Colours of Guadeloupe....

One of the things that really makes your day when you are in Guadeloupe are all the colours around! In the nature, in the houses, on the market: everything is cheerful and with tons of different colours! So you can not not smile:-) The typical creole houses are a real treat to look at, so are the flowers in the gardens and along the road...Enjoy and soak all the SUNSHINE hiding in theses pictures!

The French Caribbean cuisine/ la cuisine creole aux Antilles Francaises

 

Lately I have realised lately that I have never posted about the amazing and so yummy "cuisine creole", the one in the French Caribbean...So get ready to see some mouth watering dishes, more or less known or unknown to you veggies+fruits and some more! I will start with my absolutely favourite dish: "cassolette de chatrou". Depending on where one orders it it could be cooked with different spices, but the main ingredient is octopus... Another very exquisite dish is the grilled spiny lobster. Of course fresh seafood is a daily great catch here, mostly the fish is prepared on the BBQ or with the local flavours (peppers, cumin, ginger). The dishes are never really too spicy. One get often the so called "sauce chien" (the dog sauce) , which is finely chopped red peppers in oil and vinegar-something if you need more fire:-)).

 

Above is the most famous Caribbean starter ("les accras"), warm cod-fritters. They perfectly suits to a cold beer or a glass of rum or rum cocktail.

 
There are plenty of restaurants held by locals, who do use a lot of the root-veggies like cassava, taro or the local pumpkin and breadfruit for delicious gratins and purees!

Of course I have also prepared some home-made sushi plate with fresh fish fillet...

 

And last but not lest the famous "tourment d amour", the pastry of les Saintes filled with cocos, pineapple or guava marmalade!

Marie Galante: about the beaches and the curious crabs...

As i had mentioned in my previous blog entry, the island Marie-Galante is famous for its beautiful and not at all crowded white-sand beaches. The beaches are coming of course in set with huge coconut palm trees and plenty of signs to watch yourself because of the falling down fruits

Another nice part of the beaches are the plenty of curious crabs running around. Have a look for yourself and enjoy!

Intro to exotic fruits+vegetables-part 3

As a continuation to the introduction to the exotic fruits and veggies in the French Antilles (from last year) I would love to present to you today the Xmas fruit/flower: "la groseille pays" (also called "le karkade"). The flowers are cooked in water and the obtained juice is very refreshing when served and consumed cold...

Below you can see the famous breadfruit (fr."fruit a pain"). It replaces the potatoes in the Caribbean cuisine. One may boil it or grate it (and then bake it in the oven as "gratin"). We tried the last version yesterday and it was extremely yummy.

 The other day I was lucky to find on the market in Marie-Galante some guavas. See how my fruits basket looks like today:-) Another new discovery is the fruit called "abricot pays", the one between the guava and pineapple (second picture below). The name in English is mamey apple (or Santo Domingo abricot) and its tree is a close relative of the mangosteen.

La Soufrière and the view from the top of Guadeloupe...

Climbing the top of volcano, that is said to be lost in clouds around ten months out of twelve, is kind of an adventure...and a question of luck what expects you up there. The 1467m height make la Soufrière (literally for "big sulphur outlet") the highest mountain in the whole West Indies. The tour to its top is a tough 2-hour-walk in the middle of the National Park Guadeloupe.

When starting the climb the top was hidden in clouds and rain. On the way up the weather cleared a bit and some gorgeous views were on display in front of our eyes: chains of green mountains and of course the view to les Saintes, the archipelago south of Guadeloupe.

The rich and exotic volcano flora and colourful colibris were a great companion on the steep way through rocks and stones. At the end of tour one may relax the muscles and tird legs in the natural warm bath tubes "Les bains jeunes"....

The volcano is still active. Last eruption was in 1976. There is a volcano observatory monitoring its activities.

Fort Napoléon aux Saintes

Around 15 minutes pretty steep walk takes you to the fortress known as „Fort Napoléon" in Terre-de-Haut, les Saintes. The view (from around 114m) to the island and the rest of the archipelago is worth the effort. The fort, where Napoleon actually had never been too (even if the name might let you think so), replaced the "Fort Louis" (destroyed 1809 by the English) and its building was finished in 1867. An exotic cactus-garden decorates the top of the thick and wide stone walls of the fort. The inside of the building operates as a museum. There one may discover different items: from old pictures and exotic shells to typical items "santoises" like boats and the hat „salako"....

The local guide has a story to almost every one of them. So we learnt that the male iguana is much more beautiful than the female-because of the longer ale and the stripes on it. Also: some dead corals were used as building materials from the locals for hundred of years now. Personally I really enjoyed the map of Guadeloupe and les Saintes made with the sand of the different beaches around the islands...

Caribbean flowers....

It is cold, wet and grey outside, typical European weather in winter....and its been like this for the last few days, so I have decided to share some more colours and warmth from the Caribbean with you. In the French Antilles one may discover plenty of exotic flowers unknown in the old continent. On the first picture you can see the so called "oiseau de paradis" (eng. "paradise bird"). Another funny name has the flower pictured just below, this one is called "rose de porcelaine" (eng. "pocelane rose").

The best place to experience this in Martinique is Jardin de Balata, close to the capital Fort-de-France. The 3 last pictures in this blog entry are from there. Next to different flowers and exotic tree kinds one can admire there colibri and other birds too. The last picture features the flower "heliconia", which always hangs down.

Merci beaucoup for the great time in Gwada...

Back home (in very white and cold Holland) yesterday...
and 35 degrees less (from 30 to minus 5)!
On the way to work today I had to bike on ice+snow, and on the way back i did some bike-sliding...

*****
This blog entry is dedicated to all great people, who made this vacation so wonderful and unique:

->We had sooo much fun with Giuglio+friends (even if Giulio was afraid that i am gonna try to steal his lovely hand-made hat from banana leaves, with which he posed on the picture)....GRAZIE, ragazzi! what a great idea to spend the last hours before the flight on the most beautiful beach, la plage de la Caravelle (first shot)!

->A huge THANK U goes to the so lovely and friendly team of CIP diving club on the beach in Malendure (merci beaucoup Eric, Claude, Loic, Ben, Jean-Albert, Flo, Piou, tout le monde)!!!

->Merci beaucoup for all the delicious punches, which Claire from Sainte Anne made us try. I am so happy with the bottles we brought, as they warm up really well:) As warm as her creole smile!

->The great Swedish-Italian company in UCPA les Saintes was the best for a having multi-culti sportive+cocktail-tasting time...

->>> and last but not least, thanks to ALL of you who passed by for a visit or a look at the pictures! It is always great to know that someone out there is watching, reading, (hopefully) enjoying and sometimes leaving a comment!:-)

Have a great, sunny and SMILY 2010!!!