The three dozen miles from Roseau in Dominica to St Pierre in Martinique transported us from a poor country still little developed, despite dramatic natural scenery, to the former capital of a sophisticated French island which had been a centre of Caribbean trade for over 200 years until the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902 killed all but 3 of St Pierre’s 30,000 inhabitants. By a curious irony, one of the survivors was a convicted murderer named Cyparis who was saved because the thick walls of his prison cell kept the heat at bay. Cyparis went on to join Barnum and Bailey’s circus. St Pierre had been known as the Paris of the Caribbean before the devastating eruption.  The remains of its 800 seat theatre, which attracted shows from Europe, are a poignant reminder.  Several of St Pierre’s old stone roads and charred buildings remain in use, but the city has been unable to recover its former glory as the capital of Martinique, which honour was transferred to Fort de France after the eruption.

 

The present sea front at St Pierre is an attractive mix of old and new.  We found a very good restaurant called the Tamaya which has been under new management since December 2013.  The new management appears to have preserved the standards of the former establishment which was also reported to have been very good.  There was a consensus among the three of us who ate there (Philip, Chris and Mick) that the rum and ice-cream dessert was mind blowingly good!

 

The fast ferry which connects Dominica, Martinique and St Lucia

 

St Pierre’s seafront showing Mt Pelée looming over the town

 

The entrance to St Pierre’s former theatre, with memorial sculpture

 

Memorial to the volcano victims at the theatre

 

The prison cell which protected the life of Cyparis, a convicted murderer, one of only three known survivors of the eruption