Day 19: Can you believe it?

Can you believe it's already day 19 of my trip?! Because I can't-- it has truly flown by! In exactly 1 week, I will be in the air somewhere between Miami and Washington DC, making my somewhat triumphant return to the good old US of A.  In the meantime, I've kept plenty busy.

This morning, I went to (yet another) distillerie.  They seem to be a big attraction here.  Guadeloupe is actually known for its rum and its distilleries regularly wine prestigious competitions in the Metropole (aka the Europe part of France).  Today's distillerie: Domaine de Severin.

Despite the rainy morning, I spent a pleasant hour or two there on a self- guided tour.  I find the self guided tour to be less informative than the guided ones, for obvious reasons.  Luckily, I've seen enough sugar plantations/ distilleries on this trip that I could probably give the tour by now! This particular site focused less on the production of rum and more on the actual plantation.  So, I saw the plantation owner's home, a worker's cottage, and a creole garden.

Workers cottage-- the French word is case

Inventive decorating on the inside-- take note Property Brothers!

The owner's home (he had 8 kids!!!)

A plant from the gardin-- porceline roses which are native to Guadeloupe

Of course, I still saw where the actual rum was made, but couldn't go inside.

Afterwards, I bought some quick souvenirs (one is for you, Dad!) and headed to a nearby ~hot spring~.  I was expecting a luxurious hot tub- like environment with steam and spa- like qualities. Instead I got this:

Not quite what I expected.  Since I had made the trip out, I did step under the water and I did feel refreshed afterwards.  (I strongly believe this can be attributed to the power of suggestion, but who knows.)  Slightly disappointed, I decided to head to the beach and let the sun soak my (very miniscule, insignificant) troubles away.

Finally, I met up with the artist (whose "real job" is an english professor) I met my first day here.  He and I chatted for a couple hours (so long my parents thought something had happened to me when I didn't text them-- oops).  But I received a wealth of information from him-- I am so thrilled that he shared his experiences and art with me. 

All in all, a good day! I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold.  At this point, I have checked off all the "must dos" and am now looking into "really want to dos".  This usually means the beach. (When in Rome, right?).  Although I can't sit still for that long, so I'll most likely have another (possibly quasi) adventure to share with you tomorrow!