Today, we drove a few minutes down the Caravelle Peninsula to take a tour of Chateau Dubuc. Chateau Dubuc is a plantation built in 1721 which is now in ruins. There is always something romantic about a ruin and this one is situated on a wild headland overlooking over the woods and the sea, so it’s doubly romantic.

For 5 euros, the staff provide you with a map and an audioguide in French or English. We took the lazy way and opted for English, which was informative and inadvertently entertaining due to the mispronounciations of English words.  Bet my French provokes a few laughs, too!

The other half

Chateau Dubuc was a sugar cane and coffee plantation.  The sugar cane was used to make rum.  The house itself doesn’t really merit the word ‘Chateau’ as by French standards it is not particularly grand. There are also various remains of industrial works such as the circular, donkey driven press which was used to extract the juice from the cane.  At the bottom of the hill we could just about glimpse the sea through a dense mangrove swamp.  We saw the remains of a pier where the finished rum was put into boats and shipped off to Trinity to be sold. The entire process was carried out using slave labour and we saw the place where the slaves slept in hammocks under the trees, and the munitions shed which is believed to have doubled up as a punishment cell. I was surprised how close the industrial remains were to the main house – despite very different lives, masters and slaves were sharing the same space.

In 1794 the place was ransacked by the British and the French masters fled. For a few years it was used as a hunting lodge but soon fell into disrepair.   After which it is said to have been inhabited by pirates – and who am I to get in the way of a good story!?

Lazing on a sunny afternoon

After an hour or two looking round the Chateau, I was more than ready for a swim, so we headed back to the car and dropped down to Anse L’Etang, conveniently placed between the ruins and Tartane. I expect by now you are now sick of reading about beautiful beaches,  but this was yet another corker. There was a reef out to sea which was creating some decent surf.  A couple of surfers were riding the waves. A paddleboarder was joining in, using his paddle to keep abreast of the wave, which looked a lot of fun.

The beach itself was well shaded by palm trees. There were some picnic tables amongst the trees and  since it was Saturday, some locals were taking some time out for barbecues and picnics.

As we headed back to the car park, a Rasta shot us a grin as he hurried down to the beach with a hammock and a pair of headphones. Take two palm trees, sling up one hammock, mix in some sounds and relax – the perfect recipe for a chilled Saturday afternoon!