Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 5
Looking Back At Vigie Beach, And Cemetery.
Beautiful Vigie Beach.
Very few days out, conjure up the childlike promise of joy, like a day at the beach. Vigie Beach is a stunning golden-white sandy beach: absolutely, exquisitely very beautiful, in every way.
The beach is totally organic and natural, no interference by man anywhere.
The Vigie vista probably remains just as it was when the Native Americans and African settlers inhabited it hundreds of years ago before “you know who?”
Vigie is unspoilt and deliciously charming – and the epitome of what a Caribbean beach should look and feel like.
Vigie Beach
Vigie is about a mile north of Castries, offering shaded and open-spaced areas. It may, or may not be the best beach in St Lucia (which has so many candidates for that title: Anse Chastanet, Pigeon Island, Laborie Bay, Marigot Bay, Anse L’lvrogne Beach, to name a few.) That said, it’s my favourite beach in the ‘whole wide world!’
It was the beach I first went to, hand in hand with my grandmother, and its where I had my first taste of the delicious local peanut ice cream (which still tastes great, even to my now adult palate).
Vigie Beach – looking North at Windjammer.
The surrounding hills of Castries and beyond, give Vigie Beach a look like it’s in a large bowl, resembling a Roman amphitheatre. There is a real sense of calm and serenity on this beautiful beach. Arriving by car or on foot it is akin to stepping into a large cathedral. The therapeutic enigmatic beauty of this place speaks to ones very soul.
Vigie Beach Looking Northeast
Vigie Beach is very clean, quiet and often empty, especially during the weekdays. Cruise ship patrons use it occasionally but there is plenty of space for everybody.
The constant polite nonchalant breeze is a joy to body and soul, just enough to keep one cool, but not enough to blow sand in your face. The gorgeous turquoise-blue water is warm and great for swimming, but be careful, the tides can be unpredictable and the sea-bed levels differ sharply over very small areas.
Top Tip: Stay very close to the shore while swimming at Vigie. The locals do!
Vigie Beach Looking (Towards Castries
Vigie Beach is adjacent to the small local George F L Charles Airport. The small planes and private jets that use the airport, tend to be an attraction not a distraction. The planes land and take off infrequently, with little troubling noise or air-pollution.
Vigie Beach, Road & Airstrip
Vigie Beach is absolutely beautiful and spiritually enhancing. There are a few light-weight low-impact buildings at the end of the beach providing local cuisine and refreshments (a must try, and generally quite reasonable.)
The refreshment facilities on Vigie Beach also serve as the arrivals and departure lounge for the local airport. (How cool is that?) So, while you’re waiting for your plane you can help yourself to some delicious local food and drink, and have a paddle on the beach.
Alfresco (Airport lounge! Time For Lunch At Vigie)
Vigie is great for walking and looking for shells and interesting coral, which is a most underrated and pleasurable pastime. Being at peace with oneself, selecting the stone or the shell which is just right for you, is beyond therapeutic calm, and provides restorative satisfaction.
NOTE: Weddings for locals and tourists are common place on Vigie Beach. It is a most beautiful sight. Probably for the reasons above.
For the energetic amongst us, try the gentle hike on the peninsular, then onto the lighthouse, from where the spectacular 360° views across the bay, then looking into the interior is magnificent. I can personally testify that the views are breathtakingly beautiful and well worth the effort.
View Of The Lighthouse From The Beach
Just like when you’re a child, one never wants to leave Vigie beach. Even when the sun goes down.
I don’t think I’ve ever used the word personification before, but I’ll try to explain: The quintessential personal experience of this magical place, shall be different for everybody who comes here, but it will always be life affirming, enriching and joyous.
Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 5½
Vigie Beach, Cemetery
I believe graveyards have an individual resonance of peaceful tranquillity and solace. Vigie Beach Cemetery definitely has and emits peacefulness, serenity and quietude.
The graveyard is serene, charming and tranquil, and is well worth a visit. Some of the inscriptions on the graves are often moving, occasionally heart-rending, and tenderly beautiful, and are a life lesson about St Lucia on its own.
Beach Cemetery
My grandmother, who is buried at Vigie, has a beautiful plot, slightly overshadowed by a “monster” tomb recently built next to her resting place. Planning restrictions in St Lucia, for houses and tombs, seem to be arbitrary!
She rests in full sunlight adjacent to the Caribbean Sea with a view of Martinique. And considering the graveyard is at sea level, that is some view.
Top Tip: Vigie cemetery is worth a visit but wear sensible shoes.
Vigie Cemetery.
The mercury was rising at Vigie cemetery. It was an extra hot day. The brilliant but unforgiving afternoon sun was taking no prisoners. The beautiful yellow sand was acting as a mirror for the merciless rays, creating even more heat (if that was possible).
I walked towards the graveyard, keeping under the shade of the almond trees for protection.
I met “Fireman” the grave digger / builder. His name is Fireman because – you guessed it – he used to be a fireman! (It’s a Lucian thing!)
He’s a good-looking guy of mixed Carib/Arawak appearance, with the proud demeanour of a man who has worked hard all his life, in the selfless service of others.
He has brilliant bright taupe eyes and light brown skin. A strikingly handsome man, with an illuminating smile, that’s well worth the wait when it comes. A man totally comfortable in and with himself.
Natural Mystic Beautiful Shade
Fireman passes the time of day with me, telling me that he is very well and business is good! And he remembers me from two years previously when he refurbished my grandmother’s grave for our family.
Gulping at our water bottles, we shoot the breeze, taking shelter from the unforgivable heat under an almond tree, which grow in abundance on the edge of the beach.
We were talking about life, family and good times.
He cut short our chat as he had to go to attend to a burial. Even in St Lucia the business of death dictates time!
Just as we parted, a large smartly dressed congregation, clad in purple and black, arrive for the burial rites, for the second funeral of the day. Stepping out of their cars, they immediately seek what shade they could find.
The women – kitted out in smart formal wear, with multi coloured parasols, and large brimmed hats, that covered freshly dyed, dressed jet-black hair. (Senior St Lucian women still refuse to embrace the grey!); The men – in sharp dark suits, shiny shoes, and sunglasses.
All the congregation sport blue and white rosettes pinned to their breasts, with a handsome smiling photograph of the deceased.
The Congregation At Vigie
The congregation nervously talked in low respectful tones, sounds of which were audible over the rushing sound of the sea, and the distant slamming of car doors. They busied themselves, shaking out the creases from their clothes, as they made their way from the dusty car park to the prepared graveside.
One of the grave diggers walked over and joined me. He looked no more than fifty years old, but by his mellow, mature, erstwhile demeanour, I could tell he was older.
His skin was hardened and coloured by the sun with only slight wrinkles around his eyes. He had sunken cheeks, with fantastic sideburns, which accentuated his sharp prominent facial features. I guess a life of hard toil in the searing heat was doing him good.
A tall fit looking man, he was sporting a moth-eaten Panama hat, a striped dress shirt, and trousers tucked into his Wellington boots, all of which made him look even taller.
He looked like he’d been suspended in time, anywhere between the last two centuries.
It seemed that appearing older had not aged his spirit, just an absence of youthful-muscle that laden and troubled him, as he leant on his shovel for rest, letting the blade take the weight of a day’s labour in the searing heat.
The Workers & The Congregation
He said to me in a hushed deep bass tone. “It’s a man’s funeral, an old school-mate of mine. A real shock! Nobody knew he was even sick! We still don’t know what killed him? A great man! A good domino player! He had a full-life, many children! I have seven, and he had many more than me!”
He asked me. “You have any children?” “Two.” I replied, almost feeling inadequate, like I’d somehow let the side down. He didn’t pass a comment.
He continued. “Life is a beautiful thing. You must keep smiling, because there is so much more to smile about the older you get.” He continued, that even at his mature age he still was not prepared for his mates and peers dying. And losing his friends burdened him heavily.
He said poignantly. “Life is so very short. Listen! Today I am sixty-eight. Yesterday I was twenty-two.” It actually was his birthday today!
The Meeting Place
He asked me my name. I gave him my grandmother’s surname – Frederick.
He instantly replied. “Marie-Helen? Jeanne? Ma-William?”
Marie-Helen and Jeanne are my grandmother’s Christian names. “Ma-William” was her married nick-name, named after her husband’s Christian name (William Frederick. Again, it’s a Lucian thing!?)
His voice breaking, he told me, that he knew my grandmother, and so did his good friend the deceased. And how beautifully compassionate she was to them when they were younger. What fun, and what a great lady she was.
I don’t know why but coming from a mature grave digger, that sentiment and memory had extra resonance and depth. He looked away. I suspected he was about to cry. I turned to because I knew I would. These days I cry all the time.
Driftwood Sculpture on Vigie Beach
We said our goodbyes. He reached to his breast, as if touching his very soul with the tips of his fingers and bowing his head in my direction as if in a silent prayer of acknowledgement and good will. No need for a handshake or fist-pump, that tranquil, benevolent blessing was more than enough.
Flying At Vigie Airport
Just then a propeller plane took off from the adjacent air-strip whistling and gracefully soaring into the cloudy-blue sky, somehow adding a physical dimension, to the ethereal spiritual journey of the day.
Acknowledgments & Thanks :
- Kwéyòl Dictionary Ministry of Education Government of St Lucia 2001
- Tony Nayager for corrective guidance. (He knows what I mean)
- Marilyn St Rose for answering a cry for help.
- Lorraine Mulcahy for her love understanding!
End of Reasons to be Cheerful Part Five.
If you liked or have any comments that you would like to offer. Please share.
Thank you.
Leave a Reply to Jacqueline Cancel reply