Our stay in Les Saintes was brief, but fun.  The differences between the French islands and the former British ones are striking, and perhaps never more so than when the island is Les Saintes, the Frenchiest of the French-Caribbean islands.  Besides the language and the food, the country is cleaner and neater, with far less junk and debris lying about.  The homes are larger and better maintained.

Along with the Terns we had a number of walks, some short and some a bit more ambitious.  We walked to Grande Anse, in the area of the airport, and on another day most of the way up to Fort Napoleon.  We took a number of short excursions into the village for grocery shopping and/or lunch.  On my 70th birthday on Dec. 19th, the Terns treated us to a marvelous dinner at the Petits Saints restaurant,  Tre bon!

On Dec. 20 the winds changed direction enough that the Saintes anchorage became rolly.   Besides, during our stay when the wind was not blowing, the particular design favored by the French for moorings meant that we had a heavy metal ring banging on our bow when TT2 got too close to the buoy.  We tried wrapping cloth around the ring to provide some cushioning, but had little luck in keeping the cloth in position.  So, knowing that Deshaies had no moorings, and hoping for less rolling, we ventured out into the angry seas between the Saintes and Guadeloupe.  Good thing it was a short passage before we got behind the lee of Guadeloupe.  I will say no more.

See our next post for our experiences in Deshaies/Guadeloupe.