Miscellaneous
History and Politics
Along with Reunion, Martinique and French Guyana, Guadeloupe
is one of the ``Departements
francais d'Outre Mer''. Martinique and Guadeloupe are part of
the West Indies. They were
already French territory in the seventeenth century but became
official French departements in 1946. This
means that, besides a few tax exemptions, there are no differences
between those places and the French
mainland, called ``La Metropole''. You will find the same
banks, the same administration system,
the same kind of post offices, the same minitel (!) as in Lyon or
Paris.
Geography
Martinique is a single volcanic island but Guadeloupe
is an archipelago containing :
Grande Terre, Basse Terre, Marie Galante, La D\'esirade, Les
Saintes (the first piece of land
discovered by Columbus on this side of the world), Saint-Barthelemy
and half of Saint Martin. Because of their size, and because they are somehow
connected (via a bridge), the first
two islands, Grande Terre and Basse Terre, are often confused
with Guadeloupe itself. The main
town, Pointe a Pitre, is almost located at the junction of both.
These two islands are however very different. The former is made
of limestone and is sometimes
rather dry whereas the latter is volcanic, with a volcano -- La
Soufriere -- culminating at 1467 m
and surrounded by a tropical forest. The school will take place
near Saint Francois, in the
northern part of Guadeloupe, i.e. in Grande Terre, mainly because
this is more convenient from the
point of view of accommodation. Forest lovers or vulcanologist
amateurs should not despair,
though, because it takes only thirty minutes to
reach Pointe a Pitre,
and cross the bridge to Basse Terre. It takes another thirty
minutes to be in the middle of the
tropical forest.
Sand lovers will be content with what Grande
Terre can offer near the conference
room. The village of Saint Francois is not on the leeward
side of the island, near the
Caribbean sea, but on the windward side, along the Atlantic ocean.
This implies that the
temperature is constantly refreshed by a wind called
``l'Alize''.
Language
The main language is French. However,
Creole is spoken or understood
by 80% of the population. French is used in the classroom but Creole is
used in the playground...
English is of course taught at school like everywhere in France.
Currency
The currency is the French Franc and one can get the same bank
facilities as on the mainland.
The Visa Card is accepted in most places (for instance in petrol
stations and almost all restaurants).
Climate
The air and sea temperatures are around 25 degrees Celsius, if not more.