Grenada

We are presently in St-Pierre, Martinique watching the Carnaval walk by but here is our experience in Grenada:
It's clear we are now in the Caribbean! Prickly bay looks like a trailer park for boats! They're everywhere! Doesn't quite suit our need for intimacy. I guess we have to get use to it because it will apparently be the same everywhere in the Caribbean. There is not much attractions around the bay but it is however, well located to take a bus to the city. On the fist day, I left Gaston for Eric. Euh! I mean I left Gaston on the boat to visit St-George with Eric from Jalan, Jalan, FR (means on my way in Indonesian). We met him for the first time in Jacaré, Brazil. Then, we saw him again in Tobago and we crossed to Grenada side by side. So, Gaston wanted to stay on the boat and work (Right! Nap is more like it!) and we left without him. Grenada is nicknamed "Spice Island" so our first stop had to be the spice market. The specialties are cocoa and nutmeg but vanilla, curry, saffron ... can also be found. After buying a bag of cocoa and a bottle of vanilla, the lady who sold them to me gave me a big hug and said "Thank you, sweetheart!" A bit friendlier than in Tobago! I went back later with Gaston and a man who sold us a necklace hugged me at least five time while we were negotiating. I guess he appreciated the fact that we helped him sell two necklaces to an American girl or maybe it was because he was pissed drunk. Anyway, back to my visit with Eric, we went for a walk to the top of the hill overlooking the city for a better view of the bay. Very nice (see photo montage: http://bidule.micro.org/Grenade). Apparently one of the 1000 places to visit during your life. Checked! We came back to Prickly bay in time for Happy hour with the crews of many other boats. This is the good side to being surrounded by boats, we get to meet up with friends we have made while visiting other countries.
While listening to the "Réseau du Capitaine" (amateur radio network), we found out that the sailing vessel Umialtak and its crew of four were crossing the Atlantic from Cabo Verde and coming to Grenada. We had exchanged with the crew since the admiral Josiane had sent us some emails with questions about Senegal. So we decided to head for Whisper Cove marina to be part of the welcoming comitee. François, Josiane, François-Xavier and Charles-Antoine arrived just in time for the St-Hubert BBQ chicken diner. This typical Quebec meal is explained by the fact that the owners of Whisper Cove, Gilles and Marie-France, are from Quebec (www.whispercovemarina.gd). In fact, most of the boats in the marina are from back home. I wouldn't suprise me if they changed the name of the bay for "Little Quebec". But it's not just a marina; it's a butcher's shop, a bakery and a small grocery store. The "pâté" is excellent! We stayed there for X-mas because they were serving a traditional buffet of turkey, ham, mash potatoes and meat pies. This was accompanied by the soft music of Cecil Barthotlome (see picture montage). Of course, we were also well surrounded; by the crew of Umialtak but also the crews from Tenace, Lady M, Sweet Madam Bleu, Stella Marris, Pierre de lune... all from Quebec. By the way, the Umialtak family is on a one year project and they plan on selling the boat when they get back. Just in case anybody in interested in a forty seven feet steel boat (umialtak.com). To pass the time before X-mas, Marie-France and Gilles invited the crews from all the boats to take their mini-bus and go the Grande Anse beach where the sand is white and the guitarist play for you (see montage), go to the IGA to buy food and go back to Prickly bay for the best pizza on the Island.