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The sun streamed through my window; another day in paradise was about to begin.
I had a lazy breakfast in hot sun, with plenty of watermelon (my favourite) and coffee, all accompanied by the sounds of Abba. Music appears to run through everything here. No matter where you are, music can be heard and folk can be seen dancing to the sounds of the Caribbean.
By now, the sun was getting seriously hot and, with a little time before my transport arrived, I opted for a soak in the pool. I'm definitely not a pool person and don't really like swimming, but there are times when it is more pleasant in the water than out of it. Today was one. The trees and flowers looked different from this vantage point. I seemed more insignificant down at their level, in some ways, more in tune. No effort, just floating where the little breeze took me.
I dried off in the sun and returned to my room to cover myself in copious amounts of sun cream. Back in reception, my transport arrived just as I did and we set off back to Fond d'Or.
The traffic seemed oddly light
today. The usual traffic bottlenecks had disappeared. Maybe it was because of the weekend. Maybe it was because everyone was heading our way. Either way, we hit the back of a queue of traffic just two or three hundred yards away from the gates of Fond d'Or.
Police were directing cars onto the grassy edges of the road in an attempt to keep the main road free. It was this activity which caused us to wait, because my driver simply drove passed and stopped directly at the gates!
A small queue was waiting to enter the grounds and even at 14h00, the atmosphere was electric. It was clear that a serious party was in order judging by the number of freezer boxes. Once in, the line now broke and people spread out to find the shade. Beach towel on the ground, bottles of cold fruit juice provided by the hotel hidden out of the sun, the stake was claimed ... and the party started.
The MCs took the stage and, after a brief introduction, asked all to stand for the National Anthem. The park went quiet and then a multicoloured mass rose and stood still. As the
anthem finished, cheers and clapping erupted and party continued.
After reading through a list of sponsors, we were treated to a group of primary school students and their drumming. Even these little whipper-snappers had the crowds dancing.
More drumming and then Rupert Lay, a local lad with his guitar / violin combo.
Then a very popular drumming group from Monchy. The hypnotic rhythms wove into the crowds and before long, many were on their feet, dancing to the beat.
By this time, the sun was beginning to set and it seemed a good time to pack away our belongings whilst we could. Seeing our space was no longer in use, the crowd edged closer. 70,000 people were at this sold out event - that's a third of the island - an amazing experience.
Finally, a very good saxophonist took to the stage and we had a foretaste of jazz, rather than the arts aspect of the event. Needless to say, I was in heaven with live jazz, in the open air, and to cap it all, in the Caribbean!
In all honesty, everyone was really only at the event for one band. Kassav hail
from Martinique and are legends in the islands. The crowd chanted their name, jumping up and down until they came on the stage. The crowd erupted and the music started.
Back at the hotel, I was still on a high and, even though it was late, decided to head off to the Jazz Lounge. After all, I am here to listen to the jazz!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Jazz
A nice looking venue.