Basse Terre travel guide and vacation resources
Located at the feet of La Soufriere, Basse Terre is one of the oldest parishes on the island. Mistreated by history, its role in the island's economy has slowly but surely disappeared to Pointe a Pitre's advantage but it remained Guadeloupe's political capital. "Originally, this was the location of an important Caribbean Indians settlement. Fertile soils on the edge of the volcano and the abundance of water sources and rivers made for a privileged site. Spanish seamen did not refrain from fighting Indians to come fill their kegs with nice and clear water on their way to Mexico. With the current status of City of the arts and history, Basse-Terre only offers a few memories of days past: a few colonial houses around the Champ d'Arbaud plaza or the Mont-Carmel quarter, one of the oldest in town, a former parish founded by the Dominican religious order that came in with Sir l'Olive and Sir Duplessis. Don't miss the downtown cathedral's facade. At the edge of town rises Fort Louis Delgres, built in 1650 around the fortified house of Governor Houel, which has been modified several times since. The fort's reassuring presence favoured the founding of the city although it never experienced any real assaults. The location was badly picked since it benefits from no real good point of view on the sea and it has never been at stake during battles. It was named after Abolitionist hero Louis Delgres who resisted Napoleon's reestablishment of slavery and fled here with his men before evacuating to Matouba. The city is slowly but surely coming out of lethargy and attempts to be more welcoming. The waterfront was reshaped and prides of its superb boardwalk, giving a change to road traffic that had been suffering since. During carnival season, the whole city comes to life, euphoria catches the people violently. Traffic is not permitted; big parades and parties follow one another. Basse-Terre's Carnival is in every people's mind the liveliest and most reputed carnival in Guadeloupe, attracting more and more enthusiastic visitors year after year. Leaving Pointe-a-Pitre by Route N1, you can explore the western coast and the island of Basse-Terre. Here you'll find views as panoramic as those along the corniche along the French Riviera, but without the heavy traffic and crowds. After 2km (1 1/4 miles) you cross the Riviere Salee at Pont de la Gabarre. This narrow strait separates the two islands that form Guadeloupe. For the next 6km (3 3/4 miles) the road runs straight through sugar-cane fields. At the sign, on a main crossing, turn right on Route N2 toward Baie Mahault. (Don't confuse this with the town of Mahault on Basse-Terre's westernmost coast.) Head northwest to Lamentin, a village settled by corsairs at the beginning of the 18th century. Scattered about are some colonial mansions, but neither of these villages merits a stopover
|
|
Basse Terre Vacations site
Our company is running one of the largest pc and mobile travel website networks, covering top hotel, vacation package, airline ticket, beach, cruise, all inclusive and honeymoon destinations worldwide.
We will also run a travel blog portal which centralises the blogs posted by our visitors on all of our websites and which represents one of the world's best travel information resources, totally build by people such as yourself.
In the link section, you can check more links to our travel website network as well as to other third party specialized websites as lastminute.com or orbitz.com which we suggest you to visit if are you planning a trip to Basse Terre Guadeloupe.
|
