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MARTINIQUE HOLIDAYS >
CARIBBEAN
French overseas departement, an island belonging to the Windward Island in the lesser Antilles.
National Capital City of Martinique:
Fort-de-France
car hire, hotels in martinique, tour operators, travel guides, travel to martinique
links
Car Rental Martinique
Hotels in Martinique
Centrally located hotels ranging from small family run budget accommodation to world-class five star hotels.
Travel Agents / Tour Operators
Caribbean cruises.
- Create your perfect trip to Martinique
Flight, Hotel and Car
Onyx Travel - Holidays in Martinique with Onyx Travel
Onyx Travel specialise in holidays to the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Chimere Yachting Martinique - Yacht Rental
Fleet is composed exclusively of performante, convivial and anonymous boats. Contrary to some other Companies, you will feel the pleasant sensation to be on your own boat.
Golf Martinique - Empress Josephine Golf Course of Martinique
 Travel Guide Martinique / Related books
Martinique, Dominique et Sainte-Lucie
Céline Barrère (Author)
Paperback: 320 pages; Publisher: Lonely Planet (16 Jun 2006); Language French; ISBN-10: 2840705346; ISBN-13: 978-2840705345.
Two Years in the French West Indies (Lost & Found)
Raphael Confiant (Foreword), Lafcadio Hearn
In October 1887 the writer and translator Lafcadio Hearn sailed from New
York to Martinique. Intending to stay for a few months, he remained for two years. He viewed French-ruled Martinique as an exotic fusion of European,
African and Asian influences, the Creole society par exellence. Describing the island's landscape, its flora and fauna, its colonial architecture and rural
villages, he provides a picture of a Caribbean colony where slavery was a recent memory and race an all-importan matter of identity. First published in
1890, this work also offers an evocation of the doomed city of Saint Pierre, devastated 12 years later in a volcanic eruption. Hearn also presents insights into the daily lives of
Martinicans. Exploring their folk tales, music and Creole language, he portrays a world of sensuality and
mystery, in which traditional storytelling conjures up a dimension of sorcery, ghosts and zombies.
Paperback 384 pages (December 19, 2000); Publisher: Signal Books; Language: English; ISBN: 1902669177
Transport / How do I travel to Martinique
Martinique Airport - L'aéroport du Lamentin
- flights to Martinique
Book cheap flights to Martinique at ebookers and benefit from discounted airfares. View their latest offers and book your flights, accommodation, car hire and insurance online
Airline Tickets / Discount Flights
Flight tickets Martinique / Price comparison possible
Maps International -
Mapsinternational.co.uk is one of the largest map shops online.
Maps Martinique [ Uni Texas - Perry-Castañeda Library - Map Collection ]
Links 
Martinique is a blessed island, its natural beauty encased in sandy beaches. The beaches, exceptional as
they may be and always in evidence whenever Martinique is pictured, are, however, only the most eye-catching aspect of the "island of flowers".
Once you venture into the island's interior, the truth will dawn. Martinique is so fertile that even the wood
pickets used for fences burst into bloom. Looking at this emerald green lizard of an island from the sky it is quite clear why it has been termed the "Pearl of the West Indies".
After setting foot on the beach of Le Carbet, on Sunday, June 12, 1502, Christopher Colombus wrote in his
diary : "This is the most wonderful, the most fertile, the sweetest, the most charming land in the world".
Martinique - Tourist Board Martinique [ french ]
Informations Pratiques, Calendrier, De Villes en Villages, Transports, Arts et Culture, Gastronomie, Souvenirs,
Cartes, Plages, Escapades, Agritourisme et Ferme-Auberge, Réceptifs, Les Communes, Activités sportives, Sites et Patrimoine, Restaurants
Government of Martinique - Prefecture Region de Martinique - Departmental administration
A night-and-day access to a great number of administrative forms, to practical information, and to the main national web sites...
Fort de France, Capital City of Martinique - Ville de Fort de France
Originally named Fort-Royal, the city became economically important after the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée
destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre in 1902.
A statue commemorating Martinique-born Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon, is in the city.
Grand-Rivière - One of the most picturesque places in Martinique
Small fishing village which has often been completely cut off from the rest of the island after heavy rains. You
can see children challenging the huge waves of the Atlantic on surfboards called "floats" which are made from tree trunks.
La Baie du Marin
Lamentin - Mairie du Lamentin
Le Carbet
Le Marin
Le Precheur
This is the last town on the northern Caribbean Coast. It is famous for the hot volcanic springs and the "Tomb
of the Caribbean," where, according to legend, a collective suicide took place when the Carib Indians returned from fishing to find that their village had been pillaged by the colonials.
Le Robert
La Trinité
Le Vauclin
Marigot
Morne-Vert
This village not only has a very pleasant climate but also offers a magnificent view of the peaks of Carbet and Mont Pelée.
Riviere-Pilote
The grain store of the south, Rivière Pilote has vegetation very similar to that in the north. A few kilometers
from the village, cockfighting and snake-mongoose fighting take place regularly in the big "Pitt."
Riviere Salee
The Rivière-Salée is a large plain that has been given over to growing sugar cane. Although there is no
distillery within the territory belonging to this district, on some of the houses you can still see structures that date to the last century.
St Anne / Sainte-Anne
This is a pretty little region at the far southern end of the island. There are several headlands, coves and
capes with beautiful white sand beaches, the most famous of which is Les Salines, undoubtedly one of the
most majestic beaches in all the West Indies. Beyond the Pointe des Salines, the Stony Savanna is an arid expanse of land scattered with jasper plants and petrified wood.
St Luce
St. Pierrre - Saint-Pierre City - Le guide pratique de Saint Pierre
Made famous for its near-total destruction by the eruption of Mont Pelée in 1902. The river of boiling hot lava
claimed 30,000 victims. There was one survivor by the name of Cyparis, a prisoner who was protected by
the thick walls of his cell. The Franck Perret Museum of Vulcanology has a whole collection of relics from this period that were transformed by the terrific heat.
La Place Bertin, Rue Victor Hugo, La Maison de la Bourse, La Cathédrale de St Pierre, L'église du Fort, Le
Théâtre, La Maison Coloniale de Santé, Les ruines du Figuier, Le Pont Roche, Anse Turin, Anse Latouche,
Saint-Pierre, La Distillerie Depaz, Le Musée du Volcan, Visites guidées, Le Parc Naturel, Rue Monte au ciel, Annuaire téléphonique de l'ile de Martinique
Trois Ilets
You can get there by car of course, but also on the ferry boat from Fort-de-France. The Pagerie Museum is in
this town, set up on the spot where Empress Josephine was born. A number of musical and cultural events
are organized in the Park of the Trois-Ilets close to the island's magnificent golf club. You must not miss the
Market, and the Sugar Cane Museum. The Pottery, where the objects are handmade using a potter's wheel, is also worth a visit.
Chambre de Commerce et de l'Industrie
Empress Josephine - wife of Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Martinique
Cuisine - Martinique Foods / Recipes
Antilles Resto - restaurant guide and creole recipes
Gastronomy Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin.
Banane Martinique
History, Health [ Banana's Virtues ], Recipes [ Cocktails, Banana Dishes, Banana Desserts ], Tourism, Goodies [ Banana Drawings, Banana Wallpapers ]
French Caribbean Cuisine - Stephanie Ovide
This marvellous cookbook contains over 150 authentic recipes from the French islands of Guadeloupe and
Martinique. Favourites such as Avocado Charlotte, Fish Crepes Saintoise, and Fish Court Bouillon will beckon
everyone to the table. Also included are a chapter on local drinks, a glossary on Caribbean food products and a list of sources where speciality ingredients can be purchased.
Hardcover 226 pages (July 2002); Publisher: Hippocrene Books, Inc.; Language: English; ISBN: 0781809258
History of Martinique
When Columbus landed in 1502, the island to which he gave the name Martinique was peopled by the Carib
Indians who called it Matinino or Madinina. They had driven away the Arawaks who, like themselves, had
come to the island from South America. The island was claimed by France in 1635 and officially annexed by
the King of France in 1674. France and Britain fought over the island until 1815, when it was restored to
France. An important date in Martinique's history occurred 150 years ago on May 22, 1848, when slavery
was abolished. In 1946, Martinique became a Department of France and in 1974 a Region of France [ French West Indies ].
Historical sites worth seeing include La Pagerie, where Napoléon's Empress Joséphine was born in 1763 (the
year that France relinquished rights to Canada in exchange for the French West Indies); Diamond Rock, a 600
-ft. pinnacle in the sea manned by the British in 1804 and occupied by them as a sloop of war for 18 months,
and St-Pierre, Martinique's principal city until May 8, 1902, when Mt. Pelée Volcano erupted, wiping out the city and its 30,000 people in three minutes.
Martinique's History - Wikipedia
There have been people living in Martinique, a small island in the Caribbean since 3000 BC, but the earliest
record is of the Arawark Indians, who populated it around 100 BC. They named their island Madinina, meaning
island of flowers. These peaceful inhabitants were killed by the Carib Indians in the 7th century AD, who occupied the island until the arrival of the Europeans.
Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover Martinique in 1502, on his fourth and last New World voyage...
Josephine: A Life of the Empress - Carolly Erickson
When in 1804, Josephine Bonaparte knelt before her husband Napoleon to receive the imperial diadem, few in
the vast crowd of onlookers were aware of the dark secrets behind the imperial facade. Josephine appeared
alluring, wealthy and doted upon by her remarkable husband, the conqueror of Europe. In actuality,
Josephine's life was far darker, for her celebrated allure was fading, her wealth was compromised by
massive debt and her marriage was corroded by infidelity and abuse. Born a Creole in Martinque, sent to
France in her teens to marry and save the family fortunes, Josephine was adventurous and above all hardy -
a survivor in a hazardous time. Soon separated from a dissolute, spiteful husband, she made her way in the
salons of Paris, a member of the shadow-world of respectability. Confined to the worst prison in Paris during
the revolution and condemned to death, she miraculously escaped her fate and went on to marry the rising
star of the Directory, Napoleon Bonaparte, the man who in a few short years, with Josephine at his side,
became Emperor of France. This volume brings to life the complex, charming, ever-resilient Josephine, from the sensual richness of her childhood in the tropics to her final lonely days at Malmaison.
Paperback 391 pages (May 21, 2004); Publisher: Robson Books Ltd.; Language: English; ISBN: 1861056370
The Last Days of St. Pierre: The Volcanic Disaster That Claimed 30, 000 Lives - Ernest Zebrowski
On May 8th, 1902, Mont Pelee on the island of Martinique exploded. A deadly cloud of steam and ash churned
through plantations and villages, flattened the grand city of St Pierre, then thundered into the bay where it
sank 18 ships and hundreds of smaller craft. Within a minute or two, nearly 30,000 people had died. The
rubble of their homes and belongings burned for three days and the world began to understand the awesome
power of "nuees ardentes", glowing avalanches of hot gas and debris that sweep down the slopes of
volcanoes, instantly steaming to death anything in their path. The enormous death toll was particularly tragic
because it was avoidable. Had it not been for an unfortunate combination of scientific misjudgment and
political hubris, most of the victims would have escaped. In this book, the author counts down the days
leading up to the catastrophe, and unfolds a tale intertwining human foolishness and heroism with the
remarkable forces of nature. Illustrations contrast life in Martinique before and after the eruption, and
eyewitness accounts bring the story to life. Although it seems a long time since the destruction of St. Pierre, it
is a mere blink of an eye in our planet's geological history. Mont Pelee will erupt again, as will Vesuvius,
Krakatau, St. Helen's, Thera, and most other infamously fatal volcanoes, and human lives will again be
threatened. The St. Pierre disaster has taughts us much about the awesome power of volcanic forces and the devastation they can bring.
Hardcover 304 pages (February 2002); Publisher: Rutgers University Press; Language: English; ISBN: 0813530415
Le Musée Régional d'Histoire et d'Ethnographie
Music, Arts & Culture, Events
Martinique has become known for Biguine [ 1920s ] and a form of music called zouk [ in the 1980s ].
Gens de la Caraïbe et de l'Amazonie - Association consacrée aux cultures caraibéennes
Photography from the Caribbean - Jean-Luc de Laguarigue
Music of Martinique and Guadeloupe - Biguine, Chouval bwa, Gwo ka, Kadans, Zouk
Biguine is a Martinican form of clarinet and trombone music. Evolving out of string band music, biguine spread
to mainland France in the 1920s. Early stars like Alexandre Stellio and Sam Castandet became popular. Its
popularity abroad died relatively quickly, but it lasted as a major force in popular music on Martinique until
Haitian compas took over in the 1950s and mini-jazz artists like Les Gentlemen and Les Vikings de Guadeloupe became popular in the late 1960s.
Awakening Spaces: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music and Culture
Brenda F. Berrian
The fast-paced zouk of Kassav', the romantic biguine of Malavoi, the jazz of Fal Frett, the ballads of Mona,
and reggae of Kali and Poglo are all part of the burgeoning popular music scene in the French Caribbean. In
this lively book, Brenda F. Berrian chronicles the rise of this music, which has captivated the minds and
bodies of the Francophone world and elsewhere. Based on personal interviews and discussions of song
texts, Berrian shows how these musicians express their feelings about current and past events, about
themselves, their islands and the French. Through their lyrical themes, these songs create metaphorical
"spaces" that evoke narratives of desire, exile, subversion and Creole identity and experiences. Berrian
opens up these spaces to reveal how the artists not only engage their listeners and effect social change, but
also empower and identify themselves. She also explores the music as it relates to the art of drumming, and
the genres such as African American and Latin jazz and reggae. With "Awakening Spaces", Berrian adds fresh insight into the historical struggles and arts of the French Caribbean.
Paperback 292 pages (June 5, 2000); Publisher: University of Chicago Press; Language: English; ISBN: 0226044564
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