In January, Greg and I took a trip to the island of Guadeloupe and I'm finally getting around to posting the photos - better late than never! (No shame, but this motto has become a theme of my life, lately.) This island is part of the French Antilles - north of Dominica, Martinique, and Saint Lucia. It's entirely French-speaking and entirely filled with vacationers from France on holiday. Our French was limited, but suffice it to say, we got by. I realized that I could read French but speaking it was a whole other ballgame. By the end, I realize the best mode of conduct was to greet someone with "Parlez-vous anglaise? That usually made the other person smile, laugh, and return a kind "un peu" ("a little.")
When I say it was all French people, I mean that the ENTIRE TRIP, we only ran into ONE other set of Americans! But that part was actually kind of nice. I felt like we were flying under the radar, trying to do our best to blend in. It really was cool to be immersed in French culture, island edition. Most Americans haven't heard of this place simply because there are only a one or two direct flights there from the states. I found out about Guadeloupe thanks to an AirFrance voucher that expired in March. It was the only non-transatlanic flight so I booked it and off we went.
 |
| Flying over those blue Caribbean waters |
From the airport, we rented a car and headed to our Airbnb in the town of Vieux Habitants on the Western side of the island. Greg drove the whole time (hello, manual transmission) but it was surprisingly easy to get around with an international data plan and Google Maps!
Our
Airbnb was just delightful, y'all. If you ever get a chance to travel to this magical island, stay here!! Hands-down the best Airbnb experience, I've ever had. Our host Fabienne was the kindest, and every detail in our little bungalow was so well-thought-out. I swear all of the linens were hand-sewn and everything was just so rustic, quaint and - French! It was definitely one of the best highlights of the trip for me. I loved adventuring during the day and coming back to our cozy little home base every night. We actually kept food costs pretty low just because we cooked lunch or dinner there most nights. Superb!
Musée du Café
Down the road from our Airbnb, was this quaint coffee museum in Vieux Habitants. There are many historic coffee plantations in Guadeloupe, but this one roasted one of the more popular brands that we saw in all the supermarkets.
 |
| Le Maison du Cafe Coffee Museum |
 |
| Café Chaulet Coffee Production |
Exploring the Island
On a beach jaunt, Greg met a Frenchman named Clement who was spending his month-long holiday on the island.
Driving around the island was not for the faint of heart! The roads are well maintained, but windy, steep and curvy. Greg loved driving our little micromachine car, a
Renault Twingo. It was so cute! There are two sides of the island in Guadeloupe - Basse Terre and Grand Terre. Basse Terre has an active volcano, which we hiked, (more on that below) but because of the volcanic presnce, the landscape is more mountainous and rugged. Grande Terre is home to the flat stretches of beaches and where most of the resorts are. We ventured there one day but for the most part, explored Basse Terre.
 |
| Overlooking Anse à la Barque |
 |
| Anse à la Barque (translated: The Boat Cove) |
 |
| The Chicken Shack |
La Soufriere
This is hiking up La Soufriere volcano! It was cloudy and rainy the entire hike but apparently, there are only a few days a year where it's completely clear in elevation.
I loved the cobblestone trail leading up the first ascent to the volcano. The pavers seemed like they had been there since the colonial days!
The Beaches!
Oh, the beaches! Most of our time was spent driving around to different beaches on the island. The neat part was that they were all so different.
 |
| Grande Anse beach |
Driving around the island definitely felt like we were in an episode of LOST!
 |
| Anse du Souffleur |
We watched these pelicans dive in the water and catch fish for at least an hour. National Geographic moment!
Iles Des Saintes
On one of our last days, we took a ferry to the island of Terre Haut, Iles des Saintes. This was so fun! We rented a scooter (Greg drove and I rode on the back in true Dumb & Dumber fashion.) Our first stop was driving to a colonial fort, Fort Napoleon, with spectacular views.
 |
| Fort Napoléon |
 |
| Plage de Rodrigue |
 |
| Cemetery on Les Saintes |
 |
| Le Scooter! |
 |
| Inside Notre Dame de l'Assomption on Les Saints |
 |
| I loved seeing remnants of all the old colonial buildings |
 |
| Leaving Les Saintes on the ferry |
Views from our
Airbnb
 |
| Coffee at Rosewood Lodge |
 |
| Stuart, the resident hummingbird |
There you have it! It was *really, really* hard to be away from Lily during our trip, but I would definitely go back to this magical French paradise!
