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Cultural
Atrium
A recent addition to the skyline of Fort-de-France,
the Atrium hosts temporary exhibitions of art
and photographs in its foyer.
This state-of-the-art cultural center offers
an annual thematic programming that features
classical music, world music, jazz, poetry,
dance performances etc....Punctual art exhibits
and animations are also featured.
Please contact them or look in section entitled
"Festivals and calendar of events"
for a list of events at the Atrium.
6,
rue Jacques Cazotte
97200 Fort-de-France
Tel: (596) 596 60 78 78
Fax: (596) 596 60 88 20
Email: atrium-info@cgste.mq
CMAC
- Centre Martiniquais d'Action Culturelle
The centre has shows all year round, as well
as movies, music, Rencontres Caribéenes
de Theatre (Caribbean Theater Groups) in July,
and a biennial festival in December.
In 2004 it held the "Carrefour Mondial
de la Guitare", a Guitar festival, acclaimed
in 2000 as "one of the world's most prestigious
guitar events", it features major artists
in concerts of classical jazz and pop guitar,
master classes, etc...
In 2005, it will be the "Rencontres Internationales
de Jazz", a Jazz festival featuring major
artists in concerts.
6,
rue Jacques Cazotte
97200 Fort-de-France
Tel: (596) 596 70 79 29
Programs: (596) 596 70 79 39
Fax: (596) 596 63 52 07
www.cmac.asso.fr
Email: info@cmac.asso.fr
Sermac
- Service Municipal d'Action Culturelle
The festival of Fort-de-France is held every
year in July for 2 weeks.
It features theater, music, shows at the Grand
Carbet in Parc Floral and at the Theatre Municipal
in Fort-de-France.
In 2005, this 34th festival of Fort-de-France
will be held in July (TBA.)
Parc
Floral
97200 Fort-de-France
Tel: (596) 596 71 66 25
La
maison du Bèlè
Jam sessions and classes are being featured
in the "House of Bèlè."
Sainte-Marie
Tel: (596) 596 69 21 70
Cel: (596) 696 31 04 45
www.lamaisondubele.com
L’Hôtel
de Ville - Théâtre Municipal
The old Fort-de-France's City Hall is now the
Municipal Theater.
Corner of Victor Sévère street
and République street.
Plays and shows are being featured in this centre
all year-round.
Tel:
(596) 596 59 60 63
OMC
Marin
The annual Festival du Marin takes place in
August.
Tel:
(596) 596 74 90 74
OMC
Robert
The Aqua-Festival is a sailing festival held
each year in April,
and features shows and parades round the magnificent
bay of Robert.
Tel:
(596) 596 65 10 05
OMCDAC
Sainte-Marie
Contact them for news about the Cultural Festival
in August.
Tel: (596) 596 69 47 31/ 69 49 11
OMC
Saint-Pierre
Enjoy Le Mai de Saint-Pierre,
an annual festival in commemoration of the eruption
of Mount Pelée.
Tel:
(596) 596 78 10 32 or (596) 596 78 15 02
Considering
caribbean tourism, there are plenty of sightseeing
opportunities in Martinique, and it is best
to begin with a visit to the Martinique Tourist
Office CMT (Comité Martiniquais du Tourisme),
housed in Schoelcher at Immeuble Beaupré
Pointe de Jaham 97233 Schoelcher, Tel: (596)
596 61 61 77
It's open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., Monday through
Friday.
The Tourist Office Information Desk at the airport
stays open daily until the last flight comes
in.
Complimentary
maps, caribbean magazines and information bulletins
are available at the Tourist Office, and the
English-speaking staff is very helpful with
suggestions about what to see and do, including
caribbean shore excursion, caribbean scuba diving,
caribbean yachting, visiting the beautiful caribbean
gardens, of course pointing you the great caribbean
beaches, having a nice experience golfing in
the caribbean, and many more.
Among its free publications in French and English
is the digest-size Choubouloute, a listings
guide of happenings on the island. A series
of seven drive caribbean tours has been designed
by the Tourist Office, and all are described
(along with other items of interest to tourists)
in the free guide, Martinique Tourist Info,
which is published in English. Similar sightseeing
tours can be done by taxi or motorcoach.
Information on organized caribbean island excursions
offered by tour operators can be obtained at
the Tourist Office and from hotel
desks.
Fort-de-France,
the capital, is wonderful to explore on foot.
Among the sightseeing attractions is the city's
architectural masterpiece, the Bibliothèque
Schoelcher (or Schoelcher Library), a Romanesque-Byzantine
gem built more than 100 years ago for the Paris
Exposition of 1889, then dismantled and shipped
to Martinique, mosaic by mosaic. Named for Victor
Schoelcher, the French abolitionist whose work
helped end slavery on the island in 1848, it
sits just off La Savane, the central park.
La
Savane's caribbean gardens make for pleasant
strolling and picture-taking, and boast two
impressive statues: one of Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc,
the French nobleman who claimed the island for
France in 1635; and one of Marie Josèphe
Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, who was born in
Trois Ilets across the bay, and made history
as Napoléon's Empress Joséphine.
Each of the capital's narrow, balconied streets,
which are lined with shops and restaurants,
leads to a pleasant discovery: the Cathedral
of Saint-Louis; the Palais de Justice with its
statue of Victor Schoelcher; the Musée
Départemental with archeological finds
from prehistoric Martinique; and the Rivière
Madame and its busy fish markets.
Azimut - Tel: (596) 596 70 07 00 offers four
fine, nicely priced, guided walking tours of
Fort-de-France.
The
classic tour of Martinique travels north along
the Caribbean coast to St-Pierre, the "Paris
of the West Indies" until 1902 when Mont
Pelée Volcano erupted and turned it into
a New World Pompeii. A museum on the spot vividly
portrays the tragedy. A nice way to visit this
historic town is on a little train, the Cyparis
Express. One-hour tours weekdays and half-hour
tours weekends cost about 6€ for adults,
3€ for children. In l990, St. Pierre was
designated a Ville d'Art et d'Histoire.
The
drive from Fort-de-France takes less than an
hour, but stops along the way are recommended,
including the fishing villages of Case-Pilote
and Bellefontaine, as well as Carbet, where
Columbus landed in 1502 and where Gauguin lived
and painted in 1887. The Gauguin Museum is well
worth a visit.
Inland
is Morne Rouge, a pretty town with a cool climate,
and site of MacIntosh Plantation, named for
the renowned cultivator of Martinique's best-known
flower, the anthurium. Nearby is La Trace, a
dazzling route through the rain forest. This
mountainous region in the northern half of the
island is lush with banana and pineapple plantations,
avocado groves, cane fields, and such lovely
old island inns as Leyritz and Habitation Lagrange.
Other
noteworthy communities in the north include
Le Prêcheur, the last village along the
northern Caribbean coast, known for hot springs
of volcanic origin and the Tomb of the Carib
Indians; Ajoupa-Bouillon, an enchanting flower-lined
town with a nature trail called Les Ombrages
and, nearby, the Gorges de la Falaise, mini
canyons along the Falaise River that lead to
a waterfall; Grand Rivière, a picturesque
fishing village constantly braving the fierce
Atlantic Ocean; Trinité and the Caravelle
Peninsula, at whose tip stand the ruins of the
Château Dubuc, a spot as fascinating as
some of the people who lived there - such as
Louis-François Dubuc, the man instrumental
in preventing the spread of the French Revolution
to Martinique, and Aimée Dubuc de Rivery
who, like Joséphine, was destined for
history.
Returning
home to Martinique after schooling in Nantes,
she was captured by pirates, sold into slavery,
then given as a present to the Sultan of Constantinople.
Aimée became Sultana Validé, mother
of Sultan Mahmoud II.
Links
& Sources:
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