26 en Francais

I've had some pretty cool birthdays in my time, but I must admit not one has been quite as adventurous as 26 was for me this year! On my flight from Miami to Martinique all I kept thinking was, "I can't believe you're actually doing this!"  Now, looking back through all the pictures I took, I keep thinking, "Wow.  I can't believe you actually DID that!!"  See?  Sometimes I even impress myself.

Everyone who found out about my travel plans usually asked me some form of the question, "Why there?" My answer was slightly difficult to explain in French but, honestly, I saw an advertisement on Instagram last year sometime and tried to make it work then.  Plans fell through and I forgot about it for a while.  Then, earlier this summer my supervisor and I were driving around the park and he asked me whether I had any vacations planned yet.  I told him I did not because I figured all hands were needed on deck to keep all hell from breaking lose once schools let out for the year.  His response essentially pushed me to go on the adventure of a lifetime.  I doubt he expected me to take his advice to such an extreme, but the pieces fell into place and I booked a flight which would land me in the French Caribbean for one week in late July.
  

I learned a lot on this trip.  Chief among those lessons was that island life is EXPENSIVE.  I had planned on spending a certain amount on the flight and hotel but had not factored in forgetting my beach towel, lunch and dinner every day, transportation to and from the airport (because the FREE shuttle didn't exist), and other miscellaneous expenses.

I also learned that although it was definitely peaceful to travel alone, next time I will try harder to find a travelling companion.

I was pleased to discover how much of my French education I have retained over the years. Reading is my strongest suit, next is speaking, and last is comprehension.  All three were rusty when I first arrived but with practice and a good translator app on my phone, I managed to maneuver the island with success.

 During my stay in Martinique, I quickly discovered that exploring the entire island would prove to be cost-prohibitive.  Instead, I spent a lot of time by the hotel swimming pool and sitting on several different beaches within walking distance of the hotel.  Fortunately there were also many restaurants across the street from where I was staying so I never got bored with the food selection.  These were also significantly less expensive than the restaurant on the hotel grounds which I ate at on the first night.  Let's just say I learned that lesson quickly!

The highlight of the entire trip was definitely my birthday!  My parents encouraged me to pick a special activity to do for the day and offered to sponsor it.  Now that it wasn't my own wallet taking the hit, the world became my oyster.  I located the pile of brochures which I had picked up on the first day in the hotel lobby and I found one for a day-long catamaran cruise.  It looked like a lot of fun!  So the next morning, I woke up early, ate breakfast, and headed down to the marina.  I ended up getting on the boat with a group of 22 other folks who quite obviously knew each other already.  I found out that they were all friends and family who had gathered for a mutual friend's wedding on the island the day before.  They were from Aix-en-Provence in the south of France.  One girl in particular, Martine, really befriended me and introduced me to the whole group.  She spoke English very well and was even able to translate some of the tour for me!  It was such a blessing to meet these people and spend the day with them.  They made my birthday the best one yet!

The cruise took us around the southern part of the island.  I got to see beaches I would not have otherwise seen and I got to go snorkeling three times!  The first two times I saw multi colored fish and the third plunge treated us to views of a sea turtle eating a fish!  At one point on our way back to port, we stopped and got onto a dingy in small groups.  The dingy operator took us into a cave with bats hanging on the ceiling, crabs skittering along the walls, and brightly colored coral visible just under the water.

Despite the terrible sunburn I got on my back from all the snorkeling on my birthday, I wouldn't have changed a thing.  Well, maybe besides putting more sunscreen on!  And for the record, in case anyone else isn't sure, women can travel on their own just as well as men can! 

Au revoir et a demain,

Noelle