Curveball

Sometimes life throws you a curveball, and it doesn't necessarily wait until you are home from vacation to do so. In fact, sometimes it waits until you are on vacation to throw said curveball. Then comes the big decision: do you make the easy decision, continue on with the status quo, or do you take the time to study all the options, put in the minutes and hours of work to possibly reap even bigger rewards? As I type this, I am on hold with Air France, looking to push back my return flight by 2 weeks. Why, you ask? I got information last night that I won't be needing to return to Montréal as soon as I thought, and since Mario isn't obligated to return soon either, we thought, why not enjoy another couple of weeks here in the sun and sand of Guadeloupe? It took a lot of hypothesizing and analyzing, but neither of us can see any good reason why this is not a good idea. So here I sit and wait, as a lovely attendant keeps telling me to hold the line and thanks me for my patience. More news to come.

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In other news, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  It's a new year, full of hope that, maybe, things will get better and that we will finally see a positive ending to all of this mess we've been living for the past 2 years. One last speed bump, yeah? Good. 

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Mario and I spent our first day of the new year quite lazily - a slow breakfast of fresh fruit and granola, juice and coffee, birds chirping in the trees, and a fresh coconut to crack. Yes, sometime last night while we were enjoying our gourmet meal and Champagne, a huge coconut fell out of the coconut palm next to our guesthouse, and hit the ground with a deafening thud. Obviously, I immediately went out with a flashlight in search of the offender, and collected my prize. This morning, we spent the better part of an hour, and a lot of energy, attempting to husk the beast and extract all of its tasty insides. With the help of a few Youtube videos, a lot of force, and a well-placed piece of rebar, we succeeded in getting through! Fresh juice and coconut meat for all! Our evening rum punch game has just gone up another level!

After breakfast, we figured we should probably try to accomplish  something today, and though everything is closed since this is a holiday, hiking trails and beaches are open and plentiful, so off we went, into town, to try a new trail. A project was underway the last time we were on the island, to create a trail that runs the length of the littoral(coastline), from Grandbourg all the way up to Saint-Louis. It is divided into sections and is well-marked, even offering up some history and culture related to the area on adjacent signposts. It is suggested for school groups, but is open to all levels of walkers and hikers, as the coastline is flat, and the trail runs along a cattle trail. The recent rain we got on our arrival has made a lasting effect, though, as the trail is pockmarked with bovine hoof prints. Bad for weak ankles. But the ground is dry now, so avoiding said rough patches proved easy.

It was a hot one, since we chose to leave late in the day.  Even though walking along the coast was nice and cool, with the alizé breezes keeping us cool, most of the walk was through dry savannahs, or along agricultural fields, so the sun beat down hard on us. 

We took a small detour to have lunch at the Habitation Roussel-Trianon, which also seems to have received a facelift due to an injection of funding from the government. Offending trees and vines have been cleared from the old sugar refinery's ruins, crumbling walls held in place with cement caps, and here too, there are information panels where none stood before. I am very happy this site has received a little love, as it is a very impressive place to visit, and it was looking a little worse for wear back in 2019. Mario and I climbed up to the windmill, and sat in one of its doorways for lunch. We ate ham and cheese baguettes, our go-to travel lunch, and looked out over the site under blue skies dotted with perfect white cotton-ball clouds. 

Sadly, the trail doesn't get more interesting beyond this point. We pass sugar fields, grazing cows and small tree groves on repeat. Knowing that the route is not circular, and that we will inevitably be seeing the same views on the way back, coupled with the increasing heat, Mario and I decided to turn around and trek back to the car. And sure enough, by the last mile, we were ready to be done with the walking and looking forward to lying on a beach.

Insert an interlude where we get some cold drinks and a slab of gateau au beurre with coco, then booted down the road to Plage aux Trois Ilets...

There is nothing better after a hot hike than floating in the cool ocean waters, feet in sand as soft as silk. Plage aux Trois Ilets is a rather skinny, really long beach, where the sand is the finest I've even seen. The water is clear to the bottom, and glows turquoise and blue further out. Sailboats travelling the world anchor here, in a bay that protects them from the rough Atlantic waves, and the view includes Basse-Terre, Les Saints and Dominica. And being so long, even when it is busy, the beach feels absolutely empty. We chill, sip on cold Fanta and eat our butter cake by the ocean. And as the sun begins to set, we find ourselves wading in the shallows, watching a school of silvery fish with yellow fins swim around our legs and nibble at our toes. I could do this every day.

And, if all goes well with this stupid phone call, I might be doing this for an extra 14 days.

Fingers crossed.