Sun, sand and rum... here I come!
Dec 31
Early morning wakeup call at 03:30 to make our 05:15 flight. Plus it was -35C without the wind.
Sheraton FourPoints does not have a boardwalk to the terminal so it was either a brisk walk outside in summer clothes or the shuttle over. We chose the shuttle. When we got to the airport a Westjet attendant recognized us and upgraded us to 1st class all the way to St Maarten! We arrived in plenty of time for the flight but apparently not as much as we would've liked for just as we got to the front of the line for a Tim's breakfast I realized our flight was leaving in 15 minutes and we should be on it! A quick dash down the short terminal got us onboard in time. We got brunch at YYZ (Toronto airport) and after a short layover boarded the full flight for SXM (St Maarten). It was a blustery day in Toronto so we were delayed taking off for an hour as we were getting deiced and waiting in a long line for takeoff. When we finally drifted in over Maho Beach we were 45 minutes late arriving. Fortunately Leisure Car Rental was aware of the delay and waiting for us when we came out. I knew Grand Marche (the supermarket) was closing early for NYE but we made it there for some initial supplies with 15 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, sunset is about 6 pm and that left us to find our way to Mt Vernon in the dark.
The roads are quite narrow in some places, poorly lit with tiny signs, and shared with insane motorcycle riders. One bike chose to pass between ourselves and oncoming traffic on a single line highway in the dark and with no headlight! I didn't even know he was there until I heard him pass! There must have been less than 12" between us as he zoomed by. Perhaps not surprisingly I missed the turn to Mt Vernon and ended up crossing back over into the Dutch side almost circumnavigating the island. Realizing my mistake I turned us around and stopped to ask directions which was only somewhat helpful since he spoke only French and I only English. Still, we were close and found ourselves at our condo 10 minutes later. Our host was still waiting to hand over the keys although again, she spoke only French and I only English. Regardless, we were able to easily complete the transaction and move into our new digs! By this time we were starving and since they have a pizzeria on site we decided a pizza and beer would be a great way to bring in the New Year! But alas, 'twas not to be as the pizza joint closes at 8 and we arrived at 8:10. Who closes a pizza joint early on NYE? Oh well, we decided to skip supper (begrudgingly on my part) and settled for beer and Doritos as our NYE meal. Perhaps the lamest NYE meal I've ever had. At least the scenery and company were good! As it was a long travel day we turned in early at about 10:30 only to be awakened by the "pop pop" of fireworks on the beach at midnight. By that time I was too tired to get up and watch the show and we just went back to sleep.
Early morning wakeup call at 03:30 to make our 05:15 flight. Plus it was -35C without the wind.
Sheraton FourPoints does not have a boardwalk to the terminal so it was either a brisk walk outside in summer clothes or the shuttle over. We chose the shuttle. When we got to the airport a Westjet attendant recognized us and upgraded us to 1st class all the way to St Maarten! We arrived in plenty of time for the flight but apparently not as much as we would've liked for just as we got to the front of the line for a Tim's breakfast I realized our flight was leaving in 15 minutes and we should be on it! A quick dash down the short terminal got us onboard in time. We got brunch at YYZ (Toronto airport) and after a short layover boarded the full flight for SXM (St Maarten). It was a blustery day in Toronto so we were delayed taking off for an hour as we were getting deiced and waiting in a long line for takeoff. When we finally drifted in over Maho Beach we were 45 minutes late arriving. Fortunately Leisure Car Rental was aware of the delay and waiting for us when we came out. I knew Grand Marche (the supermarket) was closing early for NYE but we made it there for some initial supplies with 15 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, sunset is about 6 pm and that left us to find our way to Mt Vernon in the dark.
The roads are quite narrow in some places, poorly lit with tiny signs, and shared with insane motorcycle riders. One bike chose to pass between ourselves and oncoming traffic on a single line highway in the dark and with no headlight! I didn't even know he was there until I heard him pass! There must have been less than 12" between us as he zoomed by. Perhaps not surprisingly I missed the turn to Mt Vernon and ended up crossing back over into the Dutch side almost circumnavigating the island. Realizing my mistake I turned us around and stopped to ask directions which was only somewhat helpful since he spoke only French and I only English. Still, we were close and found ourselves at our condo 10 minutes later. Our host was still waiting to hand over the keys although again, she spoke only French and I only English. Regardless, we were able to easily complete the transaction and move into our new digs! By this time we were starving and since they have a pizzeria on site we decided a pizza and beer would be a great way to bring in the New Year! But alas, 'twas not to be as the pizza joint closes at 8 and we arrived at 8:10. Who closes a pizza joint early on NYE? Oh well, we decided to skip supper (begrudgingly on my part) and settled for beer and Doritos as our NYE meal. Perhaps the lamest NYE meal I've ever had. At least the scenery and company were good! As it was a long travel day we turned in early at about 10:30 only to be awakened by the "pop pop" of fireworks on the beach at midnight. By that time I was too tired to get up and watch the show and we just went back to sleep.
Day one in paradise!
Jan 1
Woke up at 6:30 excited to greet the day and check out the beach! I went for a walk the length of Orient Beach (4 km round trip) and found it quite breezy and humid but beautiful all the same. So wonderful to finally see it in person after so many days of researching and looking at others pictures and videos of their trips. I was finally here! I spent about 1.5 hrs walking the beach and recognized some fan favourites such as Orange Fever, Andy and Cheryl's, Chez Leandra, Pedro's, Papagayo, Sexy Fruits, etc. So cool to see all these places that I'd only read about before! After scouting the full range of the beach I returned to find Paula still sleeping! As I sat down to patiently wait I thought I might as well do that in bed and surprised myself by falling asleep myself for another 1.5 hrs! That's vacation I suppose!
After Paula got up we had some toast and fruit that we bought at Grand Marche and headed out about noon to check out the beach at its busiest. Quite a change from the picture I saw at 7:30! There were only 3 cruise ships in but the beach was pretty busy. Five cruise ships are expected in tomorrow. The waves were pretty heavy at the northern end by Mt Vernon, lessening as you got closer to the shelter of Club Orient at the southern end. The sun was shining and the water was beautiful shades of green and blue. We walked right down to the spit of land at the sound end of Club O. The beach was much quieter here as may be expected because the south end in front of Club Orient is clothing optional. CO or not it would certainly be our choice to spend the day as we're not much into the crowds.
About 1 o'clock we decided to get something to eat and settled on coconut shrimp, conch fritters and rib appetizers at Chez Leandra. Throw in a bucket of 6 beer for $10 and you have the makings of a fantastic lunch! Once satisfied at Chez Leandra's we browsed some of the shops out back where Paula took a fancy to a hat and a wrap. Francois offered the pair for €30 but I asked if he took US$ and he took them at par which equal to a 40% discount. However, I only had $20 with me. Francois suggested we take them both then come back and pay him tomorrow. A very trusting offer we decided to accept and so ended our first shopping transaction!
Lunch and shopping used up all the cash I had taken for the day so we decided to head back to the condo to get more cash before heading to Perch beach side bar for happy hour! I must give out some kind of "IT guy" vibe or something because a French woman stopped us by our pool and asked for help setting up the wireless on her iPhone. She was trying to Skype her sister in France for New Years. I got it working at our room but she wanted to try it in her room so off we went. An hour and a half later I succeeded in explaining she had no WiFi in her room and that I couldn't help her any more. So she then proceeded to show us her jewelry collection that she was planning to sell on the island. At this point I gracefully excused us and we headed back to our room although unfortunately happy hour at the Perch was now a distant memory. Instead we had a rum in the room while catching up on emails etc then picked up a chorizo and four cheese pizza from the onsite pizzeria. It was pretty good but we'll look for something different tomorrow.
Woke up at 6:30 excited to greet the day and check out the beach! I went for a walk the length of Orient Beach (4 km round trip) and found it quite breezy and humid but beautiful all the same. So wonderful to finally see it in person after so many days of researching and looking at others pictures and videos of their trips. I was finally here! I spent about 1.5 hrs walking the beach and recognized some fan favourites such as Orange Fever, Andy and Cheryl's, Chez Leandra, Pedro's, Papagayo, Sexy Fruits, etc. So cool to see all these places that I'd only read about before! After scouting the full range of the beach I returned to find Paula still sleeping! As I sat down to patiently wait I thought I might as well do that in bed and surprised myself by falling asleep myself for another 1.5 hrs! That's vacation I suppose!
After Paula got up we had some toast and fruit that we bought at Grand Marche and headed out about noon to check out the beach at its busiest. Quite a change from the picture I saw at 7:30! There were only 3 cruise ships in but the beach was pretty busy. Five cruise ships are expected in tomorrow. The waves were pretty heavy at the northern end by Mt Vernon, lessening as you got closer to the shelter of Club Orient at the southern end. The sun was shining and the water was beautiful shades of green and blue. We walked right down to the spit of land at the sound end of Club O. The beach was much quieter here as may be expected because the south end in front of Club Orient is clothing optional. CO or not it would certainly be our choice to spend the day as we're not much into the crowds.
About 1 o'clock we decided to get something to eat and settled on coconut shrimp, conch fritters and rib appetizers at Chez Leandra. Throw in a bucket of 6 beer for $10 and you have the makings of a fantastic lunch! Once satisfied at Chez Leandra's we browsed some of the shops out back where Paula took a fancy to a hat and a wrap. Francois offered the pair for €30 but I asked if he took US$ and he took them at par which equal to a 40% discount. However, I only had $20 with me. Francois suggested we take them both then come back and pay him tomorrow. A very trusting offer we decided to accept and so ended our first shopping transaction!
Lunch and shopping used up all the cash I had taken for the day so we decided to head back to the condo to get more cash before heading to Perch beach side bar for happy hour! I must give out some kind of "IT guy" vibe or something because a French woman stopped us by our pool and asked for help setting up the wireless on her iPhone. She was trying to Skype her sister in France for New Years. I got it working at our room but she wanted to try it in her room so off we went. An hour and a half later I succeeded in explaining she had no WiFi in her room and that I couldn't help her any more. So she then proceeded to show us her jewelry collection that she was planning to sell on the island. At this point I gracefully excused us and we headed back to our room although unfortunately happy hour at the Perch was now a distant memory. Instead we had a rum in the room while catching up on emails etc then picked up a chorizo and four cheese pizza from the onsite pizzeria. It was pretty good but we'll look for something different tomorrow.
Beach Day!
Jan 2
6:15 wakeup this morning because I thought I would like to shoot the sunrise on the beach. Problem is the weather is erratic and you never know what clouds you will get. As it turned out it was too cloudy and I didn't get anything worthwhile so I took the camera stuff back and headed off for my morning beach walk on Orient.
As soon as I got back to our condo there was a knock on the door and it was Steve, someone from South Dakota that I had met online and who answered some questions I had about safety on the island. He and his wife were also staying at the resort and so we planned to get together for a drink and meet in person.
We lamented our late start to the beach on our first day so after Steve left Paula and I had a breakfast of fresh fruit and a slice of toast before heading off to the beach by 10 o'clock. The mango here is much better than the mango flown in at home at this time of year.
Based on our scouting mission of the previous day we breezed by the heavy crowds on the main
beach and headed straight for the quieter, calmer south section. Of course we had to stop and pay Francois the $10 I owed from the previous day so while there I bought a pareo for myself in for $10. The south side has the added benefit of having security and a no vendor policy so you don't get bothered constantly by people trying to sell beads, shirts, hats, etc. We rented a couple of chairs and an umbrella for $20 for the day. On the busy main side you can get that for half the price and a good deal on beers to boot but you're elbow to elbow with your neighbours. I guess it just depends what you're into. The south side also has a couple of wooden rafts moored about 75 ft off the beach that you can swim out to and soak up some sun on. Paula and I swam out and thoroughly enjoyed it! I felt a little like Tom Hanks in Castaway as I laid on the raft getting sprinkled occasionally by spray from the gentle waves as they hit the raft. It was a great view from there too with the palm trees and water colour. Absolutely beautiful!
About 1 o'clock we headed down to the Perch bar for lunch. We had a couple of rum punches from the famous Willy (very popular, longtime bartender at Perch) and ordered a burger to share. Willy doesn't skimp on the rum and I'm ashamed to say I wish she'd added a little more mix to the 3/4 rum, 1/4 mix she poured us! Unlike Canada they don't load up the fries here which kind of surprised me, but then again, potatoes are heavy and if you're flying them in they won't be cheap.
Back to the beach chairs for some more R&R after lunch. Paula was so proud of me for being able to just sit in my chair and do nothing (I guess I have a bit of history for being stir crazy and needing to be doing something). She read her book and I just enjoyed the atmosphere. Every once in a while you'd see cruise shippers stroll the beach but nobody really seemed to care who was dressed or not. It was a real interesting environment.
Again, I didn't bring enough money and had to head back to the condo for more supplies! While in the condo a short rain started and as has been mentioned lasted about 10-15 minutes before giving us the sunshine back. Unfortunately for Paula she chose to just relax on the beach while I went for more cash and got caught in the shower! I headed back once the rain had stopped in time to get us to Perch bar in time for Happy Hour. This time we had Willy make us a couple of Guavaberry Coladas which were again pretty heavy on the rum. However, these were quite tasty and went down well! We met up with Steve again and met his wife Donna as well as a few others that were regular visitors to the island. A very nice and friendly bunch. By 5:30 I was getting hungry again and so we headed down to Papagayo restaurant for dinner (coincidentally it was happy hour there now). After a few beers there and some delicious (although somewhat pricey in our opinion) dinner we walked back to the condo to end the night. We haven't used the car since we first picked it up at the airport!
6:15 wakeup this morning because I thought I would like to shoot the sunrise on the beach. Problem is the weather is erratic and you never know what clouds you will get. As it turned out it was too cloudy and I didn't get anything worthwhile so I took the camera stuff back and headed off for my morning beach walk on Orient.
As soon as I got back to our condo there was a knock on the door and it was Steve, someone from South Dakota that I had met online and who answered some questions I had about safety on the island. He and his wife were also staying at the resort and so we planned to get together for a drink and meet in person.
We lamented our late start to the beach on our first day so after Steve left Paula and I had a breakfast of fresh fruit and a slice of toast before heading off to the beach by 10 o'clock. The mango here is much better than the mango flown in at home at this time of year.
Based on our scouting mission of the previous day we breezed by the heavy crowds on the main
About 1 o'clock we headed down to the Perch bar for lunch. We had a couple of rum punches from the famous Willy (very popular, longtime bartender at Perch) and ordered a burger to share. Willy doesn't skimp on the rum and I'm ashamed to say I wish she'd added a little more mix to the 3/4 rum, 1/4 mix she poured us! Unlike Canada they don't load up the fries here which kind of surprised me, but then again, potatoes are heavy and if you're flying them in they won't be cheap.
Back to the beach chairs for some more R&R after lunch. Paula was so proud of me for being able to just sit in my chair and do nothing (I guess I have a bit of history for being stir crazy and needing to be doing something). She read her book and I just enjoyed the atmosphere. Every once in a while you'd see cruise shippers stroll the beach but nobody really seemed to care who was dressed or not. It was a real interesting environment.
Again, I didn't bring enough money and had to head back to the condo for more supplies! While in the condo a short rain started and as has been mentioned lasted about 10-15 minutes before giving us the sunshine back. Unfortunately for Paula she chose to just relax on the beach while I went for more cash and got caught in the shower! I headed back once the rain had stopped in time to get us to Perch bar in time for Happy Hour. This time we had Willy make us a couple of Guavaberry Coladas which were again pretty heavy on the rum. However, these were quite tasty and went down well! We met up with Steve again and met his wife Donna as well as a few others that were regular visitors to the island. A very nice and friendly bunch. By 5:30 I was getting hungry again and so we headed down to Papagayo restaurant for dinner (coincidentally it was happy hour there now). After a few beers there and some delicious (although somewhat pricey in our opinion) dinner we walked back to the condo to end the night. We haven't used the car since we first picked it up at the airport!
Going Dutch
Jan 3
Not so early start for me today. I never did get around to putting on sun block yesterday and ended up getting a bit too much sun, plus for some reason my feet were kind of sore. As I got thinking about it I realized that, including my morning walk, I walked 9 km the first day and 12 km the second all on sand and usually in bare feet. I guess that explains it then! I'll skip the morning walk today but am looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow, it's a real nice way to start the day and something I could certainly get used to! I also got a tip on a shop at Club Orient that sells croissants in the morning so Paula will be happy if I can bring one of those back after my walk! In no particular hurry we got started about 11 o'clock today heading off to Maho Beach to watch some planes come in, check out the brand new Blue Mall and get some groceries before coming home. Getting back to the airport was no problem in the daylight although the route is still a sight to behold! In some sections it seems quite poor and in most sections the roads are narrow and second rate. We took a wrong turn at one point and ended up at the city center of Marigot which appears affluent and modern looking. It was an interesting detour (on the list of places to visit) and once we got out of the city center again it was back to poorer neighbourhoods. When we go back to the area of the airport is when the first of todays folly's started. From my Google maps satellite views I figured I knew the way to get to Sunset Beach Bar and Grill where you can have food and drinks right on the beach and watch the planes come in. I was actually quite proud of how I knew where the restaurant was but at the same time frustrated that I couldn't quite find the road to get me there! As we fumbled through back lanes and side roads I just couldn't believe that such a popular restaurant would be so damn hard to find! I finally broke down and asked a man for directions. While English is widely spoken on the Dutch side, and this old fellow obviously spoke it, I could still barely understand him with his accent. It turns out I was completely on the wrong side of the runway and needed to have gone down the other side of the airport. Five minutes later travelling the right way we were in the parking lot and ready for lunch! Being used to the length of Orient Beach Paula was surprised at how small Maho Beach was and we both noticed how much hotter it was without the east wind blowing in off the water. Paula had a grilled Mahi Mahi burger that was pretty good and I had Grouper fingers that were also enjoyable. We had a couple of tropical drinks to wash it down with while we watched a few planes come in. This is where I planned to take a few shots so even though the lighting wasn't what I wanted I snapped a few shots with the idea that we'd come back later when the time was right. However, after 3 minutes on the beach Paula expressed a desire to go and no desire to return! I have to agree that it's a little noisy and crowded for our tastes but I still want to return to get a couple of specific shots before she goes home. Next stop was the brand new Blue Mall! Its a pretty fancy building, I'll give you that, but we didn't find
much to buy. Most of the stores seemed fairly upscale and didn't interest us. The mall was pretty empty but it's only been open a couple of weeks. We'd heard Long Beach was pretty nice and headed out that way from the mall. However, only a few yards along we noticed a sign for Cupecoy Beach which is another one we wanted to visit. So we parked and headed down to find pretty much everyone on the beach naked! Apparently we had found the CO section again! No matter. Cupecoy has a lot of cliffs and rocks, unlike Orient and we headed off past some rocks to find a quiet section just to ourselves. Well, apparently there's a reason some sections are quiet and we found that out when a big wave came in and washed up over all our stuff! Lost were my flip flops and the sun block and almost lost were Paula's flip flops and my camera bag with a few thousand dollars worth of gear in it! Fortunately I was able to save my gear and another beachgoer came by and rescued Paula's sandal. The wave action was pretty crazy, not sure I'd have gone out to get it but glad he did! My shoes bobbed away a few yards of shore apparently taunting me and reminding me of how close I was to losing more. We dodged a bullet there to be sure!
Once settled in to a drier spot we headed off to what appeared to be a safer place to get in the water. That's when we met Pat from Newmarket, Ont. Another Canadian! He and his wife had been coming for 18 yrs and were very friendly, sharing their thoughts and experiences of the island. We had a little fun in the water then I took some test shots of the gorgeous scenes from the beach as it's another spot I would like to return to for sundown photography.
About 5 o'clock we thought it best to head back to the mall and buy me some shoes because at this point I had none! With new sandals in hand it was off to Grand Marche for groceries before again navigating our way home in the dark. This time worked way better as I got nowhere near Oyster Pond let alone circumnavigating the island!
Not so early start for me today. I never did get around to putting on sun block yesterday and ended up getting a bit too much sun, plus for some reason my feet were kind of sore. As I got thinking about it I realized that, including my morning walk, I walked 9 km the first day and 12 km the second all on sand and usually in bare feet. I guess that explains it then! I'll skip the morning walk today but am looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow, it's a real nice way to start the day and something I could certainly get used to! I also got a tip on a shop at Club Orient that sells croissants in the morning so Paula will be happy if I can bring one of those back after my walk! In no particular hurry we got started about 11 o'clock today heading off to Maho Beach to watch some planes come in, check out the brand new Blue Mall and get some groceries before coming home. Getting back to the airport was no problem in the daylight although the route is still a sight to behold! In some sections it seems quite poor and in most sections the roads are narrow and second rate. We took a wrong turn at one point and ended up at the city center of Marigot which appears affluent and modern looking. It was an interesting detour (on the list of places to visit) and once we got out of the city center again it was back to poorer neighbourhoods. When we go back to the area of the airport is when the first of todays folly's started. From my Google maps satellite views I figured I knew the way to get to Sunset Beach Bar and Grill where you can have food and drinks right on the beach and watch the planes come in. I was actually quite proud of how I knew where the restaurant was but at the same time frustrated that I couldn't quite find the road to get me there! As we fumbled through back lanes and side roads I just couldn't believe that such a popular restaurant would be so damn hard to find! I finally broke down and asked a man for directions. While English is widely spoken on the Dutch side, and this old fellow obviously spoke it, I could still barely understand him with his accent. It turns out I was completely on the wrong side of the runway and needed to have gone down the other side of the airport. Five minutes later travelling the right way we were in the parking lot and ready for lunch! Being used to the length of Orient Beach Paula was surprised at how small Maho Beach was and we both noticed how much hotter it was without the east wind blowing in off the water. Paula had a grilled Mahi Mahi burger that was pretty good and I had Grouper fingers that were also enjoyable. We had a couple of tropical drinks to wash it down with while we watched a few planes come in. This is where I planned to take a few shots so even though the lighting wasn't what I wanted I snapped a few shots with the idea that we'd come back later when the time was right. However, after 3 minutes on the beach Paula expressed a desire to go and no desire to return! I have to agree that it's a little noisy and crowded for our tastes but I still want to return to get a couple of specific shots before she goes home. Next stop was the brand new Blue Mall! Its a pretty fancy building, I'll give you that, but we didn't find
Another wrong turn?!
Jan 4
Started of with another morning beach walk today although it was quite breezy, breezier than normal. Supposedly they have fresh croissants at Club Orient in the store but they didn't open until 8 am so I didn't bother waiting around and will try again tomorrow. When I got back Paula was ready for some more mango for breakfast and we had a good feed before deciding to head out to explore Grand Case for the day. Yet again the steering must've been faulty because we found ourselves at the ferry to Pinel Island instead! This is kind of fortuitous since Pinel Island is another thing on our to do list. Unfortunately it's the opposite direction of our place than Grand Case so I don't know what happened there. As we did an about face we noticed a sign for Anse Marcel and since it was also on our list we thought "why not?" Anse Marcel is a beautiful little spot surrounded on three sides by hills with the fourth side being a
fairly calm little bay with a few of Anguilla in the distance. We found a spot to park and headed to the beach. It's not big compared to Orient but quite picturesque. We decided to forgo a chair and umbrella rental and set up at the far end of the beach away from everyone. I took some pictures then we decided to play in the slow rolling surf. I set up to take a nice portrait of Paula and while she was posing a rather large wave came in, completely engulfing her and stripping her of her sunglasses. Truth is, I could see it coming through the viewfinder but decided to "capture the moment" rather than warn her. She didn't drown and I got some good pics so “all's well that ends well” I say!
We were having a great time there sheltered from the wind experienced on Orient earlier in the day. However, eventually a sun shower came in and we decided to hit the road. It was over before we even got to the parking lot which is typical here. Showers seem to last only 10-20 mins for some reason. By that time there was no time to go anywhere else so we just caught the last rays of the day by our pool.
When the sun disappeared for the day we came home and Paula cooked us a nice spaghetti dinner while I worked on finishing that bottle of rum I bought. A man's work is never done!
Started of with another morning beach walk today although it was quite breezy, breezier than normal. Supposedly they have fresh croissants at Club Orient in the store but they didn't open until 8 am so I didn't bother waiting around and will try again tomorrow. When I got back Paula was ready for some more mango for breakfast and we had a good feed before deciding to head out to explore Grand Case for the day. Yet again the steering must've been faulty because we found ourselves at the ferry to Pinel Island instead! This is kind of fortuitous since Pinel Island is another thing on our to do list. Unfortunately it's the opposite direction of our place than Grand Case so I don't know what happened there. As we did an about face we noticed a sign for Anse Marcel and since it was also on our list we thought "why not?" Anse Marcel is a beautiful little spot surrounded on three sides by hills with the fourth side being a
From Butterfly's to LOLO's
Jan 5
Started the day again with a beach walk and met Steve at the Club O boutique. They have lot's of stuff there and they get fresh croissants, bread, pastries etc each morning but you have to be there when they open because it goes quick! I bought some stamps to mail the postcards I wrote yesterday and a croissant for Paula which we enjoyed when I returned home. We're also just about out of mango so we'll need to get more of that soon. Today is the day we planned to go to the Butterfly Farm, located conveniently close by, because we
didn't think the weather would be too awesome. As it turns out, the weather was fine but off we went anyway. Paula loved it, they take you on a tour and show you butterflies in their various states from egg to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly! The guide was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot. They also obviously have many beautiful butterflies and I took lots of pictures.
Next off we decided we'd check out the cruise ship port of Philipsburg which is also the capital of the Dutch side. It was only about a 20 min drive from where we're staying so very convenient. I checked the schedule and there were only two ships due in so it was a perfect time to go. There can be as many as 6 ships in at a time so we thought this was as good a day as any. Philipsburg is obviously geared towards cruise ship guests because finding a parking spot was quite a challenge! Front Street is very narrow (one car only) and parking is up on the curb or sidewalk. One fat idiot stopped in the street to get ice cream for his family from McDonalds backing up all the traffic along the street. We finally found a spot in the library parking lot and went for a walk. First stop, $1.50/beer that you can take with you, awesome! There was also a duty free shop where Paula got some perfume for Holly and I reluctantly bought a bottle of scotch. Paula was right though, it was a really good deal. One litre of 18 yr old Glenlivet for $80, would probably be about $150 or more at home. Can't wait to taste it! We then walked along the beachfront where there are lots of restaurants. We passed quite a few then finally decided on one, Lizzy’s Bar and Grill.
When we sat down I noticed a hand written sign that said no credit cards. I was pretty much out of US cash (which is commonly accepted in St Maarten) so I asked for their exchange rate on Euro's (which I knew should be about $1.35:1). The guy came back and mumbled something about $1.20:1 which is crappy and should have been my first indication to go somewhere else. We didn't. Someone quickly took our order, Paula got the shrimp and I got the ribs and we had a couple of beers. I didn't keep track but about 40 minutes later we still didn't have our food and I was about ready to leave when out it came. By this time a couple of Italian guys sat down at the next table and lit up cigarettes which also didn't impress me. Finally the bill came for $37. I gave her €35 which including exchange should have covered the bill and the 15% gratuity already added in (luckily for them). The girl then asked for €2 more saying they only take Euros at par. That was the last straw. I refused to pay more and went to the bar to discuss with the manager. She eventually gave me $2 back and said that the man who sat us doesn't speak English so whatever he told us doesn't matter. I replied "he spoke it well enough to seat us and take our order!" It was still a bad deal for us but we had already wasted enough sunshine hours there and moved on. Somehow out of all those choices I picked the worst one!
From there we started walking down Front St checking out the shops. Unfortunately our lunch kind of soured our enthusiasm and it seems many of the stores close about 3-4 pm so the whole thing was kind of dying down. Paula did go in to one jewellery shop and got a free gift (sort of) while the salesman suggested a nice little, inexpensive $600 bracelet to take home as a gift for someone. Quite honestly we're not so into expensive jewelry so Paula declined. We're also beginning to realize we don't like busy commercial areas so much as we like the quieter, more natural areas.
So, off we went back home and decided to stop in a Le Galion which is another beach nearby. We left about 15 minutes later as it just wasn't anything that interested us. It wasn’t as clean and sandy as Orient Beach although it did have a multi-lane swimming pool just offshore! It seems the French Gov’t had bought it for Grand Case but then moved it down to Le Galion. It’s a large inflatable device anchored just off the beach which essentially turns that section of the beach into an olympic sized swimming pool! Pretty cool actually. When we got home we just relaxed for a bit, rehydrating and catching up on some emails. Besides we both kind of had headaches and decided a rest would be good. Once home we got thinking and realized there would be plenty of time for rest at home when it's -30ºC! So, with Grand Case only 10 minutes away we decided to check out the low key LOLO's for dinner. LOLO's are open air BBQ restaurants and it's something we wanted to try. Grand Case was very interesting at night and we'll definitely be back for some gourmet dining at the upscale restaurants later! We decided on "The Sky's the Limit" when they offered to pay for our first two drinks although I think any of them would've been good. Paula had the shrimp meal and I the rib meal (“meal” includes rice, spaghetti, mac and cheese, potato salad and salad) plus we added in two Johnny cakes and a stuffed christophine because we didn't know what they were! Johnny cakes are a cornmeal flatbread and the christophine is sort of like a stuffed baked potato except they use a christophine or chayote instead. We sat roadside to people watch although the entertainment really ended up being inside the eating area. They had a singer providing some karaoke type music for the place. They also had an unofficial entertainer who was pretty drunk and got up and sang along with the real singer in a very unusual, and attention getting, fashion. When the singer would finish a verse the drunk would belt out his own one or two word expression. He was unstoppable on the Bob Marley or bluesy type stuff and the only way the singer could get rid of him was to play a couple of mushy ones like Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline and Frank Sinatra’s My Way. We thought he was funny and he eventually staggered off somewhere else. After that we walked back to the car and found room for a crepe from the street side vendor where $3 got us a tasty treat for dessert. I had read quite a bit about crime in Grand Case before coming down but we didn't feel threatened or unsafe at any time and only once saw the Gendarmes truck roll down the street. Either safety concerns have been addressed or were overblown to begin with. Granted, we were probably back home at Mt Vernon by 8:30-9:00 so maybe that had something to do with it. All in all, a good day for us!
Started the day again with a beach walk and met Steve at the Club O boutique. They have lot's of stuff there and they get fresh croissants, bread, pastries etc each morning but you have to be there when they open because it goes quick! I bought some stamps to mail the postcards I wrote yesterday and a croissant for Paula which we enjoyed when I returned home. We're also just about out of mango so we'll need to get more of that soon. Today is the day we planned to go to the Butterfly Farm, located conveniently close by, because we
So, off we went back home and decided to stop in a Le Galion which is another beach nearby. We left about 15 minutes later as it just wasn't anything that interested us. It wasn’t as clean and sandy as Orient Beach although it did have a multi-lane swimming pool just offshore! It seems the French Gov’t had bought it for Grand Case but then moved it down to Le Galion. It’s a large inflatable device anchored just off the beach which essentially turns that section of the beach into an olympic sized swimming pool! Pretty cool actually. When we got home we just relaxed for a bit, rehydrating and catching up on some emails. Besides we both kind of had headaches and decided a rest would be good. Once home we got thinking and realized there would be plenty of time for rest at home when it's -30ºC! So, with Grand Case only 10 minutes away we decided to check out the low key LOLO's for dinner. LOLO's are open air BBQ restaurants and it's something we wanted to try. Grand Case was very interesting at night and we'll definitely be back for some gourmet dining at the upscale restaurants later! We decided on "The Sky's the Limit" when they offered to pay for our first two drinks although I think any of them would've been good. Paula had the shrimp meal and I the rib meal (“meal” includes rice, spaghetti, mac and cheese, potato salad and salad) plus we added in two Johnny cakes and a stuffed christophine because we didn't know what they were! Johnny cakes are a cornmeal flatbread and the christophine is sort of like a stuffed baked potato except they use a christophine or chayote instead. We sat roadside to people watch although the entertainment really ended up being inside the eating area. They had a singer providing some karaoke type music for the place. They also had an unofficial entertainer who was pretty drunk and got up and sang along with the real singer in a very unusual, and attention getting, fashion. When the singer would finish a verse the drunk would belt out his own one or two word expression. He was unstoppable on the Bob Marley or bluesy type stuff and the only way the singer could get rid of him was to play a couple of mushy ones like Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline and Frank Sinatra’s My Way. We thought he was funny and he eventually staggered off somewhere else. After that we walked back to the car and found room for a crepe from the street side vendor where $3 got us a tasty treat for dessert. I had read quite a bit about crime in Grand Case before coming down but we didn't feel threatened or unsafe at any time and only once saw the Gendarmes truck roll down the street. Either safety concerns have been addressed or were overblown to begin with. Granted, we were probably back home at Mt Vernon by 8:30-9:00 so maybe that had something to do with it. All in all, a good day for us!
Best laid plans and the people you meet
Jan 6
Today we planned to take the ferry to Pinel Island, which you can easily see from our beach, to do some snorkelling. But first we decided to spend some time on Orient. We finally moseyed on down about noon, settled in and bought a couple of chairs with an umbrella. I decided to relax and soak up some sun while Paula enjoyed her book with the sounds of the sea and beach as pleasant background music for us both. About 2 o'clock a little shower blew in (they never last long) so we decided to head down to Chez
Leandra for lunch. The service is great and they have delicious coconut shrimp. Its amazing how cheap the beer is here too. You can get it as low as $1.50 but generally it's $2 in most places. With the rain done and the sun back out we decided it would be a great idea to head on over to the Perch Bar for happy hour! We got two Guavaberry Coladas each again and took them back to our chairs to enjoy in the sun.
A little later Paula noticed a little Cairn Terrier close by and went to talk to the couple about their dog, Brigette. It turns out they have property on Dawn Beach but came to Orient for the day. Her father’s family is from St Boniface and they gave us their business cards offering a 30% discount for Canadians! If we come back we'll have to check out their condo! They also had his 96 yr old mother with them which we kind of joked about. You have to give her credit, spending the afternoon on a nude beach with her son and daughter-in-law! She was dressed of course but either didn’t notice many others weren’t or didn’t care. I’m sure she just didn’t care.
We chatted with them for about an hour but eventually they packed up to go and we decided to go for a swim. About this time Steve and Donna also came by so we all swam together for a while and had a good chat about nothing in particular while floating along on the waves. When we got out they invited us to join them at Papagayos for happy hour but we declined since we had brought the car with the intentions of heading to Pinel later in the afternoon. I guess it just didn't happen!
We got back to the condo and Paula whipped up another nice spaghetti dinner with the groceries we had bought. It was a nice end to a good day.
Today we planned to take the ferry to Pinel Island, which you can easily see from our beach, to do some snorkelling. But first we decided to spend some time on Orient. We finally moseyed on down about noon, settled in and bought a couple of chairs with an umbrella. I decided to relax and soak up some sun while Paula enjoyed her book with the sounds of the sea and beach as pleasant background music for us both. About 2 o'clock a little shower blew in (they never last long) so we decided to head down to Chez
Leandra for lunch. The service is great and they have delicious coconut shrimp. Its amazing how cheap the beer is here too. You can get it as low as $1.50 but generally it's $2 in most places. With the rain done and the sun back out we decided it would be a great idea to head on over to the Perch Bar for happy hour! We got two Guavaberry Coladas each again and took them back to our chairs to enjoy in the sun.
A little later Paula noticed a little Cairn Terrier close by and went to talk to the couple about their dog, Brigette. It turns out they have property on Dawn Beach but came to Orient for the day. Her father’s family is from St Boniface and they gave us their business cards offering a 30% discount for Canadians! If we come back we'll have to check out their condo! They also had his 96 yr old mother with them which we kind of joked about. You have to give her credit, spending the afternoon on a nude beach with her son and daughter-in-law! She was dressed of course but either didn’t notice many others weren’t or didn’t care. I’m sure she just didn’t care.
We chatted with them for about an hour but eventually they packed up to go and we decided to go for a swim. About this time Steve and Donna also came by so we all swam together for a while and had a good chat about nothing in particular while floating along on the waves. When we got out they invited us to join them at Papagayos for happy hour but we declined since we had brought the car with the intentions of heading to Pinel later in the afternoon. I guess it just didn't happen!
We got back to the condo and Paula whipped up another nice spaghetti dinner with the groceries we had bought. It was a nice end to a good day.
Islet de Pinel... finally!
Jan 7
Since we didn't get to Pinel yesterday we thought today would be a good day. The day started the same with a beach walk and croissants for Paula and I met Steve again who mentioned that Tuesday night is the management wine and cheese party at Papagayo. Back at the condo Paula and I finished a brunch, rounded up the snorkel gear (actually still in the car from the day before) and headed off to the Pinel Ferry.
The ferry runs every half hour and is nothing more than a little open boat with a bunch of benches in it. It's $10/pp and about a 5-7 minute ride. Once on the island we decided to take a hike around the trails and look for a good spot to snorkel. We did enjoy the hike (although wish we’d taken something besides flip-flops) and got some great views including Tintamarre Island where we're supposed to go on Thursday. We didn't see any spots calm enough for Paula to try so we just ended up back at the main beach and decided to have some lunch at one of the restaurants there, Le Karibuni. Everything on the menu looked good but Paula ordered the ceviche and I the grilled Mahi Mahi. Both were very good and the atmosphere was special as well! For starters, our table was a wooden picnic table in the sand under a palm tree. Entertainment was all the finches flying around and the odd rooster wandering by! Not sure what's with all the chickens and goats on the island but you see them frequently. After our waiter brought our food we saw him jump in a boat and bugger off. Strangely nobody came to check on us or bring us more drinks until he returned about the time we were done eating. The food was great but the service was pretty poor actually.
Because we had headed over so late there wasn't much time left before the last ferry headed back at 5 pm so we took a very brief walk along the beach back to the ferry dock and headed home. That makes the second day in a row we headed out with the snorkel gear only to return with it unused. Pinel is an interesting island and I would certainly return again some time if the opportunity presented itself.
We cleaned ourselves up back at the condo and started the walk down to Papagayo for the wine and cheese meet and greet at 6 o'clock. First thing we see John and Nancy (a couple we’d met previously) and John takes us around to show us the wine and cheese. We got a couple of glasses of red wine and since John was full at his table we headed over to Steve and Donna at the bar. They had some art and jewelry displays which we went and perused. We found a couple of pieces of jewelry from one woman and made plans to meet up with her again Friday to pay for them.
Later I met another couple who were from Saskatoon and who had just celebrated their 40th anniversary. I chatted with them a while before they left and then returned to Paula who was still with Steve and Donna. We had another drink or two then walked home along the beach.
Since we didn't get to Pinel yesterday we thought today would be a good day. The day started the same with a beach walk and croissants for Paula and I met Steve again who mentioned that Tuesday night is the management wine and cheese party at Papagayo. Back at the condo Paula and I finished a brunch, rounded up the snorkel gear (actually still in the car from the day before) and headed off to the Pinel Ferry.
Later I met another couple who were from Saskatoon and who had just celebrated their 40th anniversary. I chatted with them a while before they left and then returned to Paula who was still with Steve and Donna. We had another drink or two then walked home along the beach.
Catamaran cruise to Anguiilla!
Jan 8
Early rise today since it was our Bluebeard catamaran trip to Anguilla! We needed to meet at Buccaneer Beach Bar in Simpson Bay at 8:15 am so we needed to leave here by 7:45 according to Google. I thought an extra 50% time buffer was in order so we left at 7:30. The traffic through Marigot at that time was much heavier than we'd seen it any other time during the day or evening so 45 minutes turned out to be a better estimate than 30 minutes. Unfortunately I had a hard time finding the right road again. None of them are really marked very well with advertisements competing on road signs for street names and directions but we eventually found it at about 8:25. Fortunately, not everyone was there yet and we had time to spare. Once everyone was checked in and ready to go we were ferried out to our catamaran “Bluebeard 3” in groups of 8 in a zodiak boat. Once on board you leave your shoes in a bin and they're returned at the end of your trip. I presume this is because they cause undue wear on the deck surfaces and may be more slippery than bare feet. Regardless we didn't need them for the sail or the day at Shoal Bay. The catamaran is a beautiful boat and they have cheese and crackers as well as several drinks for you on the journey. We finally started motoring out about 9 and enjoyed some views of Simpson Bay, Maho Beach, Mullet Bay, Cupecoy, etc all up the west coastline of the island. It has been pretty windy this year and last and today was no different. Once out of the harbour they like to get the sails up and use the wind instead of the diesel engines. We were sailing into the wind on the outbound leg which was providing some decent swells and waves. It seems most wanted to be up front, some laying on the webbing between the two hulls, many against the railing and some on a bulkhead in front of the saloon about midship. Regardless, most of them got soaked once we hit the heavier waves and many of them quickly rethought their seating arrangement! We were along the railing about midship and never caught any significant spray which was nice. Paula gets seasick and took Dramamine for the journey as a precaution. She felt OK at the start but was definitely not feeling the love of the open sea an hour and a half later when we anchored in Rendezvous Bay! I felt really bad for her but there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. And to think there was going to be another cruise tomorrow! Rendezvous Bay is an absolutely gorgeous little spot. The water is the most striking luminescent
green contrasted by the bright white sand, green palm trees and beautiful blue sky. It really takes your breath away and you can't help but snap a few shots even though there's no way you can capture the beauty of being there. However, it was not our destination for the day and we boarded a bus to take us to Shoal Bay on the opposite side of the island. I presume this is easier and quicker than sailing around plus they said its easier to beach the dinghy at Rendezvous Bay when ferrying passengers ashore. On the way to Shoal Bay we stopped for a photo opportunity at a scenic overlook of Sandy Ground on the north side of the island. We finally arrived at Shoal Bay which was at one time rated by Conde Nast as the #1 beach in the world which should give you some idea of what it might be like! Being on the leeward side of the island it was much less windy than Orient Beach. It was much quieter too and the sand was whiter and softer. All in all, it would be easy to lose a couple of days here just lazing about, reading a book with occasional dips in the calm surf to cool down.
We met a newlywed couple on the boat from Philadelphia. I asked him if he liked hockey and he said "Oh yeah, huge Flyer fan!" You can imagine his delight at me being a Devils fan. Regardless, they were really nice and we got along well. One of Shawn's favourite Flyers was Ron Hextall who of course is from Brandon and who I went to elementary school with. You can usually find something in common with anyone you meet, sometimes in very surprising ways! Shawn was kind enough to take a few pictures of Paula and I on the beach.
They also put on a great lunch for us at Shoal Bay. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it was BBQ chicken and ribs and was delicious! The ribs were the best I've tasted here so far.
With lunch done we decided to finally try out the snorkelling after two failed previous attempts! After several comical failed efforts to battle the surf into the water with flippers on we put the on the gear on shore and backed into the water. This worked well and we started swimming out to the reefs. Unfortunately we both took on a bit of salt water (which isn't a pleasant feeling) for some reason which dampened our enthusiasm somewhat. Also we weren't seeing any fish! As we swam along I deduced that we would be better off further out on the other side of the reef. My snorkel stuff was working out alright but Paula's not so much. As we paused to adjust our gear and discuss a new plan we kind of got washed up on shore, unceremoniously floundering around on the beach to the amusement of many I'm sure! We finally got straightened around and headed out to the outer reef. Part way there I looked back to check on Paula but she had stopped again because of some problem. She waved me on so I carried on out. This was a good plan (no, really) as I saw more fish out there. Shawn and Vanessa said they saw a ray and although I didn't I did see a school of angel fish as well as some others. I thought it was pretty cool. What wasn't so cool was when I looked down one time and saw I was only a few inches above the coral! Paula cut her foot on coral earlier in the trip and I knew my soft belly wouldn't fair any better! I quickly moved away from the hazard and felt better about it. I think ideally we'd prefer a location with no surf to try snorkelling again but it was fun anyway. What wasn't fun was back on shore realizing that I had forgotten to zip up my back pocket when we went snorkelling. In that pocket was my wallet and a zip lock bag of cash. Fortunately, I still had my wallet but the cash was gone. Dumb mistake by me but luckily nothing irreplaceable was lost.
After only 2 1\2 hours on the beach it was back to the bus and the sail home. The way home was more with the wind and the swells and spray were much reduced. Regardless, many stayed at the back of the boat and I had the front railing all to myself! It was great, just like on the bow of the Titanic! Paula sat at the back, chatting with some other Canadians and felt much better on the return journey. After that we headed back to the condo for a quiet night in and Paula made a great pizza out of flat bread, spaghetti sauce, leftover ground beef, some veggies and cheese. I couldn't believe how good it tasted! All cooked in a little toaster oven, amazing!
Early rise today since it was our Bluebeard catamaran trip to Anguilla! We needed to meet at Buccaneer Beach Bar in Simpson Bay at 8:15 am so we needed to leave here by 7:45 according to Google. I thought an extra 50% time buffer was in order so we left at 7:30. The traffic through Marigot at that time was much heavier than we'd seen it any other time during the day or evening so 45 minutes turned out to be a better estimate than 30 minutes. Unfortunately I had a hard time finding the right road again. None of them are really marked very well with advertisements competing on road signs for street names and directions but we eventually found it at about 8:25. Fortunately, not everyone was there yet and we had time to spare. Once everyone was checked in and ready to go we were ferried out to our catamaran “Bluebeard 3” in groups of 8 in a zodiak boat. Once on board you leave your shoes in a bin and they're returned at the end of your trip. I presume this is because they cause undue wear on the deck surfaces and may be more slippery than bare feet. Regardless we didn't need them for the sail or the day at Shoal Bay. The catamaran is a beautiful boat and they have cheese and crackers as well as several drinks for you on the journey. We finally started motoring out about 9 and enjoyed some views of Simpson Bay, Maho Beach, Mullet Bay, Cupecoy, etc all up the west coastline of the island. It has been pretty windy this year and last and today was no different. Once out of the harbour they like to get the sails up and use the wind instead of the diesel engines. We were sailing into the wind on the outbound leg which was providing some decent swells and waves. It seems most wanted to be up front, some laying on the webbing between the two hulls, many against the railing and some on a bulkhead in front of the saloon about midship. Regardless, most of them got soaked once we hit the heavier waves and many of them quickly rethought their seating arrangement! We were along the railing about midship and never caught any significant spray which was nice. Paula gets seasick and took Dramamine for the journey as a precaution. She felt OK at the start but was definitely not feeling the love of the open sea an hour and a half later when we anchored in Rendezvous Bay! I felt really bad for her but there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. And to think there was going to be another cruise tomorrow! Rendezvous Bay is an absolutely gorgeous little spot. The water is the most striking luminescent
 |
| Sandy Ground overlook |
Gourmet dining!
Jan 9
We thought about cancelling today's Tiko Tiko cruise after Paula's experience the day before on the Bluebeard but she insisted on going so we got up again and headed down to Papagayo for 9 o'clock. I was pretty excited to go on this cruise to Tintamarre Island that everyone says is so much fun. However, when we got there Captain Philippe told us we were the only ones to show up, and since he requires a minimum of 6 to go the cruise was cancelled. He offered to take us out the next day instead but we had planned to pick up some jewellery that we had bought from Marie at the Papagayo wine a cheese party Tuesday night. As it turned out he didn't go the next day either, presumably because it got so windy.
It was cloudy and windy so the rest of the day we spent hanging out on Orient, having a nap in the condo and buying some more stuff from our friends Francois and Sandy at the vendor shacks. You hate to waste time when on vacation but over half way into our trip it wasn't bad to have a bit of a down day to relax. We knew we wanted to check out the fine dining at Grand Case and that night we headed over, strolled the main boulevard and decided on Piazza Pascal. We had a card for a 10% discount and
they took dollars at par with Euros which is a good deal and another 40% discount! I had the calamari steak for an appetizer which was simply amazing. A several strips of meat as thick as your finger and deliciously prepared. Paula had insalata caprese that was also good, just not my thing. For the main course Paula had the lobster ravioli and I had the pistachio encrusted snapper, both of which were specials that night. The fish was superb and although we usually switch plates part way through we did switch back as I was just loving the fish too much. Two glasses of wine and a bread pudding for dessert later we were full! The total bill was just $100 before tip which we thought was quite reasonable! I was also pleasantly surprised by the portion size. Typically in North America the trend is to large portions which imply value I presume but really just leads to overeating. These portions were much smaller but left us completely satiated and not bloated! I liked it! We headed home, the sun down, another day complete!
We thought about cancelling today's Tiko Tiko cruise after Paula's experience the day before on the Bluebeard but she insisted on going so we got up again and headed down to Papagayo for 9 o'clock. I was pretty excited to go on this cruise to Tintamarre Island that everyone says is so much fun. However, when we got there Captain Philippe told us we were the only ones to show up, and since he requires a minimum of 6 to go the cruise was cancelled. He offered to take us out the next day instead but we had planned to pick up some jewellery that we had bought from Marie at the Papagayo wine a cheese party Tuesday night. As it turned out he didn't go the next day either, presumably because it got so windy.
It was cloudy and windy so the rest of the day we spent hanging out on Orient, having a nap in the condo and buying some more stuff from our friends Francois and Sandy at the vendor shacks. You hate to waste time when on vacation but over half way into our trip it wasn't bad to have a bit of a down day to relax. We knew we wanted to check out the fine dining at Grand Case and that night we headed over, strolled the main boulevard and decided on Piazza Pascal. We had a card for a 10% discount and
The sun doesn't shine every day
Jan 10
Went for a walk down Orient in the morning because we had arranged to pick up some jewelry from Marie at 10 am. We had also booked a massage for Paula at 10:30 with the Club Orient masseuse.
He has a beach side tent set up at the far end of the beach by Papagayo and it was something that I really wanted Paula to do since I knew she'd enjoy it! Having picked up the jewelry Paula went for her massage and I sat on the beach. I was going to get us a couple of chairs for the day but the wind was blowing pretty hard and sand was flying. It didn't seem like much of a beach day and hardly worth $20 for beach chairs! Paula loved her massage and although I think she should have gone again the next day I couldn't talk her into it. She agreed it was a crappy beach day so we decided to head back to the condo. On the way, though we stopped in at the Club O boutique. I've been getting the morning croissants there but they actually have quite a selection of gods available! Paula got her Dads cigar in there as well as some candies to take home.
Once back at the condo we heated up a bowl of soup and piddled around with pictures or reading books, eventually dozing off for an afternoon nap. As is typical the crappy weather was only temporary and by 3 o'clock it looked sunny out though it was still pretty windy. We decided that was perfect for the pool which is right off the beach. We caught some rays there while reading our books until Paula decided to play in the waves. She loves to feel the waves crashing in on her and while I didn’t feel like going in it was fun to watch her. We both noticed some idiot doing push ups in the surf. At first we thought he might be a drowning victim since he was face down in the water on the beach.
Then, occasionally he would pop his head up and take a breath. From time to time he'd do some pushups which is stupid because it’s saltwater, you float like crazy which means your pushups could probably be done with one finger. Plus he was fairly chubby so we knew he was no Olympic athlete! Another attraction on the beach is all the kite surfers! Wow can those guys move, they make it look so easy and fun to do but I know it must be tricky to get the hang of.
As the sun started to disappear we headed back to our condo for cocktails and dinner. We had bought some groceries, including some shrimp which I peeled and Paula cooked up in garlic butter. We had some spaghetti with the shrimp and it was a fine meal! We have noticed that the French side grocery stores have some quite unique items! For instance, we saw pigeon plucked and ready to cook, pig snouts, and most disturbing, pig penises in a jar! Who eats this shit? That is truly weird. I was gonna buy milk but when I saw all the milk was in an unrefrigerated isle I declined. Again, they don't produce much of anything on their own so all goods must be flown or shipped in. The first litre of milk I got was from Texas according to the label. The Dutch side is much more American, in language and products.
Anyway, Paula had bought some spices from Sandy on Orient Beach and Sandy mentioned that there was a big street fair by Maho Beach tonight so we decided to check it out. Even though it's in another country and on the exact opposite side of the island it's still only 30 minutes and not too far to go to. We got there and it was busy but we found a place to park out of the way. Ten minutes later we had seen everything there was to see and were ready to come home. It turns out it just wasn't quite what we were expecting. However, I did see an ice cream shop and we got a couple of cones to treat ourselves with. We made it home again safe and sound but not without the obligatory evening rain shower along the way!
Went for a walk down Orient in the morning because we had arranged to pick up some jewelry from Marie at 10 am. We had also booked a massage for Paula at 10:30 with the Club Orient masseuse.
Caribbean cowboys
Jan 11
One thing Paula wanted to do here was some horseback riding, preferably in the ocean. There are two places you can go and we chose the cheapest one at €65/pp which cleaned us out of the rest of our euros. Amazingly it was also close by, just after the Butterfly Farm on the Orient Beach road! We arrive on time at 8:15 for the 8:30 ride. I thought it would be best to have an early ride before it got
too hot but the fact is that the temperature only varies about 5 degrees here from low to high so it didn't matter much either way. 220 lbs is their weight limit so I just made it! As they started to bring out their horse I could see why 220 was max! The horses are quite small and slight of build, in fact they resembled ponies more than horses. They load the biggest first and work their way down. I got a decent sized horse named Joker then waited for the other riders to meet their mounts. Paula was one of the last to get a horse, Rusty. Remy was our guide and lead us out on the trail for the 1 hr ride. He seemed to be quite knowledgeable and talked about all manner of St Martin. Someone asked if there were any snakes and he said the island has no snakes except in pet stores. Some people might buy a pet then release it when it gets too big but he said that snake would likely not last two days before a Mongoose got it. In fact Mongoose and Racoon's are probably the islands main predators. He said many on the island believe in herbal applications more so than modern medicine. In his case he makes his own shampoo in a blender with cactus and coconut. Better than anything on the shelf so he says. Anyway, the tour goes through the mangrove then comes out into Le Galion Bay where you get to ride the horses in the surf. Paula loves this part! It was fun and the horses seemed to enjoy the cool down.
Once we were done the tour we stopped by the Paradise View restaurant whose parking lot provides a great panoramic view of the south end of Orient and Le Galion Bays. We took some pictures with the new waterproof camera and I vowed to come back later and shoot with the Pentax.
We decided that another beach day wouldn't be a bad choice. I've kept us pretty busy and Paula really enjoys a day on the beach, listening to the waves and reading a book. So, off to Orient again!
One thing that sucks about the Club O side is that you can't get the bucket of beer for $10. So on the way there we asked at Chez Leandra if we could borrow the bucket. He said sure, just give me a $5 deposit and no problem! Now why didn't we think of that before? When the usual afternoon rain shower passed over we decided to go to Papagayo for lunch. I ordered too much food and we were stuffed when we left. This was a problem because we had planned one more Grand Case night before Paula went home. As it turned out we weren't completely full and decided to go to Grand Case anyway. This time we went to Bistro Caraibes since it looked like they had some good specials. I wanted to try their French Onion soup and Paula their lobster bisque. My soup had a lot of cheese but didn't otherwise wow me although Paula's bisque was good but also not earth shattering. For the main course I had sauteed scallops and Paula the snapper with ratatouille vegetables. Again, the portions weren't huge which was a good thing for us. We swapped half way through but I think my scallops were the best choice. For dessert we shared their house specialty, chocolate cake with caramel sauce and ice cream. At first I wasn't wowed, but once into it I have to admit it was very good... and rich too! Bistro Caraibes does not honour dollars equal to euros so this meal was a little more expensive (about $120 before tip). They did have a live lobster tank where you pick your own lobster but really we would pick elsewhere next time.
One thing Paula wanted to do here was some horseback riding, preferably in the ocean. There are two places you can go and we chose the cheapest one at €65/pp which cleaned us out of the rest of our euros. Amazingly it was also close by, just after the Butterfly Farm on the Orient Beach road! We arrive on time at 8:15 for the 8:30 ride. I thought it would be best to have an early ride before it got
Paula goes home
Jan 12
As it was Paula's last day I decided to let her sleep in. When she was up we had a quick breakfast then headed down to Orient Beach for the day. We bought a couple of chairs and got set up. After a while a short rain shower passed overhead (no
surprise) so rather than hide out we decided to try out the snorkel gear. You can't get wetter than if you're already in the water! It actually worked out better than our previous efforts so that was positive. We stayed out quite a while and found some fishes once you know where to look. It wasn't spectacular snorkeling but we enjoyed it and you can't ask more than that.
Of course it rained again so this time I took Paula to Chez Leandra for the coconut shrimp she loves so much! She added shrimp nachos so it was a super shrimpy meal! Chez Leandra has been a favourite for us as well, good food and friendly service. We needed to be off the beach by 2 pm and we were. We headed back to the condo, showered up and double checked the weight of her suitcase, bang on the 50 lb WestJet limit. Hopefully the remainder doesn't put me over! We got to the airport on time and got her bags checked but by that time there was no time for anything else so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. I was already missing her much more than I bargained for and I'll have to give serious thought about doing the same on any further vacations. We travel so well together that we really are just meant to be together all the time I think.
After leaving the airport I got parked at the Sunset Beach Club to get a shot of the incoming Westjet flight. It worked out pretty good so I can maybe use that as our arrival shot for the photo album. I had planned to go to Bucanneer Beach Bar and shoot her plane leaving but changed plans and shot from airport road instead. The picture is not bad but it'll need some work when I get home before I can use it for our closeout departure shot of the album. Got back to the condo and had leftover spaghetti for supper. Some club somewhere was having a big party and the bass was horrendous so getting to sleep early was out of the question. I read in bed and eventually fell asleep around 11 o'clock
As it was Paula's last day I decided to let her sleep in. When she was up we had a quick breakfast then headed down to Orient Beach for the day. We bought a couple of chairs and got set up. After a while a short rain shower passed overhead (no
Of course it rained again so this time I took Paula to Chez Leandra for the coconut shrimp she loves so much! She added shrimp nachos so it was a super shrimpy meal! Chez Leandra has been a favourite for us as well, good food and friendly service. We needed to be off the beach by 2 pm and we were. We headed back to the condo, showered up and double checked the weight of her suitcase, bang on the 50 lb WestJet limit. Hopefully the remainder doesn't put me over! We got to the airport on time and got her bags checked but by that time there was no time for anything else so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. I was already missing her much more than I bargained for and I'll have to give serious thought about doing the same on any further vacations. We travel so well together that we really are just meant to be together all the time I think.
After leaving the airport I got parked at the Sunset Beach Club to get a shot of the incoming Westjet flight. It worked out pretty good so I can maybe use that as our arrival shot for the photo album. I had planned to go to Bucanneer Beach Bar and shoot her plane leaving but changed plans and shot from airport road instead. The picture is not bad but it'll need some work when I get home before I can use it for our closeout departure shot of the album. Got back to the condo and had leftover spaghetti for supper. Some club somewhere was having a big party and the bass was horrendous so getting to sleep early was out of the question. I read in bed and eventually fell asleep around 11 o'clock
Exploring Marigot to Maho
Jan 13
Well, first day alone but my sleep habits are still the same. Woke up about 4:30 and struggled to stay in bed until 6:30 when I decided to get up and go for an early morning beach walk. I took my camera and tried to get a picture of the Club O beach for a memento. It really looks better about mid morning but you can't take pictures then of course. I was back home before 8 and cooked up the last two eggs with some hash browns. I had made a list of things to do before I left and first on the list was the Paradise View shots with the
Pentax. With that out of the way next up was Marigot and specifically Fort Louis, built in 1789 with remnants remaining today. I pulled into Marigot (getting to be a seasoned driver now) and found a parking spot without too much trouble. I got a few shots walking along the waterfront and then stormed the fort and took it without firing but one shot! Once up there I got quite a few good shots I think. It's a great view and well worth the climb. I didn't think there was much else to see on my limited time and headed on out to Maho for some plane landing shots.
As I pulled into the Sunset Beach Club I saw a familiar face, John and Nancy were there for a drink before going to the airport! Friends Kent and Becky were dropping them off. We had a drink together and then they headed off. Air France was coming in within the hour so I decided to wait it out and get that shot. Air France and KLM have the biggest planes coming in. KLM has the 747 which I'd like to get a shot of if possible. While waiting for Air France I took a couple of other shots of the beach and bar for reference. A couple of US jets took off and since I was hunkered down in my prime spot at the end of the runway I got sandblasted. It wasn't awesome for my camera stuff and didn't feel too good on the skin either!
When Air France finally swung in on final it had clouded over and the conditions were not good for a great shot. I decided to tough it out and use it as a practice anyway. Good thing as I think I'll change my approach for next time.
With no more opportunities for landing shots I decided to continue on to Cupecoy. I thought it'd be nice to spend the afternoon there and try some of Danny's ribs that I'd heard so much about. The weather still wasn't awesome so I had the ribs (which were indeed good) but didn't settle in on the beach. This time there was a guy from Quebec who chatted with me. What an arrogant prick. He asked where I was staying and when I said Orient he said "Orient? That's a shit beach". Um, OK, I guess. Thousands of others like it but I guess he knows best. Turns out he travels through Manitoba with work because he is, wait for it, a tobacco company rep. They still have those? Hmmm, I guess that explains why he was chain smoking and looked 90 yrs old. He lives in China now and made a point of letting me know that when he’s in Wpg he contacts a Chinese man that provides him with a beautiful young girl for the evening. Seriously? Whatever gave him the impression that I was interested in hearing him brag about his lame sexual exploits eludes me. What a douchebag. I finished my ribs and moved on. Cupecoy is actually a fairly long beach punctuated by striking cliffs of red and yellow sandstone. I
scouted a couple of other spots but they all seemed to have at least a couple of naked people on them so I was hesitant to get the camera out for fear of looking like a perv. In the end I managed to work around them at some spots and just out waited them at others since it was nearing the end of the day and seemed it might cloud over. I found one spot that looked interesting. You climb down this steep stairway with a rope railing to a small isolated beach. I was down near there waiting for the right light for some pictures when this very fit young guy comes out from behind some rocks down the beach and walks past me. It was weird because he shouldn't be intimidated by me but he didn't seem to want to make eye contact either. We exchanged hello’s and he carried on. A few minutes later another guy stepped out from the same spot. He seemed to keep checking on me which I thought was kinda weird but didn't worry too much. Finally he came out and walked past me. About then it finally occurred to me what was going on. Oh well, to each their own.
Regardless, the light finally showed up so I got my shots, headed back up the stairway and back to the car. When I got back up on the cliffs the second guy was still waiting there and headed back down after I left. I suppose maybe I was interrupting his business or something. At that point I realized that all the nude people I had seen were men and if I didn't know better I'd say the place was a bit of a gay meet up spot. And here I was just hanging around waiting for the right light! How that must have looked! I thought people were looking at me because of the camera stuff but maybe not!
Anyway, having left there I decided to stop in at Mullet Bay since it was so close. It was near the end of the day and most people had gone but I think I can conclude that it likely wasn't a beach we'd have chosen to spend much time on. It was very much like Maho Beach except for the bar and the runway and that it was about twice as long. Just like Maho it was very calm waters and the beach itself was very steep. Because of the proximity of all the resorts I figured it would also have been pretty busy during the day. Not really our thing. One more thing I want to do is check out Happy Bay which is between Grand Case and Marigot. Happy Bay is supposed to be quite secluded, quiet and pristine. I'd like to check it out both for pictures and in case we would like to visit it on a return trip. I stopped at Grand Marche to pick up a few essentials and headed for home. Traffic was retarded on the way back to the condo, presumably because it was rush hour again. However, I noticed a bus at the head of the line that was screwing everything up. Every time he let off a passenger he stopped cockeyed on the highway blocking both lanes so no traffic could flow. Even when he was moving it wasn't very fast. Frustrating to say the least but what can you do? Because the island is so small even stuff like this doesn't really change your arrival time by much.
Once home I was ready for a rum and it sure hit the spot. The shower might have helped too. By 7 o'clock I knew I should eat something but wasn't in the mood to head out again so I decided to try the in house pizza again. It was a hard, thin crust that was very greasy and salty last time and apparently he used the same recipe this time. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers! I checked the flight times for tomorrow and two interesting flights stand out; Insel Air at 11:10 and KLM at 12:40. I mentioned the attraction of KLM but I've noticed that Insel Air flies smaller jets quite aggressively. They come in lower and take off like a fighter jet. So it looks like tomorrow morning would be a good time for Maho!
Well, first day alone but my sleep habits are still the same. Woke up about 4:30 and struggled to stay in bed until 6:30 when I decided to get up and go for an early morning beach walk. I took my camera and tried to get a picture of the Club O beach for a memento. It really looks better about mid morning but you can't take pictures then of course. I was back home before 8 and cooked up the last two eggs with some hash browns. I had made a list of things to do before I left and first on the list was the Paradise View shots with the
With no more opportunities for landing shots I decided to continue on to Cupecoy. I thought it'd be nice to spend the afternoon there and try some of Danny's ribs that I'd heard so much about. The weather still wasn't awesome so I had the ribs (which were indeed good) but didn't settle in on the beach. This time there was a guy from Quebec who chatted with me. What an arrogant prick. He asked where I was staying and when I said Orient he said "Orient? That's a shit beach". Um, OK, I guess. Thousands of others like it but I guess he knows best. Turns out he travels through Manitoba with work because he is, wait for it, a tobacco company rep. They still have those? Hmmm, I guess that explains why he was chain smoking and looked 90 yrs old. He lives in China now and made a point of letting me know that when he’s in Wpg he contacts a Chinese man that provides him with a beautiful young girl for the evening. Seriously? Whatever gave him the impression that I was interested in hearing him brag about his lame sexual exploits eludes me. What a douchebag. I finished my ribs and moved on. Cupecoy is actually a fairly long beach punctuated by striking cliffs of red and yellow sandstone. I
Anyway, having left there I decided to stop in at Mullet Bay since it was so close. It was near the end of the day and most people had gone but I think I can conclude that it likely wasn't a beach we'd have chosen to spend much time on. It was very much like Maho Beach except for the bar and the runway and that it was about twice as long. Just like Maho it was very calm waters and the beach itself was very steep. Because of the proximity of all the resorts I figured it would also have been pretty busy during the day. Not really our thing. One more thing I want to do is check out Happy Bay which is between Grand Case and Marigot. Happy Bay is supposed to be quite secluded, quiet and pristine. I'd like to check it out both for pictures and in case we would like to visit it on a return trip. I stopped at Grand Marche to pick up a few essentials and headed for home. Traffic was retarded on the way back to the condo, presumably because it was rush hour again. However, I noticed a bus at the head of the line that was screwing everything up. Every time he let off a passenger he stopped cockeyed on the highway blocking both lanes so no traffic could flow. Even when he was moving it wasn't very fast. Frustrating to say the least but what can you do? Because the island is so small even stuff like this doesn't really change your arrival time by much.
Once home I was ready for a rum and it sure hit the spot. The shower might have helped too. By 7 o'clock I knew I should eat something but wasn't in the mood to head out again so I decided to try the in house pizza again. It was a hard, thin crust that was very greasy and salty last time and apparently he used the same recipe this time. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers! I checked the flight times for tomorrow and two interesting flights stand out; Insel Air at 11:10 and KLM at 12:40. I mentioned the attraction of KLM but I've noticed that Insel Air flies smaller jets quite aggressively. They come in lower and take off like a fighter jet. So it looks like tomorrow morning would be a good time for Maho!
Maho Beach mayhem
Jan 14
Noticed on the SXM airport website listing of arrivals Insel Air would be about an hour late buying me a little more travel time. Maho Beach was again an absolute zoo. I saw one guy sleeping on a lounger right in front of the Sunset Beach Bar with people walking around him, cars honking and jets landing. I can only conclude he was sleeping off last nights drunk or passed out already from today's drunk! I know some people like Maho but with 37 beaches on the island I think there are so many better choices. However, it depends on your personal preferences.
I picked out a spot that I knew would be perfect for a direct shot overhead. I got pretty good shots of both aircraft but I still think I could do better. Unfortunately, I won't get a chance until we're back next time as I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. When I do return I should be laying down looking up at Paula while the plane flies overhead. An 8mm lens would be better but the 10-20 will do.
In the paper the next day was an article about 17 cars having their windows broken by flying debris when the KLM 747 turned around the wrong way to taxi back to the terminal. Apparently they’re supposed to swing right to turn around but they swung left, directing their jetwash at the cars parked outside restaurants along the beach. Makes the idiots hanging on the fence at the end of the runway when these big boys take off look even stupider.
With my runway shots done I decided to try out Bucanneer Beach Bar for lunch as I'd heard it was good. After about 15 minutes of sitting there I finally called the waitress over since it seemed she would never come on her own. I placed my order for the blackened Mahi Mahi burger and a Carib. It was such a good location looking out onto the beach that I took a shot and used it for my Facebook post. Service didn’t improve much as I had to get my own order from the cook’s counter and seek her out to pay my bill.
With lunch out of the way and the sun shining brightly I thought an afternoon on Friars Bay or Happy Bay beaches was in order. Friars Bay didn’t really appeal to me and was kind of boring water wise since there were no waves. As I was walking the beach I noticed a trench from the bay to a pond behind the restaurants but thought not much about it. Later I read on TTOL that they had dug that trench on purpose to drain the pond which actually was a sewage lagoon. That is ridiculously gross and I couldn’t say I’d be inclined to ever visit that beach. Glad I didn’t swim there! So, I continued on to Happy Bay which was about a 10 minute hike up the coast and through a pasture. Happy Bay didn't thrill me either. There's a lot of rock and only a few spots to easily get into the water and the beach slope was quite steep. In the end, I just didn't see it as any better than Orient, Anse Marcel or Cupecoy. Also, I was getting quite hot lugging all my gear around and so just headed home. Looking back on the pictures now I think I was just too picky. It's a nice looking spot and I'd definitely give it a go next time.
On the way home I stopped to get a couple of toys from Francois as gifts then headed back to the condo. By this time it was close to 4 o'clock and not worth heading to Orient so I just went for a walk to get some filler beach shots.
Noticed on the SXM airport website listing of arrivals Insel Air would be about an hour late buying me a little more travel time. Maho Beach was again an absolute zoo. I saw one guy sleeping on a lounger right in front of the Sunset Beach Bar with people walking around him, cars honking and jets landing. I can only conclude he was sleeping off last nights drunk or passed out already from today's drunk! I know some people like Maho but with 37 beaches on the island I think there are so many better choices. However, it depends on your personal preferences.
 |
| Happy Beach |
On the way home I stopped to get a couple of toys from Francois as gifts then headed back to the condo. By this time it was close to 4 o'clock and not worth heading to Orient so I just went for a walk to get some filler beach shots.
Sun, sand and surf
Jan 15
Knowing I was heading home soon and that my todo list was pretty much empty Wednesday was designated an Orient Beach day! I'm up early anyway and even at my leisurely pace I was able to have breakfast and be on the beach by 9:50, getting a chair in the back row and hoping to be a little sheltered from the wind. As per Paula's instructions I applied sunblock although it wasn't a hearty application. As usual a little rain shower rolls on by and when that happened I took the opportunity to again do some snorkeling. We had snorkeled right through a boat right of way last time so I was careful to stay out of it this time and managed to find a whole school of fish over by Dolphin watersports! The pictures didn't work out as well as I would have liked but I did get a couple of videos that were quite good. Another thing off the list! Back to the lounger to warm up under the warm caresses of the sun! I ate the carrots and drank most of the litre of water I brought then decided to head to the boutique as I wanted to get a T-shirt before going home. I also needed to get rid of some euro coins and wouldn't you know it, I had just enough to pay for the T-shirt! I also wanted a beer and a magnum ice cream bar but had no more cash so headed back to my bag on the beach to get some US cash. That's another good thing about this side of the beach, you can leave your stuff unattended by your chair and not have to worry about anyone stealing it. On the way back I noticed a large (2.5 feet long) Iguana crossing the road. When I stopped to have a look I noticed there were three of them in the grass! Never saw that in the previous two weeks! By 3:50 it looked it be clouding over and I knew I had soaked up maximum sun so I packed up and headed back. Once back I could see in the mirror that I did indeed get more than enough sun, probably should've used more sunblock! I relaxed with the air on, had a drink and answered some emails. Since it was my last evening I decided a meal in Grand Case was in order and headed out to try L'Estaminet. I was not disappointed. I had the appetizer special, Octopus and lobster ravioli, and Chilean sea bass for a main course. They were both excellent choices washed down with a glass of bordeaux. As if that wasn't enough some roasted pine nut and apricot cake with a mojito sorbet would certainly close the deal. Ready to pay the bill I got what seems to be routine at Grand Case, a free shot of some special drink the owner feels appropriate. In this case it was a tiramisu shooter. The owner says “drink it at once to mix the flavours” and he was right, great taste! I didn't have enough US cash to get the best exchange rate so had to pay with MC. Still, it was a very satisfying experience! I tried to read a little when I got back to the apartment but only lasted a little while before falling asleep at 9. I awoke later to put out the lights and then slept right through until 6:45! Pretty good for me!
Knowing I was heading home soon and that my todo list was pretty much empty Wednesday was designated an Orient Beach day! I'm up early anyway and even at my leisurely pace I was able to have breakfast and be on the beach by 9:50, getting a chair in the back row and hoping to be a little sheltered from the wind. As per Paula's instructions I applied sunblock although it wasn't a hearty application. As usual a little rain shower rolls on by and when that happened I took the opportunity to again do some snorkeling. We had snorkeled right through a boat right of way last time so I was careful to stay out of it this time and managed to find a whole school of fish over by Dolphin watersports! The pictures didn't work out as well as I would have liked but I did get a couple of videos that were quite good. Another thing off the list! Back to the lounger to warm up under the warm caresses of the sun! I ate the carrots and drank most of the litre of water I brought then decided to head to the boutique as I wanted to get a T-shirt before going home. I also needed to get rid of some euro coins and wouldn't you know it, I had just enough to pay for the T-shirt! I also wanted a beer and a magnum ice cream bar but had no more cash so headed back to my bag on the beach to get some US cash. That's another good thing about this side of the beach, you can leave your stuff unattended by your chair and not have to worry about anyone stealing it. On the way back I noticed a large (2.5 feet long) Iguana crossing the road. When I stopped to have a look I noticed there were three of them in the grass! Never saw that in the previous two weeks! By 3:50 it looked it be clouding over and I knew I had soaked up maximum sun so I packed up and headed back. Once back I could see in the mirror that I did indeed get more than enough sun, probably should've used more sunblock! I relaxed with the air on, had a drink and answered some emails. Since it was my last evening I decided a meal in Grand Case was in order and headed out to try L'Estaminet. I was not disappointed. I had the appetizer special, Octopus and lobster ravioli, and Chilean sea bass for a main course. They were both excellent choices washed down with a glass of bordeaux. As if that wasn't enough some roasted pine nut and apricot cake with a mojito sorbet would certainly close the deal. Ready to pay the bill I got what seems to be routine at Grand Case, a free shot of some special drink the owner feels appropriate. In this case it was a tiramisu shooter. The owner says “drink it at once to mix the flavours” and he was right, great taste! I didn't have enough US cash to get the best exchange rate so had to pay with MC. Still, it was a very satisfying experience! I tried to read a little when I got back to the apartment but only lasted a little while before falling asleep at 9. I awoke later to put out the lights and then slept right through until 6:45! Pretty good for me!
There's no place like home... but St Maarten/St Martin was fine!
Jan 16
Knowing I was leaving today I hadn't tried to squeeze in any extra activities. Good thing, by the time I
was done cleaning, taking out the trash and showering it was just about 10:30. Annabelle (the condo agent) showed up and despite our lack of a common language we were able to express our mutual satisfaction and I got my deposit back. She agreed let me leave my luggage there while I got lunch so I thought I'd give Chez Leandra another go. Unfortunately it wasn't open but Andy and Cheryl's was. I met Cheryl and had a great stuffed Grouper dinner. Definitely a fitting final lunch!
I bid final farewells to Francois and Sandy and picked up my bags. For some reason I couldn't find the two overpriced toy monkeys I got but maybe they'll turn up somewhere.
With nothing else to do I returned the rental car and got dropped off at the airport, 4 hrs early for my flight! Well, at least I won't be late! Dad will be at the Delta about 3 o'clock to pick me up which means just a little over 24 he's until I'm home!
Knowing I was leaving today I hadn't tried to squeeze in any extra activities. Good thing, by the time I
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)