We spent the last 10 days of February in St Martin, our 3rd trip and the longest yet. We wondered if in 10 days we’d find ourselves getting bored – nope!
I’m not going to talk about the flights from the Midwest down and back, as I find air travel these days to be a trial worthy of a Harold Pinter play. Suffice it to say that we got there and back, and no one got killed – that’s about the best you can hope for these days.
We rented a car from Michael at Unity again and everything was perfect. In lieu of the usual newish Getz or similar, he gave us a Toyota RAV with 115k km on it, same price. Fair trade – comfy, sunroof, everything worked, already had some dings so I didn’t have to devote myself to correcting that newness, and the all-wheel drive feature was perfect for our early-morning four-wheeling blasts down Orient Beach (just kidding!)
We spend nearly all our time on the French side. Partly on recommendations found here on TTOL, we stayed at the OB studios-that-shall-not-be-named-for-fear-we-never-get-a-reservation-there-again, and they were great for us. Clean, good space, really enjoyed the terrace looking towards the ocean, the extra spaciousness of the communal small pool and deck (even though we never got into the pool.) Our place had a larger fridge out on the terrace, rather than the dorm fridge inside. Since we like to cook, that extra fridge space was really nice for us. Bruno told us he was going to do the same thing in the other small bungalow (apparently, the 2 larger ones already have larger fridges.) Everything people on TTOL say about Bruno and his wife Geraldine is true – they are gracious and helpful hosts.
An after-arrival, early-evening walk to see GP at Kakao bar got us our first rum punches of the trip, first shot of Ma Dou Dou… ahh!
First full day, a trip to US market to stock up – not as nice as the closed Marigot Grand Marche, but sure is convenient! We try to buy food we can’t easily get at home: merguez, duck breast, saucisson, the cheeses, the wines… then to the beach!
The Club O 7-for-5 chair tickets were hard to come by, but Tuesday I scored a booklet, so we were set after that. Sand gravity got to set in after that. Sun, swim, volleyball, repeat…
Wednesday afternoon I fly-fished with guide Richard Garrin of Tyt Lynz.com. Tried for snook and tarpon. I had looks, follows and strikes, but no hookups. Fault of my technique or just one of those days? Regardless, Richard is a knowledgeable and friendly guide – recommended.
My lovely wife came with, and we visited Phillipsburg in the early afternoon – kind of a pit from our point of view – ticky tacky Chinese stuff until you can’t stand it. It just seems absurd for Americans to pay to fly to Miami, pay to ride on a cruise ship to Phillipsburg, while in the meantime St Martin vendors are paying to ship trinkets from Shanghai to Phillipsburg, just so they can sell them to visitors, make some profit, and then the purchaser can pay to carry them back to Miami and the closet at home. Such is the magnetic appeal of superb climate in February, I guess! We’ve decided that Ma Dou Dou is our main souvenir, that way we get something we truly enjoy later on, and hopefully more of the value-added money we give them stays on the island. Gulmohars was the exception for me: great stock, friendly, good prices. Walking through the back streets of Phillipsburg, we walked by a “video” store, and on their sandwich board out on the sidewalk, they listed the different kinds of videos they offered, including “X-rayed.” Never heard of that before but the imagination spins!
Sunday we went on the Tiko TIko ‘round-the-island cruise, got to meet Mr and Mrs Beachbumm (hi J and M!) Wind was high, and seas were rough. I’d guess half the group was sick to some degree. Phillipe makes the call as to whether to go out or not, and we decided to make the best of it, but I’ll say from our point of view, we’ll not pay that kind of money again for the cherished opportunity to get seasick – this is supposed to be vacation!
Food. We love the French side for its food, simple to sophisticated. Tap 5 still has the best croissants in the OB village, although the new bread shop in the orange strip center has better baguettes, particularly the whole wheat (“Pain complet”). We lunched at Ethnic (very good wraps, and I’m not a big wrap fan), Orange Fever (great fresh mussels and pizza), but the best lunches we had were home-made sandwiches, rillettes, or dry salami on good butter and fresh baguette, chips, salad… plus a bottle of Tavel rose or Leffe Belgian beer.
Evening meals: Had a very nice meal at Tai Chi in the village – before, I had thought it was a little crazy to eat Thai food on St martin, but that night it sounded good, and it was good! Joy had a seafood mélange, and I had caramelized pork. Both were honest, clean tastes, hers being more complex, with different seafoods and a more complex sauce. With a bottle of wine, the bill totaled $100 or so.
Le Cottage: We had the tasting menu, where for 82 euros, a couple gets their choice of 5 small appetizers and 10 small bites of entrees, plus a souffle for dessert. Not a classic French meal at all, where one course follows another in a relatively strict pattern, but rather an elegant presentation of little bites of wonder. Some of the highlights: gazpacho with red pepper and sweet pea sorbets, tempura veggies, foie gras on a stick, duck confit with truffled mashed potatoes, smoked salmon and spinach croque monsieur, scallops done a couple of ways, sautéed foie gras with crystallized apple slice… We had a pricey (for us - $60) bottle of St Emilion, and the total came out to $175 before discount. I considered it money well spent and Bruno is a welcoming host!
Enolds in Grand Case was a pleasant surprise: sunset over a nearly empty beach, wine glass in hand and feet in the sand… I had grilled seafood brochette and Joy had whole red snapper. Both savory, well-seasoned and well-cooked. With 4 glasses of wine, $50 or so total.
Random stuff:
On one of the windy (no umbrella) days we walked to Galleon to get shade and respite and we saw a big ray (4-5 ft) in about 18 inches of water – it’s “wingtips” were rising out of the water as it “flew”. Cool!
The round-about at the Cul de sac turn-off is a welcome traffic-smoother.
Sunday afternoon the Gendarmes were at that round-about, doing traffic stops. It appeared they were targeting people leaving Cul-de-sac/Pinel towards the end of the afternoon. Saw no other traffic stops, although we saw gendarmes cruising somewhere most days – that’s good!
First time we were in Tap 5 the place was about empty of merchandise, and we feared it was turning into a typical cigarettes-and-booze (plus bread, since this is France) convenience store… we assumed US market may have hurt them that much? Turns out they were just putting in new coolers and doing a re-set – the store was fully-stocked and running again by the time we left.
The women in the OB village laundry are wonderful (3 euros the kilo of laundry) – I concluded next time to take even fewer clothes, and have them laundered when needed – more room for Ma Dou Dou on the way home!
Thanks to TTOL members who freely offered advice for our trip!
Lee
