Quiet day

Stories from a seasoned traveller : 

Today, Mario and I both needed a break. It's about mid-trip -  though we have not been working with a completely full schedule, we have been moving non-stop, and even when working full-time at home, we still find one day a week to rest and relax. After a late night last night, a lot of mosquito bites, and a bit of a restless sleep, the first wake-up and coffee were not enough to get going. So we went back to bed : after breakfast, I lied down, then Mario joined me in the mosquito tent, and Blep, our cat friend, was not far behind. We closed out the mosquitos, and the world, and took a nap in the breeze of the fan for another couple of hours.

After the second wake-up, and a second coffee, and slowly, slowly, we feel more ready to greet the day. Now, a Blep cat and 2 chickens visit the kitchen. I work on yesterday's blog, which was coming in bits and pieces early, but now seems to be flowing more freely on the screen. There is a lot of story to tell.

Around 1 pm, we finally head out, knowing full well that on Sundays, everything is closed, especially in the afternoon. Somehow, we luck out and find a bakery that is actually open, and though they have no sandwiches, their pizza and pâtés aux poisson(puff pastry fish pies) are the perfect lazy picnic to bring to the beach for more relaxing.

And we spend a good few hours at our favorite beach, swimming, floating, snorkeling, lying in the sand. We watch storm after storm pounding into the side of Basse-Terre, across the water from Plage des Trois Islets. Rain falls on us, and while others run under the trees to stay dry, we just run back into the water!

Insert here an intermission where we shower off all the salt and sand and sunscreen, and head back out for parade number 2 of the vacation!

Notes from the night: 

The parade is supposed to start at four. It's 5 pm and one of the group busses has just arrived.

The parade route has been closed off. Some dude just drove right into a very obvious barrier across the road! How neither of the TWO people in the vehicle did not see the barrier is very impressive.

A car stops and unloads what seems like an entire brass band onto the street. It's a clown car full of trombones!

A tiny spectator ready for the parade	Sorbet coco lady
New murals in town	Big restoration project
The Mairie - City Hall	Impressive wooden roof supports

After several tours around town, admiring the woodwork, architecture and restoration projects, we get a cup of sorbet maracuja(passionfruit) from the vendor near the church. It's 6 pm now and there is still no parade, but the drums in the distance seem to be getting louder...