{"id":98880732,"date":"2012-07-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/travel-trends\/the-fascinating-french-speaking-island-of-martinique\/"},"modified":"2018-09-06T05:26:10","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T09:26:10","slug":"the-fascinating-french-speaking-island-of-martinique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/the-fascinating-french-speaking-island-of-martinique\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fascinating French-Speaking Island of Martinique"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Francophiles, we need to talk. If you\u2019re in the midst of planning your umpteenth trip to metropolitan <a href=\"\/going-places\/tag\/france\/\">France<\/a>, you may want to consider the possibility of exploring another French-speaking destination. You might be thinking \u201cwell, I\u2019ll never get tired of France.\u201d This is a good point.\u00a0 After living in France and visiting numerous times, I still haven\u2019t gotten enough of it. However, you never know what other gems are out there if you don\u2019t take a chance, right? Case in point: the French-speaking island of Martinique.<\/p>\n<p>Located in the Eastern <a href=\"\/going-places\/tag\/caribbean\/\">Caribbean<\/a> in the Lesser Antilles, Martinique is an overseas region of France (so, officially speaking, you\u2019ll still be traveling to France after all!). A former French colony, Martinique is known for its unique blend of French and Caribbean cultures. The official language of the island is French, however, many Martiniquais speak Martiniquan Creole, a regional dialect based on French, Carib, and African languages, that also includes elements of English, Spanish and Portuguese.<\/p>\n<p>Martinique\u2019s principal tourist attractions include the capital city of Fort-de-France, which is known for its outdoor markets, port area, the architecturally stunning library Schoelcher, and the Cath\u00e9drale St. Louis, which dates back to the 17th century. Fort-de-France also has a wide variety of restaurants, ranging from casual caf\u00e9s to fine dining establishments, some of which feature traditional Martinican dance shows in the evening.<\/p>\n<p>In 1902, the island\u2019s active volcano, Mont Pel\u00e9e, erupted and devastated the town of Saint-Pierre. Today, Saint-Pierre, located in the northern part of the island, has been rebuilt and includes a fascinating museum dedicated to the fire. There are also plenty of places to eat traditional French-Caribbean cuisine while gazing at the impressive volcano. While you\u2019re in the north, take a rain forest hike or mountain hike.<\/p>\n<p>And then of course, there are the <a href=\"\/going-places\/tag\/beaches\/\">beaches<\/a>. Some of the most beautiful and popular beaches on the island are located next to the major resort hotels of Pointe du Bout. Off-the-beaten path explorers may prefer the less-populated Diamond Beach or the fishing village of Sainte-Luce.<\/p>\n<p>If you enjoy the nightlife scene, head back to Fort-de-France or the resort areas Pointe du Bout and Les Trois-Ilets. The most popular and authentic nightclub beverage is &#8216;ti punch, a sweet concoction made with sugar cane syrup, lime and Martiniquan rum.<\/p>\n<p>Bonne exploration et bon voyage!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Like us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/onetravel\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> for more on Caribbean islands!\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Francophiles, we need to talk. If you\u2019re in the midst of planning your umpteenth trip to metropolitan France, you may want to consider the possibility of exploring another French-speaking destination. You might be thinking \u201cwell, I\u2019ll never get tired of France.\u201d This is a good point.\u00a0 After living in France and visiting numerous times, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98880732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98880732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98880732"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98880732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98896150,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98880732\/revisions\/98896150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98880732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98880732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98880732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}