Falling For Martinique’s ‘Lying Woman’: Photo of the Day
The tales of weary sailors hallucinating voluptuous seafaring maidens into real life are many in the ancient annals of seafaring across the Caribbean. A ready supply of rum, unyielding heat, and the loveless drudgery that came with the endless weeks at sea reserved almost entirely for men all conspired to fuel the colorful fantasies.
You’re not apt to endure any such hardships on Caribbean sailing adventures these days, of course, but don’t be surprised if your mind gets you thinking of a fair French maiden laying on her back when you visit a certain section of southern Martinique.
Along the island’s Caribbean coast near Les Anses d’Arlets, is a series of hills and small mountain peaks, which when viewed from the shores south of Le Diamant, embody the appearance of a woman laying flat on her back. You can just about make out the image in the featured photo above, the woman’s head laying just to the right of Diamond Rock off on its own in the sea at left.
(You can see her more close-up here.)
I captured the photo at the crest of the hill that descends down into the small fishing village of Sainte-Anne a couple years ago, but you can see La Dame Couchée, as she’s known locally, throughout Martinique’s southwestern region.