A busy fun week

We have had such a busy and fun week with Doug and Vicki. We left St Lucia and had a lovely sail as Vicki has already blogged on. It is so much fun to show people who have never been on these islands the sights and sounds and of course the food. It is terrible as the days of their visit count down and we still have wonderful places to take them and food to try. They still haven't tried a roti at the Bread Basket which we feel are the best with our limited exposure. The fridge is full of good French cheeses and we still had to have lunch out at the market in Fort de France.  We took the ferry from Anse Mitan to Fort de France the capital city. We walked around the town and picked up more good food. They were so impressed with the old world charm and flavour. But we were surprised as the town seemed to shut down around 2:00 pm. on a Sat. Most stores close for lunch everyday ...a long relaxed lunch but today the stores and restaurants were closed and no people were around. The mall was well decked out with Christmas finery and very busy. 

To back track we left St Anne on Friday morning and travelled along the southern coast to Anse Chaudier where we were only one of six boats in the anchorage. It is a great spot to snorkel and we saw a wonderful array of sea life. The purple and yellow coral was abundant and beautiful. Unfortunately I did see one lion fish .... a fish that is very invasive to the reef. Doug and Vicki were very happy to spend an hour swimming in the calm warm waters. The colour of the water in that bay is amazing. Such a dark crystal blue water. You can see to the bottom in 20 feet. We had met up with a boat Terentella from Halifax who we had walked with the day before to the Saline Ponds and then had been entertained on their boat. We invited Al and Michelle over for pizza and  Vicki and I had a fun time making three gourmet pizzas. Each one was different and with only pizza pan it was a challenge to get them cooked in the tiny boat oven. But we managed and a great time and lots of laughs. No one burned a finger! 

Back to Anse Mitan where we hoped to check out for a Monday sail back to Rodney Bay but that customs office was closed on Sun. The guide book told us to check out at Grand Anse D'Arlet but that office moved last year to Petit Anse D'Arlet. So we motored around to the next bay and picked up a mooring ball and Brian scooted into town for check out. We were legal and on our way at 9:45. The sail back was lovely and showers skirted around us but we managed to avoid them. We arrived at 2:00 pm and enjoyed the traditional anchor down beer. We have many French care packages to deliver to friends who placed shopping lists. 

We have a lot planned for the next two days and will be sorry to have great company leave. Sorry we have so few pics but internet is not allowing us to download.