Take a break from winter and plan a trip to the French West Indies.

FORBES: This French Caribbean Gem Redefines Casual Luxury

He has now gone on holiday to the French West Indies.

BBC: Bastareaud retracts assault story

Martinique is the birthplace of the African-French music form "the Beguine", whose influence can be heard in the zouk music of the French West Indies.

BBC: Martinique profile

What strikes the author most is the uncertainty and flux of their lives as they and their circle improvised their way through the confusion of French, Spanish and British jurisdictions in the West Indies and America, and through the creeping, morphing status of the British in India.

ECONOMIST: Retracing the steps of one 18th-century Scottish family