Les Trois-Ilets

Les Trois-Ilets Review

Named after the three rocky islands nearby, this lovely little village (population 3,000) has unusual brick-and-wood buildings roofed with antique tiles. It's known for its pottery, straw, and woodwork but above all as the birthplace of Napoléon's empress, Joséphine. In the square, where there's also a market and a fine mairie (town hall), you can visit the simple church where she was baptized Marie-Joseph Tascher de la Pagerie. The Martinicans have always been enormously proud of Joséphine, even though her husband reintroduced slavery on the island and most historians consider her to have been rather shallow.

A stone building that held the kitchen of the estate where Joséphine grew up houses the Musée de la Pagerie. It contains an assortment of memorabilia pertaining to her life and rather unfortunate loves, including a marriage certificate and a love letter written straight from the heart by Napoléon in 1796. The main house blew down in the hurricane of 1766, when she was 3, and the family lived for years above the sugarcane factory—a hot, odoriferous, and fly-ridden existence. At 16 she was wed (an arranged marriage because her father was a gambling man in need of money) to Alexandre de Beauharnais. After he was assassinated during the Revolution, she married Napoléon. 97229. 0596/68-33-06. €5. Tues.-Fri. 9-5, weekends 9:30-noon and 3-5.

Down a dirt road, a Martinican has called up the past with La Savane des Esclaves, a re-created slave village. This labor of love was created by Gilbert Larose, who has a fascination with the lives of his ancestors. This is an in-depth look at that major element in Martinique's history and culture, with food tastings and artisan demonstrations. Saturday from 9 am to noon is Tradition Morning, with elaborate tastings, demonstrations, and traditional dance lessons. Quartier La Ferme. 0696/22-79-05. €5, Sat. morning €20. Daily 10-noon and 2-5.