Katie & Claire

I've not been doing too well at keeping my blog updated regularly but I want to make sure I keep the big things that happen in Guadeloupe documented!

Back in September the week after the boys had gone back to school Katie and Claire came over for a holiday! I also had the week off which was really needed!

We stayed with some of Estelle's friends, who are SOSO lovely and let us stay with them in their new home- right on the Marina, the terrace leads onto the water which was an incredible view for breakfast!!!

We started off by going to La Caravelle, the beach in front of Club Med. It's one of my favourite beaches as in the off season the hotel is closed making the beach really quiet with not many tourists. 

Unfortunately Claire went and bumped her head on the car which mixed with the heat brought on a migraine which made her really unwell, cutting our day short. Which actually was a good thing or we would have all ended up extremely burnt!

I had ordered a few things for the girls to bring over, including a Julienne Peeler to make Courgetti (courgette spaghetti). We used this straight away and made Slutty No-Carb Pasta from Rosie at The Londoner's blog. It was amazing!

We wanted to cook some fresh fish so took a trip to the markets in Pointe-a-Pitre where you can buy all sorts of local produce including homemade punch's, spices and freshly caught fish.

After an interesting attempt at translating the man was able to gut the fish for us, but while the girls eagerly watched, I had to have a bit of a sit down as I'm not very good with blood!

Claire took care of the fish using some of the spices we had bought at the market while Katie and I sorted out the sides to go with it.

We then headed out to the Marina for some Piña Colada's which became the drink of the holiday..

.. and also tried Ti-Punch. The local drink of rum with sugar cane syrup and lime. You actually feel the heat coming up your chest! As rum is made in Guadeloupe from the sugar cane that's grown here, it is not only a lot cheaper (about €8 for a litre) it's also a lot stronger- 50-60%!!

The Marina is gorgeous at night. I'm still so impressed with how beautiful the pictures on my new camera turn out!

We went along to Deshaies, to see if we could have a peek at Death in Paradise being filmed.

This is Point du Vue and looks over across Grand Anse (Big Cove). The beaches along this coast in Guadeloupe remind me of home quite a lot as the water is darker and there's a bit more of a current, although it's a lot warmer than the sea off the coast of Dorset...

This became Claire's pose for the holiday, isn't she a beaut.

We were in luck and managed to find a couple of Estelle's friends who were filming for the Death in Paradise crew using their Drone. We saw Humphrey's Shack and had a little wander around.

Before heading into the town to have some lunch by the water at L'amer.

As Guadeloupe has so much history, the food isn't just traditional Caribbean Jerk Chicken. You get a lot of Indian influence as well. We all had the Creole Tasting Plate which had a combination of seafood. Accras is a usually Salt Fish (Cod) in a batter with local herbs and a little piment, fish samosa's, tuna tartar, tahitian fish, smoked fish and a couple of different fish pate's along with locally grown melon. It was a great way for us to try a little of everything- even if we were stuffed afterwards!

Later in the afternoon we went and did a try dive- which turned out to be the most incredible thing I've ever done! Even if I was a little apprehensive at the start!

We worked out Katie is the worst person to go shopping with, as we ended up with all sorts of things in the trolley, including waffles and a box of local coconut sweet type things. Then ended up in us making Banoffee Waffles one morning, with caramelised apples and local yoghurts.

Ravine Thomas is a natural spa in the sea where the rocks are heated by the volcano somehow. You get hot and cold rushes from the sea coming in and out, and it's supposed to be really relaxing and good for you. We found it a little bit strange with some locals exfoliating their feet in there...

We drove up the mountains to see Shutes de Cabret. A series of three waterfalls. You can see the first one from a viewing platform but then have to treck into the mountains to see the other two. We went to see the second one, which was amazing.. and I apologise to the girls again, I was having a really grumpy day and was a stroppy mare. SORRY! I LOVE YOU BOTH A LOT!!

They climbed down, past the No Entry signs to take a dip in the very cold river! Brrr!

It's quite a drive over to the coast on Basse Terre so Katie entertained herself with numerous selfies (always seems to happen!) and became our radio!

On one of the last days we headed back to Deshaies to watch the sunset. It was the first one I'd properly seen in Guadeloupe and it was absolutely stunning.

We sat and admired how beautiful it was, and then played in the big waves that were about as tall as me.  Lots of fun and lots of sand in places none of us realised you could get sand!

I had such a lovely week off with the girls here and can't wait to see them in January when I'm home for a couple of weeks!