Still at St. Anne, but plan on leaving after lunch to sail down to St. Lucia.
St. Anne is a sleepy touristy town but not too touristy which is great. There are two main one way streets in town lined with some tourist shops, restaurants, a grocery store, and not much else. Of course there is a French bakery as well with great pastries. The "BEST" ice cream shop in all the Caribbean but it was closed for the month of June so can not confirm this :(
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| One of the main one way streets |
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| Town square, right off the dinghy dock |
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| One large church in town, can hear the bells every 1/2 hour from the boat |
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| Nice church inside as well |
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Off the main streets, the streets look normal Caribbean
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| The other main street |
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| Near the tourist and police station, odd decoration. Fake grass with decorations. |
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| Subtle but nice rock work |
Not a busy week, but did go on a couple of hikes with our friends Matt and Sharlie on Matcha. First hike was about 5 miles round trip along the SW coast on the Les Salines trail. A nice mostly shaded hike along a well marked trail that's relatively flat. Lots of scenic views of the ocean and some nice beaches, and lots and lots of crabs. |
| Lots of the Blackback land crabs along the trail |
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| Had to watch where we stepped in the shady leafy areas due to so many crabs |
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| Nice little bridge on the trail |
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| Nice coastline and beaches |
One thing about the beaches in on the west side of the Caribbean islands - no shells to speak of, just lots of soft sand.
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| Very scenic walk with overhanging trees giving shade |
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| Some roots to avoid, but most the trail not like this. |
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| This crab was plentiful as well, but mostly in rocks, and hard to spot |
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| This little hermit crab needs to find a bigger shell soon. |
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| An old road across a marshy area, no longer used |
After our hike, we stopped for a nice lunch at Pirates Beach restaurant.
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| Pirate themed restaurant |
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| Got a kick out of how the bill was presented in a pirate chest. |
We did go into the main town of Le Marin, picked up a new boat hook as since we had lost one overboard and wanted a replacement. Le Marin has more chandleries than anywhere else. There are 17 listed supplies for work - sail lofts, welding, electronics, engine work and more, and 6 decent sized chandleries. Its only 1 mile from the two furthest away from each other, but there are 5 dinghy docks you can use to easily access all the stops. It is truly a mecca for boat work.
We went on a short walk with Matcha later in the week. There is a switchback road we can see from the boat, and Kris had to walk up it before we left. It is called the Monuments Rue du Calvaire a path dotted with monuments describing the crucifixion of Christ, and at the top is the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de la Salette built in 1731. Walk had great views of the harbor.
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| The zig zag walk going up |
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| Markers at each turn |
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| Great view at the top of the anchorage |
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| Looking down, you can spot Dean and get a better perspective of the incline |
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| Some pretty flowers along the way |
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| First snail we have seen in the Caribbean. Wonder if this one will be someone's dinner at some point. We have seen Escargot on the menu at a couple spots. |
We will leave later today, and head down to St. Lucia.
