Saturday 14-April: There were no nightmares about cockroaches last night! We slept like babies as usual.
Scooter day today. As Terre de Haut island is so small, we had considered getting our bikes out; but 25 euros for a scooter will be so much more fun and a lot less hassle.
As forecast, the wind is strong today and we get a bit sprayed as we head ashore. The hire shop is pretty thorough. Not only do they want to see scooter license and know that you have previously owned a motor bike, they also want Glen to demonstrate he can ride a scooter. Good thing we guess, but it was never been asked of us before.
They only have 50cc scooters with a weight limit of 140Kgs. We do a quick sum and work out that if we ride naked we will just about be OK!
Fort Napoleon is our first destination because it closes at 12:30. At the top of the hill we find lots of golf carts, scooters and French tourists. We are just one of many tourists here, we even have to queue to get tickets. Quite a contrast to yesterday, when we had fort Shirley in Dominica completely to ourselves.
This fort was completed by the French in 1854 to stop the English invading. An interesting year, because that was about the year the fort in Dominica was abandoned due to the French no longer being a threat! Were England and France ever on the same page??
It is nicely restored and has great views over The Saints islands. Inside the buildings there are some really good historical displays. Despite being very interesting, Oana has her usual issue: she feels deeply sleepy after 1/2 an hour exposure to any museum!
Back on the road we zip down the hill on the scooter. So good to be riding a bike again with the breeze keeping us cool. Odd that we rarely saw scooters on any of the other islands, but maybe too much rain is part of the reason.
We aim to see every cove, beach and hill top before 5pm when we return the scooter. Our guide and pilot books both say that some of the windward beaches are very popular and you need to be there early to get a place. But instead, what we find are deserted beaches with no one on them. And the reason is the usual smelly Atlantic weed. We can see they have been clearing it but it’s still thick on the beach and 20-30 meters out into the waves. No one in their right mind would be on these beaches, with this smell. What a problem these islands have.
The other popular beach, on the leeward side, we find is only 2-3 meters wide due to a private fence just meters from the shoreline. Lots of people are indeed crammed into this space but it’s not very attractive to us. We guess we have been thoroughly spoiled now by amazing beaches we have seen, mostly in the Grenadines.
One aspect we do like is their houses here. Colourful and cute. Mostly with nice terraces, but none over done or exclusive looking.
For lunch we stop at a small Creole restaurant with a view to Cloudy Bay sitting in the bay. Creole food with a French touch to it really is delicious. Just how is it that the French have this masterful way of making even the simplest of food so tasty.
For desert we go back to the ice cream shop we visited yesterday and indulge ourselves again. It’s soooo delicious; soft and creamy. We declare this our best icecream since we visited Pisa in Italy last spring.
We then do something naughty. There is a lookout on top of the highest point where we want to go to. It’s 1100ft up. There is a roadway, but it clearly says no cars, scoots or bikes to enter, only authorized pedestrians. And there is a barrier across the entrance. Well, almost across. So being of Sansom blood and cheek, we nip through the gap and up the small road at full speed! We expect it to stop fairly soon and need to walk the rest of the way, but the neat little concrete road hairpins it’s way right to the very top of the hill.
On a couple of the steeper sections the scooter protests to the point that it will go no further. Weight reduction is needed. So Oana is ejected off the back, leaving Glen to nurse it upwards until the slopes decreases again, then waits for Oana to puff her way up behind. That’s what you get for being the younger spouse!
At the top is a ancient fortified building. We can get into the ground floor but the stairs upwards have been blocked. Outside there is a knotted rope to a first floor window, but in flip flops it’s impossible to scale the wall so Glen finally gives up. Score: French fort 1; English sailor 0 !
We take in the great view at our ground level and snap off some photos. We have again managed to get a special place all to ourselves, even on a tourist crowded island like this! Thank goodness we are Sansom’s 🙂
We’ve got away with it so far, so on the way down we drift down hill with the scooter turned off, running on the brakes. A good little adventure for the day.
Back in Le Bourg village we hand back the tired little scooter and head off to do some shopping. In Carrefour Express we buy brie cheese and a fresh warm crusty bread. And by the time we reach the check out we have already eaten 1/2 the baguette, so we have to grab another one!
Back on Cloudy Bay we feast on the French bread, Normandy butter, brie and ham. OMG what tastes we have in our mouths!
The rest of the evening we chill out onboard after our day out on scooter, outing another video in production.