A few colonial and modern buildings complement each other: white bungalows with red roofs are separated by tree-lined parks and a large market square. However, 20th century apartment blocks and condominiums form a high-rise backdrop over jerry-built shacks and industrial suburbs. The rather narrow central streets are jammed during the day with a colorful crowd that creates a permanent traffic jam. However, after sunset the town's central streets become eerily deserted creating a seedy atmosphere around the waterfront, except for the comparatively lively central square, Place de la Victoire.
Most visitors just drop in to Pointe-à-Pitre for shopping. It's best to visit the town in the morning (you can easily cover it in half a day), taking in the waterfront and outdoor market (the latter is livelier in the early hours).
Shopping is a main attraction where you can buy perfumes and other luxury made-in-France products. Rosebleu and A La Pensee on Rue Frebault are among the most popular places to shop. Rues de Nozieres and Schoelcher also have shops carrying French imports as well as madras cottons, watches, silver and china.
Centre Saint-John Perse, on the harbor front, showcases many specialty shops, a hotel and several restaurants.
Place de la Victoire at the town's center is a park shaded by palm trees and poincianas. Here you'll see some old sandbox trees said to have been planted by Victor Hugues, the mulatto who organized a revolutionary army of both whites and blacks to establish a dictatorship. In this square he kept a guillotine busy, and the death-dealing instrument stood here until modern times.
Musée Saint-John Perse is a museum on 9 Nozières Street and it occupies an attractive 19th-century colonial building with ornate wrought-iron balconies. The museum is dedicated to the renowned poet and Nobel laureate Alexis Léger (1887-1975), better known as St John Perse, who grew up just down the street at No 54. The house offers both a glimpse of a period Creole home and displays on Perse's life and work.
Musée Victor Schoelcher is a museum that dedicates to the life of Victor Schoelcher, who was the chief organizer against slavery in Guadeloupe. The visitor will find exhibits and artifacts of the slave trade housed in a pink and white colonial period building.
The Basilica of St Peter and St Paul (La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul) on place Gourbeyre features arches constructed of riveted iron girders, reflecting the influence of past hurricanes and earthquakes.
In Bas du Fort district, between the city and Gosier, is the powerful 18th century hilltop fortress of Fort Fleur D`Épée built in solid Vauban style. In the same area the Guadeloupe Aquarium allows visitors to contemplate a lot of fish.
La Fete des Cuisinieres or the Festival of the Women Cooks occurs in early August. To honor their patron Saint Lawrence, brightly clothed women carry baskets of food in processions to the cathedral. Banquets and dancing occur in the evening.
