December 12, 2010... On Land...Day 2

Reading the newspaper we found out that in Le Francois, on the east coast, there was going to be a celebration of the traditional Martinique sailing yole, with demonstrations and a race. We drove up through the sugar cane and banana fields to Francois and found the place. These are very low, heavy wooden boats with large square sails mounted on bamboo masts. The boats have outriggers for the 'rail meat' to sit on, keeping the boats from capsizing. (Though we saw some go over.) All the boats keep bailers on board as they take on lots of water. They had corporate sponsors and the sails were very colorful. It was a beautiful day and people enjoyed being out there. We had fun watching and after John exhausted himself taking photos from every angle of every boat, we left to tour more of the coast by driving up to Le Robert, where we stopped for a late lunch at a local place on the harbor. Great fish, simply prepared. Back in the car; back to Ste. Anne (before dark!!)