I proposed to my girlfriend, Jasmin, in Deshaies, a picturesque seafront town with two churches and a modern- looking centre-ville – a reminder that you are technically in France. There are two busy restaurants that stick out into the sea on plinths: Le Mahina, which is very popular, and L’Amer, where I proposed. We drank champagne there, watching an amazing sunset.
I filmed an episode of the BBC’s Death In Paradise with Neil Morrissey and Sally Phillips on Basse-Terre, which has lush forest and jungle, epic views and amazing waterfalls and cascades. Its centre is uninhabited and offers wonderful hikes and trails. Jasmin, myself and the Morrisseys were taken by one of the locals to a spectacular series of waterfalls and pools, where I did a 12-foot death-defying cliff dive. Then our guide defied far more death by leaping from about 30 feet.
If you don’t want that Barbados bullshit, this is your place. If you want a little bit of rustique, if you don’t want room service and mini-bars, you will like the Habitation Grande Anse, where we stayed. There’s dense jungle behind, and the clear blue ocean in front, beyond a line of palm trees.
Guadeloupe is made up of two main islands making the shape of a butterfly – Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre – separated by a narrow strait crossed by roads. You can drive from the easternmost point of Grand-Terre to the west of Basse-Terre in an hour.
For outstanding marine beauty, there’s the Jacques Cousteau Underwater Reserve on the coast road near Bouillante. The coral and rock pools are only a 15-minute boat ride from the shore, and cater for everyone from master divers like Neil to a beginner like Jasmin, who had never worn a mask or snorkel before. Instantly, you are plunged into otherworldly beauty just feet below you. There is a brass statue of Cousteau about 15 feet down so those who can hold their breath, pinch their noses and blow, can swim down and touch his head for good luck.
The islands are strikingly French – but without the crap waiters. Guadeloupeans have managed to avoid some of the bad facets of French life: they’ve got much better waiters but the same sort of pride in their food. There’s an element of the connoisseur about them without the snobbery. Most things cost the same as they would in France and it has all the positive aspects of the European infrastructure. Things work and there’s a security and a sensibleness about it.
The food is creole, part-French and part-Caribbean, and is a very interesting mixture. There’s a lot of fruit, a lot of fresh fish and traditional French food with a creole twist. The local rum is excellent. I came back with a penchant for any rum other than Bacardi. Go for the local drinks and you’ll get beers and wonderful, really fresh rum cocktails. Everything else is French. Red wine has to be served cold because of the hot and humid climate.
Grand Anse beach in the north-west of Basse-Terre near Deshaies is breathtaking. It looks on to a lagoon of rainwater that pours from the hillside, which breaks on occasion and floods the beach with fresh water. The beach has a handful of bars and restaurants serving great creole food. The wrap party for Death in Paradise was at the Bar Lagoon, which does great cocktails. As with everything else on Basse-Terre, it looks as though it was built and painted by the cast of the Double Deckers (or Why Don’t You?, for those who are too young to remember the Double Deckers).
The Cannes of Guadeloupe is Saint-Francois, an opulent harbour in the south-east corner of Grande-Terre. But despite the yachts and portside bars, restaurants and gated apartments, it’s friendly and low key, not flashy or ostentatious.
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