CARNIVAL!!! Martinique Style

My colleague, Joel, invited us to come to Martinique for their Carnival celebration. So we did. Joel is a native of Martinique and has a lovely retirement cottage on the southeast coast at La Vauclave. Cary and Ginny love the lounge chairs, Tricia and I love the view.

Joel lent us his Lnad Rover while we were there. We then piled everyone in, and went to Fort de France for the start of Carnival!! Joel's wife and a brilliant hostess, Claudine, is a real Carnival professional. She put a lot of time into getting the costume just right!

While in Fort de France, we saw the sites. Fort Louis, the museum honoring the leader of emancipation, etc.

We also saw the SIGHTS. Carnival brings out the weirdoes. Plenty of cross dressing males, often inebriated (I wonder if there is a correlation?). Some of the bands and dance groups were amazing.., see for yourself.

Surprisingly, refillable water bottles and water was made available to the crowd for free, and there was less drinking going on than what we have come to know as our Mardi Gras, but the smell of Ganga was here and there. It was crowded, and loud, I guess like any good party. There was no police presence to be had, but it felt safe, and after three hours of people watching, our Carnival experience was done. The locals, however, partied for days, with each day a different theme to dress up to.