Matoutou de Crabes

We arrived back in Martinique at the marina on Thursday the 5th, and spent the day Friday getting re-acclimated - I was suffering worse jet lag coming this way, for some reason - and then we resumed work on the installation of the 110-220 transformer (Frederic of Tilikum does wonderful work), and rented a car so that we could re-provision, since we ditched everything when we left. Many cruisers are very enthusiastic about provisioning here, but I joked with Susan that it is hard to share that feeling when one has come from France and not the Grenadines. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled we are.
On Sunday, which was Easter, we took a break and drove around the island, stopping first at this lovely beach and having our first swim since Bequia (heavenly), then making our way up the windward side of the island, stopping at a fishing village that appeared to yield no lunch options. It was interesting to see the huge investments that have been made there; we would guess that the fishing "shacks" - there were maybe 40 of them - have been built in the last five years, there is a giant ice tower (we saw them in several other places too), and it's hard to believe there could be more than 20 or 25 folks fishing from there, if that. The joys of being a French department.Of course, Martinique is also much bigger (over 400,000 people) than most of the other islands we have visited in the SE Caribbean, except Trinidad of course.

We were driving along the main road and saw a sign for "Matoutou de Crabes" and after a quick U-turn, found a newly opened (two weeks) restaurant and function space called La Brize Des Alizes ("Tradewinds" or "Tradewinds Breeze"). We learned that Matoutou de Crabes is a traditional Easter dish in the French Antilles, so of course we ordered it. It is an even messier version of crab than the Maryland blue crab that we love, as it is served with a sauce. Most delicious, though everyone needed a bath afterwards.

Today we are still at the marina, but hoping to head out to the Sainte Anne anchorage tomorrow; we have decided against making the push for Antigua, with some regrets for the Classic Yacht Regatta that starts next Thursday. We have a good weather window for the 200-mile push now until Saturday, then the seas kick up again. So, instead we will take it easy here, mosey to Dominica at some point, and then likely start making our way south again.