We chose to leave Deshaies early in the morning, with solemn promises to come back. This was not only a very charming and very French little fishing village, a peaceful and calm inlet of an anchorage, but a place we both want to come back and explore much, much more. Not to mention buy some baguettes and pastries and cheeses. However, hurricane season was softly calling our name and we still had miles to cover...
And so as the church-bells softly sing-songed eight times, we weighed anchor, hoisted the sails and enjoyed a beautiful run down the coast noting several other areas that we would like to visit next time around. After a few hours, we arrived at by Basse-Terre, and leaving the safety of the large and mountainous land mass that is Guadeloupe; the winds picked up, the seas roared to life and we began the 7 nm crossing known as "les Saintes Passage". Yikes, and Fun !!
We arrived safe and sound, not to mention Very Salty once again, in the archipelago known as the Îles des Saintes ("Islands of the Saints"), or even more simply yet, Les Saintes.
This area in general, along with these islands in particular, are mostly volcanic and only two of the of 9 islands are populated. Terre-de-Haut and Terre-de-Bas, loosely translated, this means "Land on Top" and "Land on Bottom". Inventive?
We picked up a mooring in the only small town here, Bourg des Saints, on Terre d'en Haut. We smiled at the many red roofed buildings that dotted the cliffs, as mixed with the very lush greens, made for a pretty view...
and many colourful local "fishing" boats,
that dotted the beachside.
We were surprised to see just how busy this place was, the two ferries incoming tourists on a regular basis, and also in moored boats (I believe the cruising guide indicates about 80 mooring balls available), not to mention loud music... we later learned the Fishermen's Festival was on tho go, as evidenced by the blaring bass thumping beats coming form the tents on the beach. Oh no...
But first, we watched quite a few dolphins swim by to say hello. Of course, they were a tad camera shy. Next time, perhaps?
Mr. C.C., our intrepid explorer of this general area as if you didn't know by now was here during his second voyage in 1493 and he named these islands "Los Santos", after "All Saints Day". I think he was starting to run out of creative naming juices as well.
As we know though, he wasn't the "first"... there were people visiting this place already (but not living here as there was no fresh water to be found and so they came here mostly to fish). The Arawark's name for this place was Caaroucaëra. Hmm... I have no idea what that means, or how to say it, however, it does sound intriguing...
We dinghied to the dock,
clambered up, and walked in. Funny how we never know what to expect as we walk down the dinghy dock and gingerly place our first footsteps on the streets of "town"...
We both looked at each other as we were immediately shocked and pleasantly surprised, mouths almost agape, at what we thought was going to be a seemingly non-happening town...
We walked along what must have been the main street, and it was a mixture of open shops selling clothes, artwork, ice-cream... everyone was milling out and about,
hardly a car to be seen, the only invasive sounds were those of the scooters going every which way.
We paid our mooring ball bill at the MLS office, enquired about their washing machines, 2 washers and 2 dryers in the back room, but the hours just didn't seem to jive with our visit. It takes 2.5 hours to dry a load. And so with siesta time (closed office) you're pretty much looking at an all day affair and tomorrow being Sunday it was only open in the morning. Oh well...
We were most curious about this building that I snapped a quick photo of as we were arriving here,
and as we later walked up on the road behind it,
discovered it was a doctor's office. Since neither one of us had a medical issue (thank the Saints!) we didn't have an excuse to go in and visit, just to scope out the place. Besides, it was closed. Siesta or France hours? We weren't sure.
Some of the buildings were intriguing and old,
and some of the homes nestled between shops and restaurants, distinctly evidenced life of the locals,
probably fishermen, surviving solely on their catch of the day, we would presume.
Quite the interesting place, that certainly from the closed restaurants (siesta time) and very expensive shops that dot the waterfront, welcomes tourists and cruisers, but one that also seems to have quite an interesting history to it as well.
Les Saintes belongs to the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World, and hmm, from this vantage point, it certainly is pretty picturesque.