Wednesday December 6, 2017
Now as my faithful readers know, I like to sleep in and was looking forward to a nice late snooze today. However, we let the sun wake us up and it decided that 730 was a fine time to get up. As a bonus though, it was just prior to the ship docking on the French island of Martinique so we were able to watch the process from the balcony. We took our time getting ready and decided to have the tea breakfast at the Venetian dining room. I tried the pancakes but they were about as good as the buffet ones so I’ll have to try something different next time.
This was not an island we had a shore excursion pre-planned so we decided to stroll through Fort de France today instead of going on any particular tour. The ship docked right in the downtown area so it was easy to explore. We checked out as much of the actual Fort as we could, but most of the area was only open for tours. We then walked around and looked at the shops. We stopped into McDonalds for the toilet but the men’s was locked so I had to go up the temp restrooms by the Pier. When I returned Gary and Mom hadn’t figured out the McDonalds WiFi (only avail with purchase) but I figured out the free city WiFi so soon we rejoined the world. I know I’m becoming an Internet junkie and as much as I wanted to stay offline, it felt sooo good just to briefly catch up. I was worried about the fires at home so I’m glad they were not near anyone in my family.
After the quick fix, we further explored the town and I got a photo of Carrefour, a French institution that I miss from China. I finally got my souvenirs magnet and after some Skype calls and texts from home it was time to get back on the ship. There is a soft spot in my heart for French overseas territories as they always remind me of Tahiti and of course France. I do wish the cruise line had more shore excursions in Martinique as it seems like a nice charming island and I definitely want to see more. If I come back I’d for sure like to visit the beaches and the volcanic museum from the 1902 blast of Mt Pele in Saint Pierre.
When we departed the island I waited up front to suck every last drop of free WiFi and then headed back to the cabin to relax before dinner. It was generic dinner tonight with nothing exciting happening so we chilled for the rest of the evening.
