Tuesdays with Tigris - End of the Vacation

This is the last week (for now), I have to share my day on the blog with the Lady. She has been home for 2 months, she should just move on. For those who don't care about islands and volcanoes, and are only here for the animals, we will start this off with purrfect me.

Now over to Lady.

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We had a full day back on Martinique before we flew home on the Monday, so we found a tour and headed north up the island, to one of the most famous parts.

Our day started with a walk through the streets to meet our tour.

From our meeting point, we headed off to Sanctuaire catholique du Sacre-Coeur de Balata, a replica of Paris' Sacre-Coeur.

Due to the island climate, it was in need of repairs, which were scheduled to begin soon. As it was Sunday, we listen to the service that was taking place outside the church. The singing had a Caribbean flare, and was lovely to listen to. 

After the church we made a stop at a small waterfall where we did not have time to hike. 

Then we were off to the reason for this tour, a visit to Saint-Pierre. We felt a connection to this place as our home is in a St. Pierre.  Martinique's Saint-Pierre is famous because on May 8, 1902, the city was buried with lava and ash when when the volcano Mount Peele erupted. Approximately 30 000 people were killed. It was the deadliest volcano of the 1900s. People did not leave the city because the politician's convinced them it was safe as they wanted the people to be available to vote in an upcoming election.  Even though there were minor eruptions and ask, people stayed.  (Not to get too political, but an example of a time we should not trust politicians). It should also be noted that far less was understood about volcanoes at that time. 

We were able to visit 2 remains of the city. The first was the prison. 

Above is the solitary confinement cell of the prison, which turned out to be the only safe place in the city. On May 2, 1902, Ludger Sylbaris was arrested for a drunken assault that occurred during a fight. On May 7th, after an attempted escape, he was moved to solitary. When the volcano erupted, Sylbaris urinated on his clothes and tried to stuff them under the door. While he did sustain substantial burns, he lived and was rescued 4 days later. He was one of only 3 residents to survive. A 10 year old boy, who was able to take a boat to sea and hide in a cave, and another man, whose story of survival is not clear were the remaining living. Sylbaris was pardoned for his crimes but left destitute. He ended up moving to the US and joining Barnum and Bailey's Circus, but was thrown out due to fighting. He later moved to Panama to work on the canal and died there for natural causes at the age of 55 (or so). 

Beside the prison was the theatre (which struck us as amusing) and parts of it have also survived. 

Looking at Mount Peele

Our last stop was the beach where some of the group enjoyed a swim, while others chatted in the shade drinking rum punch. 

The last evening away, was spent on the hotel balcony, watching the sun set.

Thank you for finding the sun with us this winter. We return to our regular programming next week.