We’re up early as usual, the weather has been perfect, we continually remind Scott and Carol this is not normal. In fact, St. Pierre looks a little exposed but we have enjoyed very calm anchoring conditions.

In the morning we dinghy across to the pier. First thing is to check out at Customs. It’s E$5 for all four of us. I don’t get it.

We start our walk up to see the Virgin Mary statue on the hill behind the town. Of course there is no information anywhere in the town about how to get there but through the miracle of the Internet we muddle the location to some degree of accuracy and set off.

Pretty sure we’re on the right track once we get off the main road and start climbing as there are crosses every 100 yards or so. About half of them are broken but they’re numbered up to 13 with the 14th being a little pavilion near the top of the hill. Around the corner from it is the descent to the actual statue of Mary. Fairly interesting and a nice view, she stood here at the time of the big eruption but was blown off the pedestal, replaced some years later. There is a little shrine at the bottom with quite a few candles burning inside.

Apparently there is an old war battery from ancient days but of course, no signs, no information, so we guess and go downhill a bit and sure enough there it is. It looks very old but there is zero information. Wotsis? Another path going down. Maybe that is the exit down to the road, could throw a rock there from here but it is very steep and seems very jungly.

We follow the rope railing down to a flat area where there is … nothing. Just an open area, doesn’t appear to be any reason for it here not even a garden of any kind. Yet someone has gone to a lot of trouble to clear this path and put up a rope railing. Surely, there must be more here. Is this a path through the grass that leads towards the zoo? There are tracks through it so we are not the first but after a couple hundred yards it becomes too wild to go further. We backtrack all the way to the top of the hill and then back down to the dinghy. Stop for a coffee at the cafe that is owned by the same woman that owns the other one up by the museum. She’s got the market cornered.

We’re a bit hot and bothered but back to Milu we go and prepare to try our BBQ on the beach. We start about 2 pm, Scott and I go over and set up on a vacant picnic table (Scott has to chase away a couple of urchins) while I go back to ferry the girls over.

We load up the BBQ with charcoal and fire her up. Gets hot fast, in fact the paint starts burning on the cheap Chinese device. S’ok, we’ll wait for it to burn off before loading the veggies and tuna. Veggies go on first and we can hear the juices boiling almost immediately. Have to be careful with butter leaking out as it starts a fire on the coals right away.

Have to load up charcoal before we put the tuna on as itc burns pretty quickly. Tuna cooks quickly and all tastes pretty good! BBQ is a success.

There’s a French family beside us with their own table they brought and the mom is eyeing us a lot, I think with curiosity. We start to clean up, we douse our charcoal with sea water, then take the grill down to the beach to clean it up a bit. She comes down and stands with her hands on her hips, clearly disgusted. What? We’re getting tuna all over the ocean?

Christy stays behind on the beach while I take the goods and Scott and Carol back to the boat. After an hour or so I return for her, she just needed a little me time.

Early departure tomorrow so I rig up the boat and do all the checks.