SEVERINE BAUR/GETTY IMAGES
with the opening of French Coco
(hotel french coco.com; doubles from €430; mains
€25–€30), a boutique hotel in La Trinité whose
design is as bright and airy as any chic new
Provençal inn. The dining room is its heart
and soul: the chef, Michel Benaziz, a veteran
of restaurants in Toulouse and St. Martin,
gives his French dishes a Caribbean twist
using organic herbs from the on-site garden.
(His marlin confit with turnips and “virgin
sauce,” made from freshly crushed lemon,
tomato, basil and cilantro, was outstanding.)
French Coco’s urban counterpart in the
capital, Fort-de-France, is the 24-seat Table
de Marcel (hotel-simon.com; prix fixe from
€87), from Martinican chef Marcel Ravin,
who recently came home after running the
Michelin-starred restaurant at the Monte-
Carlo Bay Hotel. One day, I headed for lunch
at a cheerful beach hut in Le Carbet called
Le Petibonum ( f b.com/lepetibonum; mains
€17–€22) run by Guy Ferdinand, who likes to
be called “Chef Hot Pants” because of his
extra-short shorts. After a plate of fresh
local crayfish by the lapping waters of the
Caribbean, I raised a glass of Sauvignon Blanc
to the French attitude to life.IT’S A GREAT PLACE TO GO FOR A DRIVE.
This is one of the best Caribbean islands for
renting a car. The French-funded A1 highway
from the airport is so well maintained that it
practically qualifies as a tourist attraction in
itself. But take any turnoff from the A1 and one
of the primary roads, and you will find yourself
following a spiderweb of country lanes through
lush farmland. When I reserved dinner at
Hôtel Plein Soleil (hotelpleinsoleil.fr; doubles
from €195), in Le François, the maître d’
e-mailed me a page-long set of driving
instructions, although the absence of road signs
meant that it was easier to stop and ask
directions from locals. It was all worth the
effort: the rambling colonial estate has
stunning views over the Atlantic coastline,
inventive cuisine, and—best of all—a retro bar
filled with sensual artworks, including a lavish
nude presiding over the liquor bottles.IT’S STEEPED IN HISTORY.
My growing realization that I had only
scratched the surface of Martinique was
confirmed when I visited the sites related to
the island’s celebrity daughter, Josephine
Bonaparte. The remains of her birthplace,
Domaine de la Pagerie (Rte. 38, Les Trois-Îlets;596/68-38-34), are lovingly preserved, with
gardens that display the dahlias, hibiscus and
camellias she introduced to Europe as empress.
Boat tours from Le François, on the eastern
coast, include visits to La Baignoire de
Joséphine—“Josephine’s Bathtub”—a shallow
sandbar in the middle of the bay near where,
legend claims, she holidayed as a child.
Catamarans from Les Ballades du Delphis
(catamaran-martinique.com) weigh anchor so
passengers can eat Creole snacks and sip
cocktails in the waist-high water. But the love
affair is complex. The island’s most prominent
statue of the empress, in the main square of
Fort-de-France, has had its head chopped off.
The few Martinicans who believe the island
should be independent see Josephine as a
symbol of French oppression. It was she who
convinced Napoleon to reinstate slavery on the
island in 1802, locals believe, after it had been
abolished following the French Revolution. In
1991, independence activists “guillotined” the
statue. “The government has had another head
carved for her, but they don’t want to put it back
on,” an old gent in the park told me with a
chuckle. “If they do, those coquins [rascals] have
promised to chop it off again!” Obviously, I still
had more hidden depths to explore.A hike along
the Caravelles
Peninsula offers
unspoilt views of
the Atlantic.TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM / APRIL 2018 55