I had scarcely heard of the French island of Martinique before planning this trip, and I certainly never thought I’d visit it. I like to research a place before I visit, and what I learned about Martinique was that very few residents speak English and the US dollar is not widely accepted, as the currency is the euro. (Most islands accept USD from day tourists although their currencies differ). Well, I forgot to find a place to get euros (surely I could get some at a bank there) and I couldn’t find a dive shop that spoke English with which to set up a dive. So we decided to just get off the ship and see what we could find. Just before going ashore, we found out that the city was celebrating All Saints Day and most businesses were closed.

Ok

So we got off, made our way through the tourist markets on the pier, and found our way to a water taxi that would take us to a smaller town on the other end of the island. If nothing else, we could see more of the island for only $7 each. The ride was slow but the water and the view were beautiful. The island is comprised of small mountains/ large hills covered with green. Not the lush green of Grenada, but still green. The small town where we were delivered looked like a quaint French village just as I would have pictured it, with the addition of a small beach and crystal clear water. Also holding with traditional French village feel was the fact that seemingly no one either spoke English or accepted US dollars as payment. (All on the day the banks were closed) Now, I don’t assume that everyone should speak English or take money they are not accustomed to, but every other Caribbean island I’ve visited does just this. Most rely heavily on tourism and those tourists are mostly American. But Martinique is different, most of the tourists are actually French. And they are a more prosperous island not necessarily depending on American tourists. So I was only disappointed, not angry, when we found a wonderful little French bakery with an owner that did not speak a word of English and was unable to take US dollars. We did find a small open air cafe on the beach where the friendly owner spoke a few words of English and gladly took our US dollars. She was so accommodating and worked so hard to make us comfortable. We sat with our water and mysterious (but delicious) French dish and looked out over the beach. We returned on the next water taxi and since nothing was open in the port city, we returned to the ship.

Martinique was indeed a beautiful island, but it may be one better left for French tourists to enjoy. I’m always glad I’ve seen a new place, but I also know when there is little chance I’ll return.