Thought you all might find this of interest, from a French friend who has been to Martinique. The info on flights in clearly out of date, but otherwise, read on:
"Yes, La Martinique is lovely!
We went there twice; in March and December 1999 (Christmas) for five days each.
The problem is to get there. Since few Americans go, there is no direct flight, and you have to go through customs twice, take three planes (Indy-Atlanta-San Juan-(Puerto Rico)-Fort-de-France). As my brother Edmond said: “You might as well come to Paris. At least, you will get a direct flight!”
However, we stayed at a lovely resort in Le Diamant where Félicia went scuba diving. Since we rented a Jeep, we did a fair amount of traveling. The food was wonderful being French exotic like magret de canard with a mango sauce!
Take plenty of “crème solaire,” though, because the sun is brutal. Félicia got the worst sunburn of her life there. We thought we were going to have to take her to the hospital. We also visited the plantation where Joséphine de Beauharnais (Napoléon’s first wife) grew up aux Trois Ilets. I will never forget what our young guide said when I asked: “But what in the world was her family doing here?” “To colonize us, of course!” That shut me up!!!"
I am starting to think 4-6 weeks would be way too long, unless H is teaching at the University which wasn't really part of the plan....