Sojourn - Caribbean: When your vacation plans get trumped

[Emperor Norton]

 

 

 

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

 

 

 

[Alipius]

"... the new champagne (finally the NickF is gone!)"

 

And the new one is....

[Emperor Norton]

Montaudon. 

[Emperor Norton]

4 December we were in Martinique. My tour was self guided and included the local courts, lawyers office and detention center. Then I went shopping for some local libations.

Today I was confronted with the Yountwurst (I couldn't stop thinking of the 1980s Wendys commercials for the "Home of the Big Bun") and the new tea service was rolled out. I think the passenger who was the most vocal in their disapproval was upset that it was no longer a scarf and...er feeding trough er...self serve format. I like the new format, but it would've been nice if they'd done their homework for using the tea timers. At the time they said weak/medium/strong use X/Y/Z time rather than a specific time range for each tea type. They did say they were working on that part.

 

 

4H_C.pdf 4H_I.pdf 4M_Col.pdf 4M_R_EO.pdf

[Emperor Norton]

The view from the Colonnade didn't seem to show any weather issues.

 

The area looks nice, I do without the apparent need to wander through the vendors.

 

Our shadow in most ports

 

Where was I again?

 

Am I certain?

 

Unfortunately I did not find a single functioning fountain in the city.

[Emperor Norton]

The first signs of food were not that impressive.

 

That does look like something not offered in the States (it might actually be decent - can't have that)

 

In and around the port they have different color lines the tourists (and pickpockets and muggers and ...) can follow.

 

Like a lot of other places parking seemed to be in short supply.  I'm not sure if there was any rhyme or reason to the multi directional parking

 

Find the church and you've probably found the town center (or old town center)

 

[Emperor Norton]

 

I have no idea what this is supposed to symbolize.

 

There was a unique fixer upper near the church.

 

I guess you can go straight from having man pass judgement on you to having your deity pass judgement.  This was near the church.

 

What fun would a court be without lawyers?

 

[Emperor Norton]

I'm not sure which direction the maturation cycle of these things goes.

 

 

 

 

R sistance to what?

[Emperor Norton]

 

 

I'd think you'd need a cherry picker and a lot of spraypaint to do this maze

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

It seems neither the locals nor birds were pleased with this man.

 

 

The French flag I recognize, the others not so much.

 

I don't know what the asterix denotes, but the fish of the day did seem to change a few times throughout the day.

 

Flatbread and a mild chicken skewer

 

The spicy beef was only spicy if you consider cumin to be hot

 

I'm not sure but I think the Yountwurst may have come out of one end of a baby.  Also, the meat/bun ratio seems just a bit off.

 

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

What to do after lunch?  A Grasshopper milk shake with mint chocolate ice cream sounds nice.

 

 

I can't seem to be in a French port without seeing sailing lessons under tow.

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

What the new tea service may look like.  I think the passenger who became angry  was upset that she'd have to wait for food instead of just snatching it from the buffet and tossing it into her gaping maw much like a bloated dragon snaking on an unfortunate peasant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flamin_June]

Dear Emp

I have enjoyed all your reports and photo jounals of past years; it's been a while since I've seen one on here and this time you seem to have gone for broke and pulled out all the stops. Very enjoyable and entertaining. Many Thanks!

[SLSD]

Hmmm....as someone who has just one cucumber finger sandwich with my cup(s) of tea, I rather liked the buffet as well.  I might find it more difficult to resist sweets if they are just placed before me.  Do we know if we could just request one finger sandwich and decline the tiered tray?

[tsavorite]

On Quest last month we just asked for sandwiches, and no sweet things.  The staff were very happy to do that, and jsut give us the sandwich tier.

[Emperor Norton]

13 hours ago, SLSD said:

Hmmm....as someone who has just one cucumber finger sandwich with my cup(s) of tea, I rather liked the buffet as well.  I might find it more difficult to resist sweets if they are just placed before me.  Do we know if we could just request one finger sandwich and decline the tiered tray?

You can do that now. Day one not so much. 

[Alipius]

On 12/21/2019 at 10:09 PM, Emperor Norton said:

Montaudon. 

Thank you, Emperor Norton: I'd never heard of it, but that is probably because it is only sold here by one vintner.  Here is their slightly edited review.   (And it gets great reviews on other sites too).

 

"Champagne Montaudon is one of the most exciting and individual of Champagne Houses. The cellars are located in Reims..  it is still owned by the founding family.... in the 1920's was the wine found in the top Caberet Clubs of Paris. In 1936, Josephine Baker signed a contract with Montaudon to supply her Caberet Clubs..
In the early 2000's, Montaudon N/V (non-vintage) out-ranked N/V styles from Louis Roederer, Pol Roger, Lanson, Veuve Cliquot & Moet Chandon in a Wine Spectator tasting. Minimum sweetening is carried out ....Generous creamy white mousse with exceptionally fine and very persistent bead. This is a hallmark of all Montaudon Champagnes. There is no sense of excessive acidity here. Very long aftertaste....

Edited December 23, 2019 by Alipius
spelling

[auldlassie]

Ah Alipius, if only that was accurate. Unfortunately Montaudon is cheap swill champers, and only marginally less acidic than the previous NF. Very much a choice where the price point was the prime factor. Still, topped with a float of St. Germain, it is gentler on my stomach. A somewhat left-field stroke of genius suggested by Artem the OBS bartender. Thank you Artem!

[Videopark]

On 12/21/2019 at 3:18 PM, Flamin_June said:

Dear Emp

I have enjoyed all your reports and photo journal's of past years; it's been a while since I've seen one on here and this time you seem to have gone for broke and pulled out all the stops.   The quality of your images are outstanding.Very enjoyable and entertaining. Many Thanks!

 

Thanks from me too. Great reporting.

[jimbri]

Great photos and review.  Thank you.

[Emperor Norton]

Where did I leave off?  

 

5 December St. Johns Antigua/Barbuda.  Today was a private tour that started at the Devils Bridge, went up to the Block house, down to Nelsons Tourist Trap er Dockyard (where's strike-through when you need it?) and then sampled some black pineapple (looks like every other pineapple but a bit smaller - the core is edible though) in a rainforest.  We were in port until 2200 for a deck party.

 

 

The last remnants of a sugar processing site.

 

The area of the Devils bridge was a little rocky and a little windy.

 

 

 

You can see the water on both sides of the bridge

 

 

 

It seems the devil was not happy with this little crab.

[Emperor Norton]

The Herald/menus from the 5th.

5H_C.pdf 5H_I.pdf 5M_Col.pdf 5M_R_EO.pdf

[Emperor Norton]

On site at the bridge you could buy locally made (?) sea shell art or local beer.  It wasn't a hard choice.

 

Our next stop was the block house, which you had to go through a bar/restaurant to get to.

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

The area did have a commanding view of the harbor.

 

 

 

Then it was down the hill to Nelsons Dockyard.  There was an entry fee and the option for a "guided" tour (very brief - it's included so why not).

 

These columns were part of the sail loft.

 

 

 

This view is looking from the inside towards the main gate.