St Nicolas' Day

The girls have been enjoying ballet classes which they started a month ago (now we are all very familiar with good toes, bad toes....) and so we arranged for them and their best friends to go to see The Nutcracker together. Such fun!


We had prepared all week by listening to the music and discussing the plot so they had a good idea what was happening, but LissaLou is truly her parents' daughter and still sat whispering (oh so loudly!) throughout, asking about or stating what was happening! They were very confused by the non-arrival of the Sugar Plum Fairy (whose dance was done by the leading character Clara) but were quite happy with our explanation that there weren't enough people to fill all the parts!Of course, the highlight for them was being treated to ice cream in the interval - thanks BFs' dad!
I would also like to give a plug for Specsavers, where I went for an appointment beforehand after perhaps six months without glasses. On hearing of my theatre attendance, the kind staff member insisted I couldn't possibly go without glasses, and whizzed them up for me in half an hour, rather than the usual three days! And all this despite him being an Arsenal fan!

Afterwards we celebrated St Nicholas' Day with our friends. I hadn't realised what a big thing this is in Holland, as all presents happen now rather than at Christmas. The girls were thrilled with their little gifts but given the rather undressed state the younger ones were in, I decided to leave out the photos! Instead, here is JoJo very much enjoying his chocolate gift and Bertie who kindly made a Caribbean dessert of fried plantain with ice cream and chocolate sauce. The main course was a traditional dutch meal of carrot and turnip (I think) with meatballs, gravy, cider vinegar and an additional mashed potato and kale dish. Delicious. And so filling!

Above - a little clue as to what the girls got...

Farewell At Pika

We hosted the long-awaited campfire at Pika on Friday in honour of our departure and were delighted to have 50 or so friends and family members come. OK, so at 7pm it was looking a bit dodgey with no campfire, lights not up (and darkness fast approaching), food not ready, Bertie rushing around like a headless chicken, JoJo not in good humour....(I forgot to mention we have all been down with colds this week after our sea dip, except Bertie, and JoJo has had the most pathetic squeak instead of a cry or voice!).


However, things quickly improved and we enjoyed lovely barbequed chicken, spare ribs, brochettes, rice and bebele made by Mamie. Bertie got the lights up and working which made a big difference, although when he changed the petrol it was beautifully dark and atmospheric. Folks sat and ate and chatted and played cards and belote, whilst the kids ran around crazily.

Their favourite moment was when Bertie cut sticks out of coconut tree leaves and they placed marshmallows in the fire. It was one boy's birthday and he told us we had fulfilled his dream!

One lady got out her ka and started drumming and singing with the group, then there was a very kind and moving presentation from some church friends and Mamie, who stood proudly arm in arm with her son and invited everyone to pop in and say hello when they passed, just to keep them company!

JoJo eventually fell asleep on me and slept through it in the car, but the girls stayed up to the end, and we eventually made it home at 1am! I cannot tell you what poor state we were in for packing the next day (most of it got down on Sunday night) and killing Papy's cow (4am start!!!).

Out And Abouts

LissaLou said how nice it was to have Daddy at home and to go out together as a family, and I have to agree! We are profiting from these days!

Other recent trips have included...

Walking down by the sea to watch the Tour de Guadeloupe by boat which arrived into our port one lunchtime. As we walked through the trees to get there, we stepped over mango after mango and picked up a few to add to our picnic. Bertie spent most of his youth going down that way to the sea (rather than the less muddy and hilly route by road that now exists but is much longer) and walking through smelling the very strong fragrance of fresh and rotting mangos reminded him of those days.

One of our churches had a Campfire out in the country and we enjoyed singing mostly creole songs around the fire, whilst being eaten alive by mosquitoes! Unfortunately by the time we left at 10pm with one sleeping and two tired wee ones, the food still hadn't been served....

Last Friday at the girls' special request we returned to La Ferme Ti Bou, this time with two other families. Needless to say the girls had a fantastic time, seeing the animals, trampolining, bouncing but most of all going round and round and round and round...(you get the idea!) on the go karts. The cool pool water was very much appreciated as was our water melon! Jojo was also able to appreciate it a lot more this time and had good fun in the ball pit.

Yesterday was a family outing to Port Louis to visit Bertie's nephew at a holiday camp he is working on. Not a job I would wish for!!! I thought they were camping but turns out their tents have bunk beds inside, easy life!

We then went on to the beach and enjoyed splashing and diving with all the family. Well, we would have if LissaLou hadn't had a meltdown and cried out the whole visit... These are few and far between now but still painful to live through!

Not many days left now so we shall see what they hold.

Ste Anne

Tuesday 7 April

The nice thing about having visitors (and there not being a strike on!) is that you are motivated to get out and about far more than you would usually. I am afraid we have become very much like the locals, taking the beach for granted and almost forgetting about it much of the time! But what a wonderful place it is, with fun and exercise and beauty for the youngest to the oldest, all for absolutely nothing! What's not to like?! (Apart from the salt and the sand of course. But that might just be me.)

It is definitely getting easier to go there now that our trio are a bit older, and to see the immense joy it gives JoJo to go running and splashing in the water before splatting the castles so carefully constructed is worth all the effort of getting our bags and bags of stuff ready (you wouldn't believe we were just heading off for a couple of hours) and all the rinsing, changing, sand in the car, washing etc etc.
The day sped by and our departure to Ste Anne was much later than planned, added to by that sad feature of Gwada Life, a lengthy traffic jam. However, the later you arrive the more chance of finding a parking space (the beaches were packed out all week due to it being school holidays) and the fewer the people on the beach. We also stayed late enough for a new experience for me - moonlight picnic on the beach! We watched the moonlight streaming across the water and gobbled down our hot potates (great suggestion for beach tea - warms up the coldest bodies!) before it got simply too dark to see them any more. Bertie kindly queued for our chi chis (with chocolate sauce - delicious!) and then we fumbled around in the dark hoping not to leave anything (or anyone!) behind. In fact, we actually made it home with an extra swimming ring!

La Cascade Aux Ecrevisses & Deshaies

Monday 6 April

In sharp contrast to the warmth of the Atlantic Sea was the freezing cold of the river, but equally enjoyable as we scrambled over rocks, sat on massaging pools of water (strangely like the spa at Archway pool!) and in CassCass' case, sat playing with and sipping the water! We feasted on a roast chicken collected on the way whilst admiring all the greenery of the forest.

Then we moved on along La Traversee, enjoying the scenery outsideand in

Our next stop was Deshaies where we enjoyed the scenery and watched incredulously as the girls bit by bit whipped off their clothes and made a somewhat unscheduled stop in the sea! Ah, to be young and free!

Our search for a good old cuppa was finally fruitful, in this elegant cafe by the sea. So what is BF's dad looking so glum about?
Just take a look at the bill. A good look.Yup, you did read that correctly. No need to hurry to the opticians. An astonishing €16.30 for 3 cups of tea and a can of Ordinaire. Including three jugs of (warm) milk for the princely fee of, gulp, €1.60 each! You can bet that we got the girls to drink every last sip of that milk! You can also bet that we will not be returning there again in a hurry!

On our way home, we stopped off at the viewing point to admire the curiously named Tete a l'Anglais and to wait for the sunset

Worth the wait!

Gosier

Sunday 5 April

We were delighted to see our friends arrive safely on the Saturday evening. LissaLou and her BF were so excited to see each other that they lay in bed talking until past 10pm! (all the more astonishing, 3am UK time for BF!) And then they bounced out of bed as bright as anything far too early the following day - oh glorious jet lag! By lunchtime it felt that we had been up for an eternity!

However, we still found the energy to head off to the beach and we went for the closest, in the very touristy area of Gosier, which is only 15 minutes drive away. We had never visited this beach before, always going to a smaller one just before it, with a steep hike down rocks. This part of the beach is busier, but much more accessible (and most importantly well situated for buying chi chis, ummm!)

From the beach you get a great view of Marie-Galante, Les Saintes (picture on the right-hand side in the middle) and on a good day, Dominica. The bottom left is Ilet Gosier, which is perhaps 500m from the coast and popular for folk to spend the day or even swim to. There is a strong current going out but I guess that would work in your favour on the return. Another feature I love about this beach is all the boats, which add an extra something to the view.

Everyone had a great time in the sea and out on the sand, although having told our friends it was perfectly safe in Guadeloupe, we felt terrible when they got bitten by some random thing in the water! It cleared up though and all was fine. When we finally pulled ourselves away the sun was setting and our shadows stretching out into the distance.

Time For A New Computer?

I have been absent for a while....this was initially due to our being in the midst of a funpacked fortnight seeing the entire island and all its delights with LissaLou's BF and her parents and sister. Added to this housekeeping and cooking for 9 and entertaining five children, this hasn't left much time for anything else!

To give you an idea of our travels...
Sunday - (woken at 5am by the kids!!!) walk by the sea, church, beach at Gosier
Monday - Cascade aux ecrevisses, drive along La Traversee to Deshaies, then along the north part of the coast following the sunset
Tuesday - Visit to much more stocked Leader Price, beach at Ste Anne late afternoon with our hot potato tea by moonlight
Wednesday - LissaLou finally made it to the dentist (2 fillings, €72!), BBQ at Pika with Bertie's Bible study group
Thursday - Escaped the rain by driving to most furtherly eastern point of Guadeloupe, La Pointe des Chateau, then to the beach at St Francois
Friday - Easter activities at Pika (Bertie made an impressive Easter Garden based on an empty coconut shell!), made a sorbet in the evening
Saturday - Climbed the Soufriere (our volcano) - it took 5 hours (one for each child!) and my legs are still suffering!! We took the backpack for JoJo but CassCass gave up after a couple of hours so he was in our arms for the rest of the trip, ouf! Very impressive sight though, finished off by a very well-deserved hot thermal bath
Sunday - Eglise de maison, yummy lunch, well-needed 2 hour siesta!
Monday - More rain so Bertie took advantage of it to clean everywhere, then lunch was traditional Bebele and crab courtesy of Mamie. the boy have gone fishing at Le Moule and we are awaiting their return hoping they will be laden with fine things!

However, our latest computer disaster (will they ever end?!) is that the screen has gone kaput - the computer wioll turn on but you can't see anything for love or money! Sigh! So can't promise you will be seeing all my lovely photos of the above events in the near future!

Back....soonish!

Plage du Bois Jolan

Sunday saw us out for a West Indian speciality - church on the beach! I was particularly looking forward to it as we were visiting a new beach for me, just a bit further on from our favourite of Sainte Anne.
I asked Bertie en route why he had never taken me there before and he shrugged and replied that it was just a flat beach. Well! Try telling that to half the Guadeloupean population and tourists alike who were there en masse that day! As we drove along off-road looking for a parking space (this is one of the few beaches where you don't park right next to where you swim) I was amazed at how long the beach was and how many cars there were already there. We were at the very far end where it was much quieter, but otherwise every single (and there were several) little picnic area had been taken over by huge groups equipped with tables, chairs, even electric motors and sound systems! These people take their Sunday picnic seriously!

This beach is particularly famous because at Easter it is where everyone goes for four days to camp, and the areas were already marked off and reserved. It looks like it would be quite an event, but not one I am desperate to experience as it must be manic. In fact, I would like to see the beach in the week when it is a bit quieter.

The other thing that struck me about Bois Jolan is that it is the nearest thing to a European beach that I have seen here. Yes, I can imagine that isn't the first thing on your mind as you look at these pictures of golden sand and coconut trees! But what I mean is it was long (usually they are pretty short) and the distance out to the sea was also long (usually the sand is a tiny strip and the sea straight away). In fact, as I went for a long walk along the beach with LissaLou (that in itself is an unusual thing) it felt just like walking along West Sands in St Andrews! Well, almost! LissaLou was delighted to enjoy her Mum's exclusive attention, asking if I had invited her along so we could chat together!

We were rather late so missed a lot of the service but enjoyed the picnicking (our quiche was meagre compared to the canaris (huge pots) of rice and meat that were brought out! Happily there was plenty to share. Especially as JoJo turned his nose up at ours and headed for the rice!)As I have said before, people are so well equipped here, with table and chairs and table cloths and everything you could possibly need! (One person told me her friend's church always brings a portable loo - now there's an idea....I hate bushes!)
Afterwards we took the girls and JoJo into the chilly sea. Whilst the main sea with fierce waves is very far out, there is a huge expanse of shallower water that was perfect for the children - at least, till I was warned about the ursin that inhabit it and give fierce stings! There were also bits of sand in it great for playing on.

The folk separated into their usual men and women groups, the one chatting, the other enjoying the Guadeloupean past time of dominoes. Bertie and his friend disappeared to try and find bernard l'hermitte for their fishing expedition this week but came back empty handed. As we finally left at dusk, there were still plenty on the beach and the party with the traditional gwo ka music was only just getting started...

Pictures from our walk - our picnic spot was right at the far end

And this picture really doesn't show how far on the beach went in the other directionI was fascinated by this coconut tree which had started life on a slant and then suddenly one day decided to grow straight!And just look at all the roots it takes to keep one of these standing! Amazing.

What The Girls Have Been Up To

And we thought the Carnival was over! The girls have had great fun dressing up with whatever they can find and marching round the house with their Carnival song (very realistic too) and barely a day goes by without it

This was last Thursday when we had a friend of LissaLou's over. After the Carnival, we went on to Activity Time and they had a great time making birthday cards for a cousin, puppets, daffodils, drawing...all with Mamie's new ducklings in the background! (We are looking forward to Duck a l'orange...)

The Big Clean Up

The week isn't complete without a visit to Pika! Bertie put his nephews back to work to finish the big cleaning project they started last week.

We were also joined by our friends who gave a hand cleaning and weeding. They found the latter so relaxing they are planning to return later in the week to prune and weed some more (though they will bring hats and gloves and a radio this time!)

Our conversation ranged from the blessing of loving parents and a close relationship between grandparents and grandchildren to political discourse on the sad state of Guadeloupe (I discovered that it is basically in the economic hold of 8 rich families). These two ladies both love their island and its natural riches passionately and we decided that on a positive note, the strike is showing people that they can live without Carrefour (but only just!) and how much the land has to offer.

As you can see from the photos, some of us didn't do very much at all (I discovered I got a lot more done with Baby JoJo safely in his chair...) and there was also time for a bit of fishing. The girls and I entertained ourselves throwing baby mangos into a tub and drawing pictures of the free-range hens. I was amazed at how happily and quickly they followed Mamie when she called for them to return to their house!

We quenched our thirst on coconut water and were astonished to find on finishing our work that it was 2pm - no wonder our stomachs were rumbling!
The boys have done a great job cleaning and you would not recognise the place now. Here is a photo of before...
....and after!

They are thinking of putting tiles down on the floor. In any case, Baby JoJo can crawl around at his leisure now.

We disturbed many wasps in the course of the morning but it wasn't till we were finished that we had our only casualty - one popped up Mamie's skirt and stung her right on the....leg! (Well what did you think I was going to say!)

If the weather holds we may return later in the week - and this time avoid the hunger pangs by taking a barbeque with us.

Another Morning At Pika

Back there again on Tuesday morning! This time it was for a planned get together with my friends that I often meet up with and some of their children. We had a lovely morning - they were very interested in seeing all that grows there and came away with several plants for potting, including one humoungous bush sized thing which only just fitted in the car!

All the children very much enjoyed playing on the swing - their favourite game now is being turned round and swinging giddily at top speed. I hated that when I was little! Papy very much enjoyed having visitors, especially those who had never heard his stories before and stood and listened with interest and appreciation!

Baby JoJo is never happier than when he is with his Papa, and this was about the closest he got as Bertie worked hard at digging and entertaining and chopping coconuts.

I love the way people here always turn up prepared - not just a table and chairs that cunningly fold up very small, but complete with table cloth!

Our favourite gardener strikes a pose!

We took some photos of the group

but this is the nearest we could get CassCass to come!

Back To Sainte Anne

Monday (3 November)
Bertie's sister kindly took LissaLou in her car (the girls were fighting over who got to go with her, as she has the coveted air con - ironically, the windows were wide open and she didn't even put it on, but I think being with the "Big Girls" was pleasure enough for LissaLou!) as well as her daughter and her friend and her granddaughter to the beach at Ste Anne so we could show Mum what real sea is like - none of this freezing North Sea business! It was nice that the adults weren't outnumber by the children for a change!We have a float for Baby JoJo but don't often use it now as he is always trying to drink the sea water. It is easier to keep him out this way!Just to remind you how blue it is!This brave lady made it into the water and quite deep down - I had forgotten she isn't a strong swimmer, so well done! Evidently the sun, sea and sand life suits her!

Bertie's sister and niece

Our friend who kindly lends us her car - enjoying a few minutes peace and a beautiful evening

Hitting The Shops And The Pool

Friday
Whilst Bertie was at work, we took the girls and their cousin to the shopping centre near us. They love sitting in this car, so for a change I actually put a euro in it to get it movingOh if only I could be there too, Baby JoJo squealed!I have been thinking about getting a paddling pool for a while and so was delighted to find this one complete with ball and float. It is now up on on our balcony and the girls have a lovely time splashing in it. Or just lounging beside it! On this particular occasion their cousin and our neighbour (who just happened to be wearing her swimsuit under her clothes!) came in too.

The only problem is emptying it. If we tip it all out, it floods our downstairs neighbours! So we have to carefully bucket it all down the back (where the blue towel is) so it goes into the gutter. Bertie has been muttering about putting up a gutter all the way round for a while - go for it I say!