Writing this from Guadeloupe, which is a 20-minute flight from Antigua and an entire world away. France maintains Guadeloupe, Martinique, and a few other spots as full-on "overseas departments," not at all unlike the way Hawaii and Alaska are considered integral parts of the US.

So suddenly you go from one island where it’s all about the West Indies — it’s hard to find any international news at all on some of the islands — and then quite suddenly it’s all about France, with daily editions of Le Monde and Le Figaro and so on at every newsstand.

Spectacular place, this is. Most interesting cemeteries I’ve ever seen. More on that shortly.

But for now, here’s another way to know you’re in France — spotted in a market on the road between St. Francois and Le Moule:

France. Definitely.

This is the view from on high in Antigua’s new cricket stadium:

Between gloomy weather, surly security people, an ill-conceived park-&-ride system that is far more park than ride, and a deeply disappointing West Indies team to cheer for, by the afternoon of only the second game here, sometimes it looked like there were more sheep and goats wandering about than cricket fans.

Most depressing couple of hours I’ve spent around a sporting ground of any kind in years.

I know exactly zero about local politics, but even with massive Chinese investment (something you see everywhere in the Caribbean), I can’t imagine how Antigua can afford this mistake. They just moved one of their downtown’s main attractions to the hard-to-reach middle of nowhere. How that helps the economy here I have no idea. I may be completely wrong, but it sure looks like somebody in power here should be facing serious consequences.

Just sad.

This is the view from on high in Antigua’s new cricket stadium:

Between gloomy weather, surly security people, an ill-conceived park-&-ride system that is far more park than ride, and a deeply disappointing West Indies team to cheer for, by the afternoon of only the second game here, sometimes it looked like there were more sheep and goats wandering about than cricket fans.

Most depressing couple of hours I’ve spent around a sporting ground of any kind in years.

I know exactly zero about local politics, but even with massive Chinese investment (something you see everywhere in the Caribbean), I can’t imagine how Antigua can afford this mistake. They just moved one of their downtown’s main attractions to the hard-to-reach middle of nowhere. How that helps the economy here I have no idea. I may be completely wrong, but it sure looks like somebody in power here should be facing serious consequences.

Just sad.

Meet two members of the Royal Scotch Guard, whose uniforms never need cleaning:

Don’t ask what’s in the groin-level fanny pack deals. Unless you’re up for a Justin Timberlake thing.

In which case, you might need some ScotchGuard of your own.

PS — yes, I know the fanny pack is technically called a sporran.  But it’s still a fanny pack.  That’s what sporrans are.

Meet two members of the Royal Scotch Guard, whose uniforms never need cleaning:

Don’t ask what’s in the groin-level fanny pack deals. Unless you’re up for a Justin Timberlake thing.

In which case, you might need some ScotchGuard of your own.

PS — yes, I know the fanny pack is technically called a sporran.  But it’s still a fanny pack.  That’s what sporrans are.