The Meandering Ones

We don’t have much time out today since the wedding is at 4:30pm. I decided I really wanted a ‘C’est La Vie’ T-shirt so I talked SQ into ‘zipping back to Philipsburg.’ No small feat normally. We stopped at Zee Best in Simpson Bay for breakfast - wow, incredibly yummy!! SQ had some egg dish and I had the banana almond french toast, made with their homemade croissants. The orange juice is literally freshly squeezed right when you order, great coffee too. They also bring you a basket of fresh baked pastries, you just pay for what you eat. As if I didn’t already have enough food. It was nice to sit outside, but the views weren’t all that spectacular. Simpson Bay is a bit tacky and dumpy, disappointing.We had no problem getting into Philipsburg, again taking our ‘back road’ into town. We browsed through a couple of jewelry shops, I got my T-shirt, and SQ finally found a nice white linen button-down shirt. He had been eyeing the one on a very dapper French guy earlier in the week, so he’d been hoping to find one. We left town going out towards Oyster Pond and Dawn Beach, and stopped to check out the new Westin Resort. It was not something that appealed to us, very American looking with zero charm. I later found out that the locals call it ‘The Compound’, I supposed because it does give you that impression looking down on it from the top of the hill. Not a spectacular first view of the place. The location is also in a very inaccessible spot, but the marina and bay at Dawn Beach are very pretty with all the boats bobbing around. We stopped to take some photos, then drove over to Grand Case again for lunch. We had decided on Sunset Cafe, which is on the grounds of Grand Case Beach Club. The resort itself is very pretty, lots of charm, and sits at the north end of Grand Case. The restaurant was cute and had great views out to the ocean, but the food was rather unremarkable. We finally had a less-than-outstanding meal on the French side. I ordered the flank steak sandwich with onions on a baguette, and a side salad. It was not bad, but not great either. SQ got the club sandwich with fries, then complained that these were the worst fries on the French side. He’d been getting hand-cut fries at every other place. It made him just downright mad. He then whined about it the rest of the day.The restaurant was slow - running on island time - so we had to beat a path back to the condo to get ready for the wedding. I had made an appointment at the Marie Antoinette salon (on Sapphire property) for a hair styling, but they did nothing like I asked…I even had a picture! But the pedicure was lovely, and I think the cheapest one I’ve ever paid for. The wedding was on the beach - literally, about two feet from the waves - out in front of the bride’s villa, Villa Little Jazzbird. I’m only giving the names in case anyone ever reads this and decides to research these villas, they are absolutely spectacular. The reception was at Villa Mes Amis, the largest on the island. I could not even put into words how amazing this place was. It literally took your breath away. It sits way up on the cliff overlooking Baie Rouge and was made up of three separate structures. I really could have stayed all night on the upper balcony just staring down at the water, and the lights in the distance. The villa had eight bedrooms and a gorgeous heated infinity pool. You just knew someone was going to end up that before the night was over. And they did - about half the wedding guests, including the bride’s father, jumped in while still fully clothed. The reception was also catered, and I had lobster tail again but it paled in comparison to the lobster at Karibuni (Ilet Pinel). We left after they set off a stunning fireworks show, around 11pm. Flying home tomorrow