Surprise! We are underway and headed from Fort de France to Sainte Pierre. For all you history buffs Saint Pierre was once known as the Rivera of the Carribean and was one of the wealthiest cities in the West Indies. That was before the 1903 volcano that pretty much wiped out the town, killed about 29,000 inhabitants and sank 12 of the 13 ships anchored in the harbor. Of course we all know that governments never fudge the truth, especially if an election is in the offing, however it seems that the government in Martinique did not want to cause any undue concern when Mt Pelee started with some small eruptions a couple of months before the entire side of the mountain blew off at 0802 on Ascension Day. Prior to that a committee of scientists had been called together and their conclusion was the mountain was no immediate threat.

THrere are some museums, some of the old plantation buildings or their foundations and some great hiking trails. Also, the remains of the 12 ships are visable to snorkelers and divers. We plan on a few days there with some inland touring to include the volcano site, then we shall depart for the English speaking island of Dominica. More later