Fort Louis and the Navy
Fort Louis was built by Louis XVI of France and enabled Marigot to become the capital city of Saint Martin.
The remains of the fort remain atop the hill overlooking Merigot bay.
The location of the fort on the hilltop is a popular place for tourists to take pictures out over the bay. The rusting old cannons and some of the stones are all that remain.
Some electric lights have been added and some of the walls have been rebuilt.
When this cannon was in working condition, it would not have been uncommon to see a three-masted ship in the ay. It might have been a shipping vessel or a ship of the French Navy.
The flag flying at the stern of the ship indicates that this is a ship from Norway. Not so obvious is the fact that this is a Navy ship.
Some of the sailors have gone ashore to do what sailors do in a Caribbean port.
In the late 1700s, the scene may have looked like the picture below with a fort on a hill in the middle of the picture and the three-masted navy ship in the bay.
Today, it is more likely to look like the picture below with a diesel-powered yacht and condos lining the shore.
