TWO UNIQUE MUSUEMS

Two unique museums give visitors a wonderful way to discover Martinique’s intriguing heritage and to experience the enduring appeal of the island’s allure—

In the north is the Musee de la Banane. That’s right—the Banana Museum.
This one-of-a-kind attraction in the hills above the town of Sainte-Marie is a working plantation known as Habitation Limbe. The word “limbe” translates as broken heart, a name given to the plantation in the 1880s.

This land was once a large sugar cane plantation and rum distillery dating back to the 1700s. But the market for sugar cane collapsed in the 19th Century, causing heartbreak and hardship. The plantation survived by changing the crop from sugar cane to bananas, which are still grown here.

The old Creole shanties that once housed workers have been transformed into shops selling all sorts of banana products—cakes and liquors of course, but also soap and perfume. Other buildings display the history and botany of bananas, as well as how they have been processed and packed over the years. Plus, there is a delightful park with more than 40 species of banana trees and many beautiful tropical flowers where guests can relax with a tasty snack and delicious banana-flavored cocktails.

Another fascinating stop is the Paul Gauguin Museum at Turin Cove, between La Carbet and St. Pierre. The post-impressionist artist may be most famous for the paintings inspired by his time in Tahiti but Gauguin spent five months in Martinique in 1887, several years before he traveled to the South Pacific.

The museum is located on the site where Gauguin lived. Art historians believe he painted between 10 and 20 canvasses on the island. Those paintings are now dispersed all over the world but the museum in Martinique has 12 reproductions on exhibit—they are definitely worth a view by Gauguin enthusiasts because many of the originals are in private collections and have never been seen by the general public.

The museum also has reproductions of several of Gauguin’s Tahitian works that are in private hands, as well as a selection of the artist’s writings, sketches and watercolor studies.

For more information about the Musee de la Banane and the Paul Gauguin Musuem, or any other inquiries about touring Martinique, please contact the Martinique Promotion Bureau/CMT USA at info@martinique.org