/Martinique

Technically an integral part or department of France, Martinique is an isle of French charm, class, culture, cuisine and chic at their Gallic best Beautiful beyond words, Martinique captured the attention of Paul Gauguin, whose paintings of Martinique are among the world's most prized treasures.

Renowned for the beauty of its women, Martinique has been the birthplace of three famous royals: Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first empress; Madame de Maintenon, morganic wife of Sun King Louis XIV and a girl friend of Josephine who became Sultana of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Go to the secluded beaches of this French Antilles Eden and you are apt to see island beauties not wearing royal crowns--or anything else. Nudity and monkinis, or one-piece bikinis, are as commonplace here as in the south of France.

Martinique is also famous for its volcano, Mont Pelee, near the town of St Pierre and the site of Gauguin's studio, now a museum. St Pierre, once the thriving Paris of the Caribbean, was destroyed when Mont Pelee blew its top in 1902. All 30,000 inhabitants, except one, died when lava, poisonous gas, ashes and boulders rained on St Pierre. The lone survivor was a jailed prisoner named: Cyparis.

For the latest and greatest in French couture and fragrances, shop in the capital city of Fort-de-France. Then take the ferry for a trip across one of the most beautiful bays in the world and explore the resort hotels and secluded beaches across the bay from Fort-de-France. In the culture-vulture mode? Then you best attend a performance by the world-renowned Grands Ballets de Martinique. It helps considerably, by the way, if you at least attempt to "parley-vous" Francais.

French-speaking Martinique is especially proud of its French heritage, to say nothing of the generous French welfare system, 5-week paid vacations and affordable air fares for visits and an education in La Belle France.