Booked with a longtime friend {from high school} over drinks – and after one of the most grueling weeks {make that months} of my professional career – my trip to Martinique is definitely one of the most spontaneous things I’ve ever done…and it was also probably one of the best.
We literally ordered a bottle of wine and said, ‘We need a vacation. Where should we go?’ I wanted somewhere remote, not-touristy, where I could just lay in the sun somewhere beautiful. My original suggestion – Mustique – didn’t work out logistically {without the private chartered flight of the royal Cambridges, it takes forever to get there with several connections, and accommodations are mostly villas for 8-10 people}, and after looking on the map to see what might be close, the Caribbean island of Martinique jumped out.
Having just been to Paris {I know..so fancy…ha!}, all things French were still on my mind, but it was merely coincidental that Martinique was actually a part of France. In hindsight I had heard a few friends mention that they did some study abroad in Martinique as part of their French program in college, but – being as busy as I was – I didn’t think very much into it, and off to Martinique we went about a month and a half later.
Getting there, though easier than Mustique, was hardly ‘easy.’ The plan was to take a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, then a smaller plane to Fort-de-France, Martinique. Easy, right? No. We got to San Juan only to realize that our flight had been randomly cancelled {they later said ‘due to mechanical difficulties,’ but, whatever} and – as there wasn’t another flight until the next morning – we were stuck in Puerto Rico overnight. The whole thing was less than ideal, to say the least. But, we made the best of it, walked on the beach {that face above is my ‘Why-T-F are we in Puerto Rico’ face…ha!}, and had a pretty good dinner {accompanied by the best piña colada ever} before settling into our – thankfully – provided accommodations for the night at the not-quite-five-star-not-quite-any-star ‘airport hotel’…actually called Airport Hotel. Yup. Anyway, we had some good laughs and after MORE delays the next day, finally took off for Martinique.
Considering we did zero research for this trip, we randomly ended up booking a hotel that was just about 45 minutes from the airport, which was good because we just wanted to GET THERE ALREADY…and because we missed out on basically a whole day of the vacation – which was already short – we cancelled our rental car and made the decision to just stay at our hotel and maybe venture out via cab. I was pretty bummed that missed we out on seeing some of the prettiest locations in Martinique, but because neither of us wanted to spend the whole trip driving around, it seemed like the best thing to do. Though, anywhere in Martinique is beautiful, so we really couldn’t go wrong. It has all the beautiful Caribbean splendor, with flowers, and green hills, and beautiful water – every place we looked was prettier than the next.
We stayed at Hôtel La Batelière, and the accommodations and location were perfectly fine for what we wanted – getting somewhere tropical and laying in the sun. The hotel could have used a little updating and could have been a little ‘cushier,’ {but that might be the ‘spoiled American’ in me!} but the food was good, the pool had lots of quiet spots to lounge, and we had great weather – lots of sun! – the whole time, so I had no complaints. The biggest adjustment was that everyone spoke French – and ONLY French. In Paris, most people are pretty fluent in English, but not so much here! I found myself digging deep into my memory of my high school French classes to speak with anyone, which was a lot of pressure at times, but also pretty fun, and it made me really want to resurrect my French language skills {…I’ll get to it…}
I’ve always liked getting the local ‘vibe’ when traveling, especially when traveling abroad – getting out from the resort, going into the town, local bars and restaurants, etc. – and this trip is what solidified for me just how much I loved that. We were lucky enough to be next door to a great local bar, Lili’s Beach Bar, that had amazing food, drinks, and music, and also happened to be on the beach where a lot of locals came for the day to get some sun and to get into the water. Once I got over it being a little crowded, it was really awesome. It was a beach restaurant in the Caribbean, but it had a European vibe, and the people were great, the food was hardly what we would recognize as beach food, and the drinks were amaaaazing. We spent a lot of time there during the day, and then we came back at night – when the DJ came on with some great dance music and they put soccer {football} on the big screens – it was the European cup, I think, and people were SUPER into it – and it was so much fun. If I ever find myself back in Martinique, I’ll definitely be stopping back in at Lili’s.
The goal was to relax and unwind after a crazy few months, and relax I did. It was amazing to lay in the sun {which was so so bright}, read a few good books {this one was so good that we ended up doing it as a book club selection}, and swim in that beautiful water. That’s always one of my favorite things – I love swimming in that crisp, clear blue-green water. I mean, who doesn’t, but swimming in that water – in any salt water – both calms me down and energizes me. It makes me feel back in balance, and I think about that water and that sun in Martinique often.
The vibe in general in Martinique, and in the Caribbean is pretty laid back and relaxed, but it was on another level for the sunsets. It was like there was this big pause, overall, and everyone stopped what they were doing to take it in. Locals lined up on the dock, and everyone at the hotel got to where they could see the horizon. It’s a nice reminder that even if you see it everyday, a sunset is still pretty magical.
Overall, even though the trip didn’t turn out exactly as planned, it was pretty amazing. I highly recommend booking spontaneous trips, particularly for right after you finish a huge project or some other major accomplishment. It forced me to take some much needed – and much enjoyed – time off when I might have otherwise kept going. Travel always leaves you richer, and I’m gonna say that we probably all need more rest in our lives.
