Will You Be My Friend?

Making friends in a new place can be hard. Especially if there isn't some activity that provides a built-in system for making friends, like work or school. Its not really a surprise, therefore, that despite arriving nearly 9 months ago, I have made no friends. M.'s colleague-friends don't count. And certainly not the imaginary ones who compliment me on my colombo.

Of course, email and online telephony make it incredibly affordable to keep in touch with far away friends. Since my town has been equipped with high speed internet for over a year now, my friends can not email and not call with an immediacy that is striking.

Thankfully, I am married to my best friend. But, one friend is not really enough. How else to complain about the other?

Inevitably, there is what could be considered a lowering of standards. Not in quality, mind you, but in what kind of relationship constitutes a friendship and who, in my new system of categorization, is considered a friend.

So, with the new standards in place, here is my (modest) list of new friends:

Our vegetable lady
The woman who sells us our vegetables every week at the market in BasseTerre was perhaps my very first friend. Like most of my new friends, Marie-Denise (that's her name) did not immediately become my friend. She remained polite but distant with me and M. But after buying from her stand consistently every week, she has warmed up appreciably. She even calls me by a term of endearment, doudou. Of course, I've heard her use doudou for other customers, but that doesn't diminish her obvious affection for me in particular. We are now so close that she occasionally gives me produce for free, and her husband makes off-color remarks with ease.

The driver for the little bus in our town (the skinny one)
This was my first friend that I made on my own. Not daring to cross the threshold my first week here, I finally mustered up the courage to take the bus to the bourg. Fears conquered, I went with some frequency to the bourg, to buy bread, to pick up the newspaper, to go to the library - just to get out. And more often than not, he would be the one to drive me there and back. Sometimes, I'm not quite sure what he is saying when we chat since he has a bit of Antillais accent, and he also tends to mumble, but friends don't need words to understand each other. Unfortunately, now that I go to BasseTerre quite regularly, I go to the bourg far less. But, there is no risk of losing him as a friend; when we pass each other on the road, I wave and he gives me a friendly "ça va?" flash of his headlights.

The secretary at my driving school
I've only been going to the driving school for about a month, but I can already see that the secretary is going to be my new best friend. She's about my age (or older...her generous curves makes me think she might already be a mother). She's got an adorable chuckle and laughs easily. I like for my friends to have a sense of humor. And since I had to submit an application full of personal information before beginning my lessons, she already knows my life story. Now, I just have to learn hers. Yesterday, I discovered her name is Madeleine. I'm sure there's quite a bit more - who doesn't have a complicated life story? - but I've already got a good start.

La Kaz à Delices

La Kaz à Delices is a cosy and casual restaurant on the street facing the Rivière-Sens Marina just outside of Basse-Terre. It is a perfect lunch place for workers from the surrounding area. The restaurant serves just a few dishes, but the menu changes every day. The day I ate there, there was a dishes such as tomato tart, quiche, chicken in white wine sauce. The cuisine is not spectacular, but it is honest and prepared with care.









See also: Le Sentier du Houëlmont.

Le Sentier du Houëlmont

Like most masses found on BasseTerre, Houëlmont is an ancient volcano. No longer active, Houëlmont plays the plain older sister to La Soufrière. Houëlmont is not without its charms, they are simply much more subtle.

Above, left to right, the trail cuts through dry forest before winding through dense humid vegetation.

The trail begins on the western side of Houëlmont. This area constitutes the rain shadow, and the vegetation is uncharacteristically dry for BasseTerre. The wide trail climbs slowly but steadily up to circle the summit. The vegetation becomes lush, deep green. It grows dense, and the change in moisture is palpable. It is here that hikers are reminded of Houëlmont's origins, with massive boulders of black volcanic rock forcing the path to twist and turn.

Above, a cluster of mushrooms on a tree stump.

There are a few things to look out for. There are two small plots of colonial era graves, one located at the beginning of the trail, and one at the end. They are untended, and the undergrowth threatens to cover the first plot almost entirely. The ONF guide also notes a Mahogany planatation, and several remarkable examples of local flora, but a human guide is probably necessary to pinpoint their location.

Above, left to right, the easy bits and the difficult bits.

The trail varies wildly in character. The trail begins wide in the dry forest, then stumbles over and around huge boulders in the humid forest. There are sections which have been paved for vehicles, as well as wide path strewn with rocks the perfect size for tripping over.

One major shortcoming of this trail is that it isn't a real loop. At the bottom of Houëlmont, the trail exits the forest to join a public road. The road is lined with private residences and small hotels, all with remarkable views of the ocean. It is pretty enough, but the walk is unshaded and the heat can be suffocating. The trail re-enters the forest, and its a steep climb back to the car. After almost 2 hours of hiking around the summit of Houëlmont, the last leg will seem uninteresting, and ultimately unnecessary. If a second car is available, it should be parked at the Rivière Sens Marina.

If you are determined to finish the hike and close the loop, it is still possible to make a detour to the Marina of Rivière Sens. If you want to stop for a bite or a drink, La Kaz à Delices is a perfect lunch spot.




Le Sentier du Houëlmont
A loop trail circling the peak of Houëlmont through both dry and semi-humid forest, passing two small colonial era cemeteries. Possibility of taking a detour to visit the volcanologic and seismologic observatory (L'Observatoire Volcanologique et Sismologique de Guadeloupe).
Location: Basse Terre, Gourbeyre, in the section of Bisdary.
Duration: 2 hours
Difficulty: Medium. The trail is littered with volcanic rock in certain sections.
Parking: Yes, park alongside the municipal sports field at the beginning of the trail. If a second vehicle is available, park it at Rivière Sens Marina to avoid the last bit of trail which is somewhat tedious.

Sugar Cane Juice

The color of sugar cane juice certainly isn't very appetizing. The murky greenish brown liquid could easily be mistaken for very dirty mop water. The taste, then, is somehow even more remarkable for its unattractive color: sweet, crisp, and very refreshing.

We bought a bottle of freshly pressed cane juice this morning at the market in Basse Terre from a man and his truck. It comes in reused 1L water bottles for €3.50.

I had my first taste of cane juice in December. M. and I had driven to Baillif to see a special Christmas market. It was no more than a regular market, with vegetables and fruit, but with a few tables selling cakes. Somewhat in the center of the temporary market, there was a truck with the words 'jus du canne' wriiten in large bold red letters across the side. An old man was noisily extracting juice using a sugar cane press. M. and I were excited about buying a glass each to accompany the snacks we had purchased. Unfortunately, you had to bring your own bottle. Having none, we could buy no juice. A steady rain began to fall so we remained next to the truck to take shelter. And the old man, seeing us still there, told somebody to fetch two cups from the bakery across the way. He then served us two plastic cups of cane juice. When M. tried to pay him, the old man shook his head. It was free, he said. This was the famous Antillais hospitality.

Afternoon Nap

Morning Routine

A colleague of M.'s came back from Easter vacation with a special souvenir for me: a copy of the New York Times...the Sunday edition too, no less - nice and thick! I'm guessing he picked up a free copy on the plane, since it was delivered to me in a duty free plastic bag.

What a pleasure it is to be able to read the paper with breakfast!

Burgers and Fries

There is perhaps nothing more American than a plate of burgers and fries. It’s a real shame, then, that most people think burgers always come wrapped in paper or served from a rectangular cardboard box. Indeed, fast food ‘restaurants’ have done a great disservice to the burger by associating it with inferior quality, stinginess, and poor taste. In fact, a well-made burger - with a nice thick patty made with top-grade beef and a good crusty bun - is both satisfying and incredibly tasty. Certainly, a burger is still rather humble fare (and I do find burgers on menus at expensive restaurants to be rather ridiculous), but it merits a better reputation that it gets outside the US.

I had a craving for a nice cheeseburger for some time. Guadeloupe, unfortunately, serves no other burger than those from McDonalds. Their fries may be unbeatable, but that was definitely not the kind of burger I was craving. So, like my cravings for Korean food, I've had to take matters into my own hand.

The strike, and the subsequent shortage of meat, put those burger-making plans on hold...until last week, when ground beef could be found. To that, I bought some sesame seed hamburger buns (specifically, l'Américain brand buns), and cheddar cheese.

Above, my burger and ‘fries.’ (I forgot to buy some pickles...dommage!)

After an intro lauding the culinary heights of the burger, I am bit ashamed that my burger isn’t made with top USDA grade organic grass fed ground beef, that the bun wasn't a freshly baked bakery roll, and that the cheddar wasn’t from Wisconsin, etc. But, I make do with what I can get, and my humble home-made burger was pretty tasty anyway.

I used a patty of steak haché, with minced onion, garlic, and parsley mixed in. I also added some tomato paste since I don't actually have ketchup in the house. Steak haché is not ideal (something about the texture) but I’m afraid it’s probably the best I can get here. The cows that dot the landscape seem to have more of a decorative or landscaping purpose than providing a local stock of high-quality beef.

The buns came in the traditional package of 8, so I'll have to make a few more burgers to use them up. But, I'm going to investigate some other, crustier, possibilities. It seems somewhat scandalous that my burger has such a bun when supposedly the best bakery in Guadeloupe is the one in my town.

Pre-sliced cheddar was all that was available since the French associate cheddar with hamburgers only. I thought lovingly of the cheese refrigerators at Fairway where I would often get a small orange block of Wisconsin extra sharp cheddar. It’s a bit surprising that the cheddar available in France isn't sharper since the French certainly like their cheese strong. If I was in France métropole, I might investigate whether a better quality cheddar might be available at a well-stocked cheese monger, but I think such a search would be fruitless in Guadeloupe.

The fries were perhaps the one concession to Guadeloupe. They're slices of banane légume (plantain) fried. Maybe I'll let the bananas inspire the burger next time. Guadeloupean burgers, anyone?