We hired a car to drive us from the Surinamese border into Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. Unbeknownst to us, this was not a part of the tour we had already paid for. Which made an exciting conclusion to the journey as we argued with our driver about it in rusty but acceptable French (ours; his was impeccable). The road itself, along the coast, was lovely. Here, in contrast to our other stays in the Guianas, we had our own Airbnb apartment. It was a small studio, but it had the greatest drying rack we have ever seen. This alone was worth the trip: folding down into a single plane, it unfolded into a beautiful platform. We wish we could have stayed here longer, to do more laundry!
The centre of Cayenne is the Place des Palmistes, a lovely square with lots of colonial-era buildings surrounding it. The square, built in 1821 and measuring 7.5 hectares/3 acres, is full of beautiful royal palm trees. In its centre is the Column of the Republic, erected in 1890 to commemorate the taking of the Bastille and the end of the monarchy in France in 1789. The other prominent monument is dedicated to Félix Éboué (1884-1944), the governor of French Equatorial Africa from 1940 to his death. He was the first black Frenchman appointed to a high office, and he developed a policy for French rule in Africa that defended workers’ rights and respected native traditions. He was also the first black man to be buried in the Panthéon in Paris.
On the northern border of the square is the Musée Alexandre-Franconie, an amazing collection of flora, fauna, paintings, and goods documenting French Guiana’s history. When we mentioned to the person at the reception desk that we were American, she was very excited. (Most of the visitors to French Guiana come from France.) And then she provided us with our own English-speaking tour guide.
The young woman who guided us around had much of interest to say, and the collections themselves were pretty spectacular. We hung out with her for a couple of hours, asking questions about the people and animals of Guiana. The first floor was dedicated to stuffed creatures of all varieties while the second floor had a number of wonderful hand-made tools and furniture used from early times. And we found an entire room (the only air-conditioned one!) full of butterflies!
Just up the road from the museum, one finds the remains of Fort Cépérou, named for the indigenous chief who sold the land to the French colonists in 1643. Not much remains of the fort and much of it is off-limits as a military zone. But you can still get fantastic views of Cayenne and surroundings.
The thing about Cayenne when we were there – and possibly all of the time – is that it was HOT. We had just been in some warm and steamy places, but in the jungle there is plenty of shade. Not so the streets of Cayenne, which combined heat and humidity with very little tree coverage. So that made us sluggish: we planned all of our excursions for early morning or very late afternoon.
One place that we really wanted to get to but did not was the European Space Agency’s Spaceport, which lies 90 km (56 mi) from Cayenne. Most people don’t know about this place but it sends up a huge number of satellites every year. It’s an ideal place because it is so close to the equator. We had given ourselves four days to figure out how to get there by public transportation, but we still didn’t manage it. As with all things in the Guianas, it’s a lot easier if you have a car! (Much more the vagaries of travel in this part of the world, coming soon.)
You won’t be surprised to learn that we ate very well in Cayenne, which went some way towards alleviating our transportation woes. In the Place des Palmistes is the Hotel Les Palmistes, a beautiful colonial building with a bar and restaurant. (The next time we visit, we are staying there!) We went there several times to have drinks (many of them home-made and delicious) and lunches, and it’s a very relaxing place where you can look out over the square and spend several hours people-watching.
Cayenne both does and does not feel like France. The weather makes clear that you are not in Europe, but the food is decidedly French. We ate excellent croissants, and in the Hotel des Palmistes, we had a duck gizzard salad (delicious!) And we ate two extraordinary meals in Cayenne, at either end of the culinary spectrum. Our first night we went to Chéri, a beautiful upscale restaurant that combines French and Creole cooking. It’s in an old but well maintained building and we sat out on the lovely porch. (They had put out bug spray for us, a thoughtful touch we have not encountered anywhere else in our dining.)
The service was impeccable and the food was complex without being fussy. The waiter brought us an amuse-bouche while we waited for our mains, and it was worth the wait. We had ceviche to start, then lamb, then a beef dish. Everything was fantastic, and the chef himself – a Frenchman named Alain – came out to say hi.
And, on our last night we went to Kaz Dodo. Things here could not be more different. It’s a small home, with a lovely patio on which we ate. And there were only about eight diners including us the night we visited. There were lovely decorations throughout and the service was friendly and family-like. They show you a board of the daily specials and you choose from there. We had a fantastic beef stew and a fish steak, along with some of the best lentils we have ever eaten.
There is also great street food at the Central Market, a lively place to buy both raw food and cooked.
We also enjoyed the local drink, ti’punch, a heady alcohol served with lime and sugar. It’s super-cheap, and in all but the fanciest restaurants, they give you a big glass with ice, a bottle of rhum agricole (made from cane instead of molasses), and a pitcher of lime simple syrup and allow you to make your own in the proportions that you like. We hear they drink this in Martinique and Guadeloupe too, which puts those places higher on our must-visit list.
So all in all, we had an excellent (if very hot) in Cayenne. It combined in a wonderful way much that is good about France and much that is good about the Caribbean – while still being its own place!
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