Guadeloupe is a French Department, not a colony or territory. So they are governed by Paris, use the euro, and can travel freely to France. Our impressions are a bit less favorable then Bermuda or even Antigua. The houses aren't kept up as well and there's a lot of trash and graffiti. The word that comes to mind is that it's tired. We did the usual tour that stops at a couple of scenic vistas and then a stop at a beach restaurant for a rum punch and a look at the beach. The population of around 400,000 has been declining due to many young people leaving or going to France to study and not returning. This is the island where the BBC show Death in Paradise is filmed, but you'd never know it from what we saw. We thought about taking a taxi to the quaint town where it's filmed on the western island, but it would have taken a few hours and more money than we cared to spend. Today is All Souls Day so the locals tidy up the graves of their families/ancestors and pay tribute (photo of the cemetery below with the white above ground crypts).
Spent a typical afternoon lounging around the pool. It's very warm (upper 80's) and humid so the water feels good. The pool has a retractable roof and lots of shade which is lovely. Some areas of the ship are a bit colder than others, but they place blankets around the lounges and small pillows are everywhere for back support, which I especially appreciate.
Had a laugh filled dinner with Joan and Ron from Wisconsin (again) and Sue and Jana, friends traveling together from small towns in Missouri. Jana has a portable oxygen tank and was on our bus tour this morning, so not much slows her down.
Did a load of laundry and watched a couple of TED talks before bed.
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