Centre de Découverte des Sciences de la Terre — Attraction in Saint-Pierre

Could have been very interesting and educational, however, our personal experience wasn’t that great. Our first attempt to visit failed, even though the sign on the window clearly stated the opening hours and it should’ve been open. The following day, our credit card was supposedly declined. We tried a different card and apparently, it was declined again. I then realised that the first payment had gone through and refused to try more cards or pay cash. We had to argue with the lady at the entrance for some time before she reluctantly let us in (no tickets issued). Shortly later, I checked the other bank account and realised that both payments had gone through! When we spoke to a member of staff (via Google translate as nobody there speaks English), they advised that payments are managed by the head office and there’s nothing they can do! Sadly, despite paying double the price, we could only benefit from the film upstairs, which we knew to request English subtitles to. The main exhibition is mainly in French and there are no English audio guides. There is an online one for a part of the exhibition, but you need a phone with data and headphones. We had only one phone with limited data between us and no headphones, so couldn’t use it....

We thought this museum was great and really good value. They have some interesting and relevant displays well laid out (in French but they still show the geological concepts clearly). The film was excellent. My daughters age 7 and 9 watched it all despite having to read the subtitles and it covers not just Mont Pelee but volcanoes in the Caribbean in general. There was also a special exhibition with many interactive maths and geometric puzzles to try out in a large cool room! We were staying in St Pierre anyway so it was an easy trip - and I’m not sure I’d have travelled down the island just to get there but anyway St Pierre is a good day out in itself with ruins of the volcano around the town including the old church in Rue d’Eglise and a...

J'y suis allé en famille avec mes enfants de 4 et 8 ans et nous avons globalement bien apprécié notre visite. Il y a une projection de film sur le volcanisme et l'éruption de St pierre tres interessant qui a plu à mes enfants ( même le plus petit). Le reste de l'expo sur le volcanisme est intéressant également même si pas très fourni. Le musée (batiment) est grand et propre mais son contenu ne semble pas complètement coherent et tout n'est pas ou plus fonctionnels : le lacher d'eau en exterieur ne fonctionne plus. Lors de notre visite, il y avait également une expo sur l'équilibre alimentaire (pas vraiment fonctionnel car on ne pouvait pas aller au bout de l'atelier=plus de papier dans l'imprimante , une sur les films et techniques d'animation (dessins animés ) et une sur les appareil de tsf. Le rapport avec les sciences de la terre n'est pas évident :-) Cela dit, pour être honnête cela ne nous a pas empêché de passer plusieurs heures dans ce musée, tant pis pour la cohérence! Les enfants ont en particulier adoré l'expo et les ateliers sur les techniques d'animation. Ils continuent d'en parler une semaine après. Merci pour ce bon moment...