A rainbow provided a cheerful greeting as we pulled into the harbour of Martinique’s capital, Fort-de-France.

After having our passports stamped by one of the more friendly custom’s officers in the Caribbean, we walked west up and over a small hill, passed Fort St-Louis and La Savane (city park), and then south towards the water and our accommodations, Hotel le Lafayette.

The room was sparse with bright red headboards and bright blue bedcovers. The view from the shuttered windows provided some compensation. We looked out over the park and it’s under-construction market place (with an eye to future cruise ship passengers). Towards the water we could see the wide ocean-side promenade and beyond that, jutting into the sea, Fort St-Louis.

This site wasn’t the French settler’s first choice as a location to establish a community; that distinction, in 1635, went to Saint Pierre on the north-west coast of Martinique.

While pirates and countries marauded the Caribbean, frequent skirmishes proved Saint Pierre difficult to protect so the governor went out looking for another location. The site, which would come to be known as Fort-de-France was an inhospitable marsh crawling with yellow-fever infected mosquitoes ... but ... the governor appreciated it’s large and well sheltered bay for France’s fleet of ships. A small fort was built and a small village sprang up around it.

In 1674 it was attacked ... and survived. The battle, labelled the ‘Rum Victory’, was brought to Louis XIV’s attention and he agreed to erect a real fort and name it Fort Royal ... which was later changed to Fort-La-Republique during the French Revolution and finally (or at least they think so) Fort St-Louis sometime in the 19^th century. Whatever happened to lil’ ol’ Saint Pierre? It was wiped out in ten minutes by the 1902 eruption of Mont-Pelé.

Today was Sunday and Fort-de-France was quiet. Shops were locked up and most restaurants closed.

Fort-de-France has suffered its own experiences with disasters from earthquakes to fires, therefore its more prominent heritage buildings are relatively young. One of the most photographed buildings is the Schoelcher Library with its ornate facade and colourful Byzantine dome. The building’s debut was at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris after which it was dismantled and shipped to Fort-de-France. It’s selection of books began with a collection from abolitionist Victor Schoelcher with the intent that every person would have free access to culture. Today’s library possesses at least 130,000 books and remains open to all ... except on Sundays.

Cathedral St-Louis, built in 1895 and designed by Henri Picq, the same man who built the Schoelcher Library, is the seventh church to stand upon this site. We thought we might be too late to hear the large organ, but we could at least see the interior. Wrong. Even the Cathedral is closed on Sundays after 11am.