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Show A Wanderer’s Offbeat Guide to the Long before the jet tourist, this renowned author explored its fast-disappearing spots whichstill retain By ALEC WAUGH Author of “My Brother Evelyn” and “Island in the Sun’ WENT TO the Wcst Indies first in 1927; they looked much the same duringa visit was captured bythe British. In consequence, the seven families who had in January, 1939. They were those seven families arestill in power still the same when I went back for the first time after the war in 1948. ownedit when the Bastille fell were still in residence after Waterloo. And Guadeloupe, on the other hand, was taken over by the revolutionaries. The guillotine was set up, and the old families were liquidated. Guadeloupe is the northern-most of the windward islands, and in the 18th century, when French and Brit- ish were fighting for mastery of the NewWorld, its northeast trade wind decided the fate of empires. Farther north among the leeward islands the status quo was retained. It was hard to attack against the wind. Barbados, for instance, lies such a long way to the east that it was never once in- And during the following 10 years Thesocial climate of the twois- they did not alter much. The same kindof people were leading the same kind of life in the same kind of lands is consequently verydifferent. be awareof that. Both are very beau- vaded; this is why it is so British There was less changing of owne! atmosphere. Then the jets arrived! The package tour hit the Caribbean with the violence of one of its own September tiful, high and green with deep, cool ship in the north, consequently is- valleys and lands like Antigua, Even a short-time vacationist will with golden sands. In St. Kitts, and hurricanes! Who are you, really? What you think. What you do. What your friends think of you. They all contribute to you being you And. we'd like to suggest a tiny way to help make being youeven ea r. Tampax tampons. Sound silly? Not at all. Internally worn Tampax tampons can take the diffi culty out of those difficult days each month. Those days when i's sometimes hard to be your best you You see, Tampax tampons will let you wear the clothes you really want to wear, every day, They let you swim, ride, run, have all sorts Because of this change, I was a little bewildered when the editor of FAMILY WEEKLY suggested I write an “offbeat” guide to the West Indies. Twenty years ago I would have had no problem. But in the jet age? Well... Perhaps the wisest advice that I can give would be, “Go there out of season—in May or June or after the hurricane seasonin the fall. It will cost you two-thirds as much, the hotels will be half empty. You will be welcomed by the residents. You can change your plans at the last moment. The climate is only a little less paradisiac. Yes, yes, | know. It is between January and April that the North- erner wants to be away from his snowbound porch, But even then he canstill make an offbeat tour. There are still a few islands that retain In particular, I can recommend the two French islands of Martinique can't show or chafe or cause you discomfort and Guadeloupe. Martinique was my first West Indies island, and it is very dear to me. It is very French (as, indeed, is Guadeloupe). Both are de- Convenient Tampax tampons. Just a suggestion that can help keep you free to be you. Every day of every month TAMPAX. SANITARY PROTCCTION WORN INTERNALLY ATED, PALMER, MASS. ‘ their own personality. of fun, any day. Because, un- like bothersome pins, pads and belts Tampax tampons a Fort de France, Martinique, retains all the flavor and grace of old France. Martinique I would recommend a hotel in the hills just behind Fort de France, which was once the home of a French admiral and is within partments of France, and the men of walking distance of the sea, Martinique is a country to walk through, through its cane fields and the palm the Islands are very proud of being groves and thefishing villages. citizens of France, with their own In Guadeloupe, it is wiser to con- representative in the chambre de députés. But they are very different centrate upon the main town—Pointe a Pitre, which is developing a con- because Martinique was unaffected siderable gastronomic reputation, the by the French Revolution. Early in the Napoleonic wars it haute cuisine of Paris transported to the Caribbeanlittoral. 8 Family Weekly, April 20, 1969 Nevis have retained a British atmosphere, while a northern island like Puerto Ricois still Spanish at heart. The Virgin Islands wereoriginally Danish; they were acquired by the U.S.A. after World WarI, but there i little left of the old Danish atmosphere, apart from the charming architecture. They have become the homes of retired American citizens, most of whom relieve the boredom of retirement with some form of relatively unexacting work. St. Thomas has thefinest marina |