting fact: these giant cacti and hedge overrunning the edifice were
originally planted on decision of Father Labat in the XVIIIth century around
all forts in the region. Fort Napoleon is fairly well restored, yet its
empty moat and general visual aspect are not particularly inspiring, apart
from the pleasant sight of a few goats grazing about. The fort, which never
actually played a military role, serves today as a historical museum,
displaying a permanent exhibition[...]
