I always have the intention of being precise and writing down all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of our trip, but as usual, I got off the plane and forgot about the plan. So as best as I can remember, here’s my latest trip report.
Flights on USAir out of Dayton to Charlotte to SXM were painless and on time. Coming into St Martin on a Tuesday meant no lines at customs. Only glitch in our entire trip happened in the first 10 minutes of landing though. We were waiting for our luggage when I remembered that my camera was still in the seat pocket in front of my seat. I immediately headed out of the luggage area and went to the USAir counter to let them know. They called the plane, said they had already done their clean up (really? they’re that fast?) but that they would look again. I told them the exact seat location but after waiting for about 10 minutes, they called back down to the counter and said it was not there. Since I took a couple pictures in flight, I knew they were mistaken and assumed that someone had found it and decided it would be a good addition to their collection. Oh well, it was just a small digital and I was not going to let this ruin a good 10 day vacation.
Picked up our Getz at Unity, gave Michael some fresh venison (a tradition for us) and we were on our way to our villa. Pelican’s Rock is located in Parkview Estates, just past Mt Vernon. After reading Iain’s (BigMcIain) reports I was very excited about seeing the place for myself. The villa was absolutely lovely with a large collection of antiques and original art works. The pool was crystal clear with a gorgeous view to Saba and beyond. What was even more incredible was the opportunity to get to know the owners, Tony and Chantal. They are most gracious and sweet people and while they give you all the privacy you want, we ended up spending some time working and dining with them and since they were one of the best parts of the vacation, I’ll start my story there.
When we arrived at the villa, Chantal told us the entrance gate wasn’t working properly but that Tony would fix it in the morning. When we left for the beach the next day it was operating fine, but on our return we discovered that it only partially opened. We managed to get through thanks to the retracting side mirrors. Greg took a look at it and had a quick and easy fix so in my extremely broken French, we managed to communicate that he had an idea on how to fix it. (Chantal speaks some English, but not Tony). It was decided that the men would look at the gate in the morning and Greg drew up a diagram and after looking up the French words for “metal bolt” “drill” and other fix-it-guy-terms, the two men began their work. Funny, I don’t know that I could work side by side with another woman without language, but these two guys sat out there in the heat for over and hour, completed the task and never spoke a word.
We also spent a very enjoyable evening with the two of them. Greg and I love to entertain (ok, I love to entertain) and we decided to invite them over for wine and appetizers one evening. We had some venison which we brought with us and I thought they might enjoy something different, however not knowing the word for “deer” in French served to be quite a problem. After a five minute game of charades, we finally had communicated “Bambi”! and they accepted our invitation. I prepared the venison tenderloin (which I marinate, grill, slice and place on a garlic toast with goat cheese and white truffle oil), asparagus wrapped in prosciutto (something Tony had never had, kept eating and exclaiming, "une découverte!") and a Caprese salad. We purchased a bottle of 2003 Chateau Cormeil-Figear Saint-Emilion Grand Cru from US Market. (I love wine, but I am no expert by any means. I chose the wine by standing in front of the selections and waited for a local who looked like they might know wine, and bought the one they selected!) As it turns out, it was a decent bottle, at least Tony and Chantal liked it and we spent almost three hours sharing stories about our lives and families and dreams. It is amazing what wine can do to language though. By the second glass, my French had improved a bit, Chantal’s English had become less understandable but Tony was almost fluent in English! (At least I think that’s how it went) We promised to stay in touch by email and extended an invitation for them to visit us in the States. Chantal has some research to do for her next book, so who knows, we may have more French-English Bottle (or two) of Wine Nights!
On to what people really care about in these trip reports…where we ate. While we utilized the kitchen in the villa for every breakfast (even tried the banana pancakes with banana ma dou dou that I saw suggested here, A-Maz-Ing!). We packed sandwiches a few days, but also ate at Andy and Cheryl’s, Orange Fever, Ethnic, Topper’s and the Perch. All meals were very good; Cheryl was cheerful and friendly as always; the service at Orange Fever was below average; the Salad Nicoise at Ethnic was wonderful and the hamburger from the Perch was delicious. We shared a sandwich on our last day at Topper’s and the Mahi Mahi Reuben sounded too weird not to try…so glad we did!
With the exception of Captain Oliver’s and Yvette’s , we dined in Grand Case or at home every night.
• Piazza Pascal - the sausage gnocchi and linguine with scallops, mussels (and something else). First meal is always great, no matter what it is!
• La Cottage – French Onion Soup, Coq au vin, and the Tasting Menu (5 selections presented on a warm slate. Absolutely amazing. The portions were more than just a taste and the taste of everything was out of this world!) We had the good fortune to meet Bruno who is such a fun and gracious host. He really knows how to make you feel special. The service was impeccable and they all were so helpful with everything from wine to dessert selections. This was our first trip to La Cottage but definitely won’t be our last. It is by far my new favorite restaurant!
• Le Tastevin – Hmmmm. Can’t remember what we ate there. Duck Breast and seafood? Nice atmosphere and good service but obviously not memorable.
• Le Pressoir – our last evening and was suggested by Tony and Chantal. The wine selection is quite large and it took us a while to decide. After a glass of champagne, we enjoyed a perfectly prepared cup of Lobster Bisque. Appetizers were Sea Scallops and Lobster Ravioli. I enjoyed the Grilled Lobster while Greg had the veal, both prepared and presented exquisitely. We shared a dessert of caramel mousse and a vanilla banana mouse. Best part of the dessert were the "pop rocks" that were on top. It was a fun surprise to such an elegant evening. Service was five star, menu selections and portions were generous and we would go back, but probably not every visit. By far our most expensive meal coming in at over $330.
Captain Oliver’s was very quiet. I wasn’t very hungry and simply ordered the Lobster Bisque and a Ceasar Salad. Greg enjoyed his “seafood” selection (I really need to start writing things down). Yvette’s on the other hand was a wonderful experience. Very quaint and reminded me of “Mom’s Home cooking” (that is, if my mother was a Creole woman from St Martin). They were out of lobster, so we opted for the Shrimp appetizer, Crab back appetizer, Conch and Dumplings and St Martin Chicken. We each had a glass of wine and left stuffed with a tab that was only $48. I also purchased one of Yvette’s signed Cookbooks. Can’t wait to try some of her recipes on my family.
A quick trip to DK to have my bracelet fixed. Looked at some new pretties, but opted not to take the plunge this trip. Always a treat just to go in there though. Finally got off our butts on Thursday and purchased a new camera so we did manage to capture a few moments. Other than that, we let sand gravity have it’s way with us and managed to bring home some pretty darn good tans, a few extra pounds, lots and lots of sweet memories and a couple of bottles of wine to make the vacation last at least one or two more nights.
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