Marie Galante.............Anyone See "The Shining" ?
We just left Marie Galante, certainly the most remote island in Guadeloupe. It was rugged, scenic, and had some of the best beaches we've seen so far. Only thing missing............the people. It looks like 3,900 people left an island of 4,000. Nobody home.Case in point.......using our 5 year old guide book, we walked down the beach to a hotel for lunch. Sort of. We found the complex......100 bungalows with a pool, restaurant, and bar. We were 2 of the 4 people there. I'd make a joke about crickets now, but iguanas eat them so there are none here. We were alone in a restaurant that had a capacity of over 150. At this point in time, our very different personalities assert themselves. From Tom......."This is awesome.......nobody's here". Probably reflective of a job that involves pretending to like everyone in the room day after day. From Kirstin (of the Midwest)......."This is terrible.......where are the people ?" Probably reflective of her gregarious nature.
Walk down the beach, walk into town........same thing. That creepy feeling like Jack Nicholson is going to get you (The Shining). We were able to rent a scooter and drove around. The airport? No planes there. Shops and houses closed up everywhere. There are more windmills than people... at one time the island had over 600 sail-driven windmills - only a handful of those are still maintained. New windmills supply all the electricity for the island.
One super discovery here? Sugar cane is still the #1 industry and you know what they make with it? Rum. Specifically............chocolate rum. How can I describe what this tastes like ? It's like your taste-buds getting a sneak preview of heaven. We showed uncharacteristic self-control by not scootering back to the distillery the next day to buy a year's supply. The rum distillery looked like something Willy Wonka could have operated - a steam powered grinder was the highlight of wandering into the distillery. OSHA would have frowned on this factory but you have to love that the rum production was EU funded - tax dollars put to good use!