Regions in Brief

Le Carbet

Leaving Bellefontaine, an 8km (5-mile) drive north will deliver you to Le Carbet. Columbus landed here in 1502, and the first French settlers arrived in 1635. In 1887, Gauguin lived here for 4 months before going to Tahiti. You can stop for a swim at an Olympic-size pool set into the hills, or watch the locals scrubbing clothes in a stream. The town lies on the bus route from Fort-de-France to St-Pierre.

Centre d'Art Musée Paul-Gauguin, Anse Turin, Le Carbet (tel. 596/78-22-66), is near the beach represented in the artist's Bord de Mer. The landscape hasn't changed in 100 years. The museum, housed in a five-room building, commemorates the French artist's stay on Martinique in 1887, with books, prints, letters, and other memorabilia. There are also paintings by René Corail, sculpture by Hector Charpentier, and examples of the paintings of Zaffanella. Of special interest are faience mosaics made of once-white pieces that turned pink, maroon, blue, and black in 1902 when the fires of Montagne Pelée devastated St-Pierre. There are also changing exhibits of works by local artists. Hours are daily from 9am to 5:30pm; admission is 4€ ($5.20) for adults, 2€ ($2.60) for students, and 1€ ($1.30) for children under 8.

St-Pierre

At the beginning of this century, St-Pierre was known as the "Little Paris of the West Indies." Home to 30,000 inhabitants, it was the cultural and economic capital of Martinique. On May 7, 1902, the citizens read in their daily newspaper that "Montagne Pelée does not present any more risk to the population than Vesuvius does to the Neapolitans."

However, on May 8, at 8am, the southwest side of Montagne Pelée exploded into fire and lava. At 8:02am, all 30,000 inhabitants were dead -- that is, all except one. A convict in his underground cell was saved by the thickness of the walls. When islanders reached the site, the convict was paroled and left Martinique to tour in Barnum and Bailey's circus.

St-Pierre never recovered its former splendor. It could now be called the Pompeii of the West Indies. Ruins of the church, the theater, and some other buildings can be seen along the coast.

Musée Volcanologique, rue Victor-Hugo, St-Pierre (tel. 596/78-15-16), was created by the American volcanologist Franck Alvard Perret, who turned the museum over to the city in 1933. Here, in pictures and relics dug from the debris, you can trace the story of what happened to St-Pierre. Dug from the lava is a clock that stopped at the moment the volcano erupted. The museum is open daily from 9am to 5pm; admission is 2.50€ ($3.25), free for children 7 and under. About a kilometer (2/3 miles) away, higher up the mountain, and clearly signposted, is a modern-looking museum, Le Centre Decouverte des Sciences de la Terre (tel. 596/52-82-42), containing exhibits about the region's seismology and geology, replete with public service warnings about what to do in the event of another explosion. It's open Wednesday to Sunday 9am to 5pm. Admission is 5€ ($6.50) for adults over 26; 3.50€ ($4.55) ages 13 to 25, 2.50€ ($3.25) ages 6 to 12, and free for children 5 and under.

Le Prêcheur

From St-Pierre, you can continue along the coast north to Le Prêcheur. Once the home of Madame de Maintenon, the mistress of Louis XIV, it's the last village along the northern coast of Martinique. Here you can see hot springs of volcanic origin and the Tombeau des Caraibes (Tomb of the Caribs), where, according to legend, the collective suicide of many West Indian natives took place after they returned from a fishing expedition and found their homes pillaged by the French.

Montagne Pelée

A panoramic and winding road (Rte. N2) takes you through a tropical rainforest. The curves are of the hairpin variety, and the road is not always kept in good shape. However, you're rewarded with tropical flowers, baby ferns, plumed bamboo, and valleys so deeply green you'll think you're wearing cheap sunglasses.

The village of Morne Rouge, right at the foot of Montagne Pelée, is a popular vacation spot for Martiniquais. From here on, a narrow and unreliable road brings you to a level of 750m (2,460 ft.) above sea level, 480m (1,575 ft.) under the round summit of the volcano that destroyed St-Pierre. Montagne Pelée itself rises 1,373m (4,503 ft.) above sea level.

If you're a serious mountain climber and you don't mind 4 or 5 hours of hiking, you can scale the peak, though you should hire an experienced guide to accompany you. Remember, this is a real mountain, rain is frequent, and temperatures drop very low. Tropical growth often hides deep crevices in the earth, and there are other dangers. The park service maintains more than 150km (100 miles) of trails. Although the hikes up from Grand-Rivière or Le Prêcheur are generally the less arduous of the three options leading to the top, most visitors opt for departures from Morne Rouge because it doesn't take as long to finish the trip. It's steeper, rockier, and more exhausting, but you can make it in just 2 1/2 hours versus the 5 hours it takes from the other two towns. There are no facilities other than these villages, so it's vital to bring water and food with you. Your arduous journey will be rewarded at the summit with sweeping views over the sea and panoramas that sometimes stretch as far as mountainous Dominica to the south. As for the volcano, its deathly eruption in 1902 apparently satisfied it -- for the time being.

Upon your descent from Montagne Pelée, drive down to Ajoupa-Bouillon, one of the most beautiful towns on Martinique. Abounding in flowers and shrubbery with bright yellow-and-red leaves, this little village is the site of the remarkable Gorges de la Falaise. These are minicanyons on the Falaise River, up which you can travel to reach a waterfall. Ajoupa-Bouillon also makes a good lunch stop.

Grand-Rivière

After Basse-Pointe, the town you reach on your northward trek is Grand-Rivière. From here you must turn back, but before doing so, you may want to stop at Yva Chez Vava, a good restaurant right at the entrance to the town.

Le Marigot

After passing back through Basse-Pointe and Le Lorrain, you come to a small village that was relatively ignored by tourists until hotelier Jean-Louis de Lucy used France's tax-shelter laws to restore a landmark plantation and turn it into one of the finest hotels on the island. True, the nearest good beach is at Trinité, a 30-minute drive, but guests of the Habitation LaGrange don't seem to mind.

Ste-Marie

Heading south along the coastal road, you'll pass Le Marigot en route to the little town of Ste-Marie. Musée du Rhum Saint-James, route de l'Union at the Saint James Distillery (tel. 596/69-30-02), displays engravings, antique tools and machines, and other exhibits tracing the history of sugar cane and rum from 1765 to the present. When inventories of rum are low and the distillery is functioning (only 4 months of the year, from early Mar-late June or mid-July), guided tours of the distillery are offered daily, whenever clients show up, between 9am and 5pm. Tours cost 5€ ($6.50) per person. Admission to the museum (open daily year-round 9am-5pm, regardless of whether the distillery is functioning) is free. Rum is available for purchase on-site.

From here you can head out the north end of town and loop inland a bit for a stop at Morne des Esses, or continue heading south straight to Trinité.

Trinité

Passing through Morne des Esses, continue south, then turn east, or from Ste-Marie head south along the coastal route (N1), to reach Trinité. The town is the gateway to the Caravelle peninsula, where the Caravelle Nature Preserve, a well-protected peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean from the town of Trinité, has safe beaches and well-marked trails through tropical wetlands and to the ruins of historic Château Debuc. It offers excellent hiking and one of the only safe beaches for swimming on the Atlantic coast. It would hardly merit an actual stop, however, were it not for the Domaine Saint Aubin.

Le François

Continuing your exploration of the east coast of Martinique, you can stop over in Le François to visit the Musée Rhum Clement at the Domaine de l'Acajou (tel. 596/54-62-07), about 2km (1 1/4 miles) south of the village center. The setting for this museum is an outmoded distillery in the cellar of an 18th-century mansion with period furnishings that the Clement Rum Company closed in the early 1990s, when it shifted its production to a newer plant 6km (3.6 miles) away (which cannot be visited). A Columbus exhibit is set up in caves, and other exhibits trace the institution of slavery in the islands. Products of the Clement rum distillery are prominently displayed for purchase, and tastings of some of the rums are available. The museum is in a botanic park; you could easily spend 2 or 3 hours exploring the exhibits and grounds. It's open daily from 9am to 5:30pm. Admission is 7€ ($9.10) for adults, or 4€ ($5.20) for ages 7 to 18. Free for ages 6 and under.

Accomodations -- Rooms can also be rented at La Maison de L'Ilet Oscar and Le Plein Soleil.