St Martin – Day 3 – Philipsburg
We got a late start out today, on purpose – there’s only so much shopping you can do in the Caribbean (yes, I know this is contrary to what any woman reading this is thinking). We had a dinner reservation in town, didn’t want to drive all the way back to the resort then back to town again. The drive into Philipsburg can be brutal and filled with a frustrating amount of traffic, but we got some pre-trip advice from mom and dad on ‘the road less traveled’ into Philipsburg. We were a bit disappointed once we did make it in. The capital of the Dutch side has become overrun with jewelry stores – no doubt due to the ever-increasing number of cruise ships that come into port now. I remember there being a number of jewelry stores 14 years ago, but they seem to have multiplied like rabbits since. Front Street, the main road going through town, is a riotous mix of locals and cruise ship tourists.
We went straight for our chosen lunch spot, Saveurs de France, which is a little French deli that seemed to have popped straight out of Paris. This gave me the opportunity to try out my French again. And so I proceeded to order a Ham and Gouda on baguette in very slow and stunted French. but the owners were gracious and put up with it. SQ’s accent was worse, so then I felt better. I also discovered my now second favorite beer ever – Leffe Blonde, from Belgium (I just can’t put anything above Guinness). We were the only non-French customers, and in true European fashion had to ask for the check. I also had forgotten how much better cheese tastes outside the U.S.
On to the adorable Belgian Chocolate Shop, which was just across Old Street (really more like a pedestrian alley). We purchased a mixed box of 9 pieces for $12 – and then gobbled them all up in under two minutes. The chocolates were incredible, and Beatrix (the owner) got very upset when SQ suggested she was potentially comparable to the chocolate shops in Marigot. She told us they all imported their chocolates, then charged much more for them. Hers are all made fresh on-site. Even if they were double the money, they would still be worth it.
After a two hour playtime with the jewelry in Touch of Gold (see Haru, she’s excellent!) we made our way to the Guavaberry Factory for a Guavaberry Colada. These were SO delicious, but very large, so one would have been enough for both of us. Then SQ was on the hunt for a linen shirt like he saw on the very dapper French guy eating next to us in the deli at lunch. We finally found one on Back Street, which has several shops as well, but seems to cater more to the locals than the tourists. Over at the Faconnable shop back on Front Street (Rose Street Arcade), we received a lesson in island growth, tourists and politics from the ladies working in the store.
It was almost time for our dinner reservation at Passanghran House. We arrived a bit early, I had had enough shopping and the shops were starting to close up anyway. There were no other diners, they weren’t ready for us and not all that accomodating either. However, the building is really, really beautiful and the back opens up right onto the beach. We finally got our table, and there only ended up ever being two other tables of people the whole time we were there – a lone diner and one other couple. The server didn’t seem like she wanted to be there and the food was unremarkable. We split a French Onion Soup, then a grilled Wahoo with garlic butter sauce. The fish was fresh, but overcooked, and the sauce was very bland and flavorless.
We attempted to make our way to Orient Beach in the dark, and shockingly found it. Our goal was to find one of SQ’s bosses, the groom! Amazingly, we found him too in the sea of restaurants new to Orient since we’d been there before. We spent some time at La Chapelle, which is kind of a sports bar place. We didn’t eat here but the food looked good, and we wished we’d not already had dinner. At this point our French lunches are far out-pacing our Dutch-side dinners.
St Martin – Day 2
Slept in a bit today, then we took off for the Old House/Rum Museum, which is on the French side in the Mont Vernon area. We drove all the way over and they weren’t open – a potential downside to visiting in low season. Two dogs on the property chased our car around while we attempted to get some outside shots of the house. We decided to drive over to the Butterfly Museum…maybe the Rum Museum just needed some time to open? We chatted with a couple from Tampa in the gift shop while a tiny lizard started to attack SQ’s foot. I think all of FL must be in St Martin right now! We drove over to the Orient Beach entrance…I wanted to see if my favorite beach from before was still just as beautiful. We had heard the hurricane from several years ago had changed some things on the island, including Orient.
Back to the Rum Museum, still not open. We decided to check out Plantation Mont Vernon instead. Their marketing seemed a little cheesy and overly touristy, so I didn’t have high hopes. It was expensive to get in, but surprisingly cool. For $14 you get a talking handset which tells you about the plants, and the history of coffe, sugar and rum production in the West Indies. The main house dates back to the 18th century, but isn’t open on the inside to the public yet. The whole complex sits up on the side of a mountain, and the views of Orient Bay were just incredible.
Have I mentioned how hot it is?? Next stop for us was Grand Case, a cute little village that consists mostly of restaurants. They have a reputation for being the culinary center of the island – yippie!! Today we were searching for a lolo called Talk of the Town. Lolos are very casual BBQ places, they are cheap and the food is outstanding. A lovely French family from Brittany sat at the table behind us and their little boy of about 3 or 4 seemed just fascinated with SQ, stared at him through the entire meal. They were quite excited to get the results of the French Presidential election today at 2pm. We ate at a lolo on Orient Beach while here before, and the ribs were just as good as I remembered them to be. Another local had set up old-fashioned ice cream churns and was selling Banana, Coconut or Chocolate. The lolos were offering one dollar to one Euro exchange for using cash. I had heard this deal could be found fairly frequently on the French side in general…we’ll see with the dollar so weak right now.
Our next agenda item was to hit Loterie Farm, which sits at the base of Pic Paradis, just a bit north of Marigot. There is a highly rated restaurant here, Hidden Forest Cafe, but it’s pricey and we had already eaten. This may be one to hit when we come back next year. The zip line was a popular activity, but seemed a bit tame for us compared to the canopy tour we did in Costa Rica last year, so we couldn’t justify the 40 dollar/person price. We did decide to pay the 5 dollars each to hike up the side of the mountain. This is not an easy hike!! It took us about an hour total and was very strenuous. Did I mention how hot it is?? I wasn’t feeling so bad about the ribs, fries and ice cream I consumed for lunch after this. For all your hard work you are rewarded at the top of climb with some of the most amazing views of Marigot, around to Orient Bay and out across the ocean. I was disappointed not to see any monkeys, but got my fill of lizards! By the time we reached the bottom even I could smell myself…I desperately needed a shower.
After a rest back at the resort, and a cool shower, we drove to SkipJack’s for dinner. They are located on Simpson Bay, Dutch Side of the island, and I had read they have fresh seafood. As my goal was to eat as much seafood as I could possibly get while here, this sounded good to me. As a sidebar, while driving over we were struck by how much the Dutch side of the island has changed in the past 14 years, and not for the better in our opinion. The number of casinos is just so disappointing. I guess passing the giant building with ‘Bada Bing’ on the side sent me a little over the edge. In contrast, the French side seems to have just gotten more charming with time. Back to SkipJack’s…happy hour was on, but being Sunday the place was really dead. The Rum Punch (a specialty on the island) seemed a bit tame at first, then they just about knocked me out of my chair. Daniel, the bartender, was great but he is trying to get back to FL to be near the rest of his family. The food is definitely fresh, but not overly adventurous. If you order either Maine or Caribbean lobster you get to pick it out from the live tank. I went with crab-stuffed shrimp, and it was OK but not memorable. We did sit by the water with great views of the mega-yachts anchored in the bay.
We are off to Philipsburg tomorrow…the capital of the Dutch side!
Departing for St Martin Today
I woke up late this morning because I set my alarm clock incorrectly…for those who know me, this is NOT normal. I was left with one hour to get ready and finish packing – STRESS!! But it’s like Christmas, it’s been 14 years since hubby (SQ) and I have been to St Martin. This was our honeymoon destination courtesy of my very generous parents, and now we’ve come back for our friends’ wedding.
I really don’t like Dulles Airport, but it wasn’t crowded for a change (we had a very early flight). Five people in the security line and some loser decided he needed to jump in front of me to get through the metal detector. The TSA agent said I should have kicked him where it counts. I would have been irritated, but I was headed to St Martin…karma was probably sending him to Boise. Our flight down was on United, my domestic airline of choice for the moment. Coach seating was atually not too bad and we actually scored a couple of blankets. Very interesting girl sitting next to us, all alone and slept the entire four hour flight. The group in front of us was very chatty, drank A LOT, and spent most of the flight trying to get everyone on the plane to meet up at Cheri’s that evening (on the Dutch side of the island). Between that distraction and the screaming child two rows back it was difficult to write. Who brings kids to St Martin??
We landed 40 minutes early (bonus!) and met up with our car rental agent, Lesley Bruce (Kenny’s Car Rental) – “Smartest Man on the Planet”. This is the most efficient person I’ve ever met in my life! If you ever get the chance to travel to St Martin, call him for car rental. The car was in better shape than most on the island, the price was highly competitive, and he had us out of there in 5 minutes.
We are staying at the Sapphire Beach Club, which is where we own a timeshare week. It’s sits on Cupecoy Beach, right on the border between the Dutch and French sides of the island. The drive over from the airport reminded why I wasn’t as crazy about the Dutch side when we were here before. And now it’s worse. Maho reminds of a mini-Las Vegas in the tropics, which just isn’t my speed. Maybe I just need to see it at night??
We were early to Sapphire and our room wasn’t ready, so we dropped our bags and headed to Marigot, capital of the French side. We chose La Belle Epoque for lunch based on a guidebook review I had read. It sits right on Marina Royale in Marigot, great atmosphere but lots of very loud French music seemingly from about 1985 blasting from unknown speakers somewhere on the marina. Between songs I was picking up some discussion on the upcoming presidential election in France, even with my limited high school French. I ordered the Steak Au Poivre with shallots sauce, rare, and a proper glass of Rose. SQ decided that sounded too good to pass up and ordered the same thing. The food was superb, guidebook didn’t steer me wrong. I wanted to inhale the shallots in spite of myself. And French butter is, even on the worst day, so much better than any butter we can get in the U.S. And we had visual entertainment as well – some crazy French guy dancing behind us, in front of the water.
After lunch, we walked down the street to La Gout du Vin. This is the most charming little French wine shop, very friendly and knowledgeable owner. She helped us pick out a great bottle of Pinot Noir (my fave!), then we discussed her trip to California last year and her opinion of CA wine…
Back to the room for a brief nap. Well, hubby slept a bit longer than I did. We went down to check out the ’superette’ onsite at Sapphire. This is just code for ‘tiny grocery store with dim lighting and bad selection.’ I don’t really know what I thought I needed, I brought enough sunblock for at least four people. Eventually we figured out how to get to the Cliffhanger Bar, which literally hangs on the side of the cliff at Cupecoy. I thought we could walk there from Sapphire, but that didn’t seem to be the case. I asked Janelle at our front desk about it, she said she wouldn’t walk down the street, at night and in the dark. She’s a local, I decided to take her advice. It’s low season, there wasn’t a lot of action at the Cliffhanger, plus it’s really tiny. We had missed the sunset and SQ’s belly was hurtin – he needed food. So we had Rum Punch, then drove to Cheri’s in Maho. They have a really crazy show at Cheri’s with a group called Sweet Chocolate (remind anyone of a certain Eddie Murphy movie?). It’s a bit touristy but it was silly and entertaining. The food was just OK, but Cordell Stuart at the bar took great care of us. I think we split a seafood plate with shrimp, lobster and fries. Some Cuban dance group came out around 9 or 9:30pm and performed in the middle of the street. I’m not sure if they are connected with Carnival, which ended today.
Back at the room now, need to figure out what to do tomorrow. This is why my mother-in-law has dubbed me ‘The Fun Nazi.’ I think this is an insult in most of the civilized world, but from her it was the highest of compliments. It has stuck, I think I kind of like it now.
End of Day One and SQ has already lost one of our room keys…
The World According to Willy
Just a couple of thoughts here…First, why the blog? Aside from my family and the professional organizing business I am creating, my biggest passions in life are traveling, eating out and wine. Though I do really really love a properly poured ice-cold Guinness as well. I obsessively research things, for myself or anyone else who asks. So, this works better than e-mailing novels to my family and friends. Or sending the ‘What We Did This Year’ letter in Christmas cards. I tend to have an opinion on just about everything, so you may also see commentary on things like movies, wineries around VA, or anything else that strikes me as something about which to write.
Second, where did the name Willy come from?? This is a nickname hubby started calling me years ago and it just stuck.
I’ll leave you with my two favorite quotes – these pretty much sum up my philosophy on life:
‘The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page’
-St Augustine of Hippo
‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did’
-Mark Twain
Have fun…and let me know what you think!
There’s just so much to see and do and experience in the world. This is my attempt to keep track of how lucky I am.
Willy
