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Although Columbus baptized round Marie-Galante after his ship, Guadeloupe's largest offshore island is colloquially known nowadays as Grande-Galette, after its flat-stone shape. Overgrown with sugarcane and scattered with crumbling windmills , the 158-square-kilometre island 25km south of Pointe-a-Pitre has remained a rural and unhurried place that produces Guadeloupe's best and strongest rum - a woozy 59 percent alcohol - by adhering to customs that have altogether disappeared elsewhere. You'll likely see sugarcane cut by scythe and hauled on oxen-pulled cabrouets - the wooden chariots typically found in museums nowadays. Sights like these surpass the island's beaches which, mind you, are nothing to sniff at. Marie-Galante's 12,400 inhabitants divvy up between three towns: the capital, Grand-Bourg , and smaller St-Louis and Capesterre . The island's flatness - its highest point is a mere 150m - makes it ideal walking and biking terrain. There's also some decent diving off the south coast.
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