The Guianas - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 677

may well spot some monkeys and agouti.
Île Royale is home to the islands' only
hotel and excellent restaurant (see below),
as well as the small Musée du Bagne
(10.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-4pm; free),
which showcases the history of the penal
colony (in French).
“Incorrigible” convicts and those who
tried to escape were sent to Île Saint-
Joseph . Today it's home to a small naval
base, and visitors can take the tranquil,
coconut-tree-lined path around the
perimeter of the island, passing the ruins
of the penal colony overgrown with
vegetation, a pebble beach and a small
seafront naval cemetery - a tranquil spot
to see out eternity.

SAINT LAURENT FESTIVALS
Unlike Cayenne, Saint Laurent has
a festival or three happening pretty
much every month. Festivities not to
miss include January's Carnaval ,
October's Les Journées de la Culture
Bushinengué (a celebration of
traditional Maroon culture) and
November's biennial Le Festival des
Transamazoniennes , an international
extravaganza that spans the music
of South America and the Caribbean
(the next dates for the diary are 2013
and 2015).

7

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Saint Laurent has some fine colonial
architecture in the triangular “Petit Paris”
area north of Rue du Lieutenant-Colonel
Chandon. A stroll through this district
to view the old bank and the town hall
will nicely complement your visit to the
former prison camp.

ACCOMMODATION
Auberge des Îles Île Royale T 594 321 100,
W ilesdusalut.com. At the only lodgings on the islands,
you have a choice between delightfully clean, bright
and breezy rooms, cheaper digs in the renovated former
guards' barracks, or else a space to sling your hammock
(with access to bathroom facilities). Even if you're not
staying here, stop by for the excellent meals (three-course
lunches €26; mains €15) with an emphasis on Poseidon's
subjects. The re are inexp ensiv e sandwiches at the bar, too.
Doubles €60 , hammocks €10

Camp de la Transportation
he Camp de la Transportation , where
prisoners were processed before being
moved on (or executed), is an imposing
complex; fortress-like stone walls
surround the cell blocks, chapel and
other buildings. You can walk around
the grounds and check out the
permanent free exhibition of photos in
the camp's former kitchen and chapel,
but access to the cells is by guided tour
only and not to be missed (daily at
9.30am, 11am, 3pm & 4.30pm; Mon
3pm & 4.30pm only & Sun 9.30am &
11am only; 1hr 15min; €5; tours in
English available some days). A peek
into the grim solitary confinement cells,
the punishment cells where convicts were
shackled to the wooden bed, the mass
holding cell where fifty to sixty inmates
would sleep in cramped conditions, and
the cells of the condemned, awaiting
execution by guillotine, puts everything
into chilling context. Cell no. 47
allegedly once held Papillon, though that
is now in dispute. Tickets for the tour are
sold at the tourist office (see p.682). Less
morbidly, the grounds are sometimes
used for concerts.

SAINT LAURENT DU MARONI
Outside SAINT LAURENT DU MARONI 's
tourist office is a statue of a convict
with his head in his hands - an apt
monument to despair, given that this
town was a transportation camp for
prisoners until the middle of the
twentieth century. Saint Laurent is
less homogeneous than the capital,
thanks to the porous border between
French Guiana and Suriname; the
large number of illegal Surinamese,
Brazilian and Guyanese residents
account for the melange of languages
spoken and the laidback feel of this
riverside frontier town, so likeable
compared to Cayenne. Visiting the
former penitentiary is undoubtedly
the focus of your stay here, but the
town also makes a good base for trips
to nearby Amerindian and Maroon
communities , excursions on the Maroni
River , or the beautiful Voltaire Falls .