St Barts Trip Report: Winter 2008
by Bob Brooks

Full Report

This trip report is nearly six months overdue which begs the question: having procrastinated this long, why clutter up the forum with a description of a vacation which happened so long ago that Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney looked like shoe-ins for their respective nominations, a baseball fan from these parts could reasonably believe that the New York Yankees were still contenders, and only a crazy person would have predicted that gasoline prices would exceed $4.00 a gallon? Surely the recollections of an event as inconsequential as eight days in the Caribbean would have faded beyond the point of recall in a world in which our day-to-day lives are dominated by news of unprecedented turmoil both at home and abroad.

But the point is, they haven't. To the contrary, Kara and I continue to savor little details about our trip on an almost daily basis. The simple fact is that a vacation in Saint Barths creates a reservoir of fond memories that, like a family photo album, may be taken down from the shelf and dusted off from time to time as a reminder of the very best times in our lives.

The other challenge in writing about one of our trips to St. Barths is that we accomplish so little while we are on the island. How does one make doing nothing sound interesting? "Day One: Slept late. Walked Saint Jean beach. Took a quick dip. Enjoyed a languorous breakfast at villa. Lounged by the pool and began devouring a stack of books brought from home. Popped open a couple of Caribs. Daydreamed about becoming a novelist (or, God help you, a restaurant owner!). Debated a trip to La Rotisserie or the Match for takeout versus eating out for lunch. Enjoyed a nice bottle of rose. Took a nap. Read some more. Drove to Flamands for hike to Colombier. Swam and snorkeled. Returned to villa for a drink and watched-transfixed-- as late afternoon turned to spectacular sunset and then early twilight. Called for reservations at a favorite restaurant. Enjoyed dinner and catching up with Andy, Franck or Eddy and Brigette. Home by 10:00. Asleep by 10:05. Day Two: Slept late. Walked Saint Jean beach. Took a quick dip. Enjoyed a languorous breakfast at villa . . . . ."

Still, there may well have been aspects of our visit worth sharing. It was our first real vacation to St. Barths in years, having sold this website to WIMCO earlier in the winter. No meetings or "rendezvous" whatsoever-simply 8 days of almost sinful sloth and unadulterated pleasure. We stayed at Villa EBA, nestled high up on the mountainside at Vitet, and loved it.

It consists of four bungalow-style buildings situated around a huge outdoor deck and pool: three of which are used as sleeping quarters and a fourth as a combination living room, dining room and kitchen. The design is very spare, clean and cool-we especially enjoyed the use of polished concrete for the floors and kitchen counters-and the landscaping is quite beautiful.

Most of all, we enjoyed the open, airy feel of the place and the ability to migrate to different parts of the deck during the day (it is easily the largest outdoor area we have seen on St. Barths) as the spirit moved us. Vitet has a very rural feel and is living proof that in spite of a great deal of development, St. Barths retains its distinctive neighborhoods each with their particular charms. On forays from our villa, we were entertained by a small herd of baby goats playing in a pasture at the foot of our driveway.

Vitet is also the home of one of our esteemed Moderators, Tim, who, incredibly, finishes his absurdly punishing bike rides around the island with a final climb past Villa EBA that rivals L'Alpe d'Huez.

Major kudos to WIMCO for helping us with a technological glitch at the villa. As this was the first time we rented through a villa rental agency, we didn't really know what to expect, but when the telephone at Villa EBA didn't work for a few days (a French Telecom problem), WIMCO very kindly let us use their office phone at the airport to call home and check in with our kids. They have also assembled the most unobtrusive and courteous housekeeping staff we have ever encountered: pool cleaners and gardeners were almost invisible, and the woman who looked after the villa not only asked us when we preferred she come but showed up on time and did a fantastic job as well. This was in marked contrast to the housekeepers we have dealt with on virtually every other visit to the island who, if they showed up at all, arrived when they felt like it and made us feel unwelcome in our own villa.

On the food front, after a number of years of disappointments, we fell in love all over again with Le Tamarin which is now owned and run by the highly-esteemed Max Deschamps, who was formerly the head chef at Le Gaic. We prefer lunch to dinner at Le Tamarin and ordered lots of appetizers rather than entrees which made it possible to appreciate the full range of Chef Deschamps' culinary artistry. (There seems to be a growing recognition among Saint Barths' restaurants that Americans might actually prefer eating apps to entrees-particularly for lunch. This is a welcome change as there were times in the past when we felt a little pressured to order entrees and dessert). The meal began with a complimentary ice tea and amuses bouches which was a nice touch. There was also a very elegant but low-key fashion show during lunch filling a void left by the closing of Le Lafayette Club. And what better way to top off the meal than a late afternoon trip to Saline?

We also enjoyed the beach bar at Le Sereno (easy to miss as it consists of no more than a handful of tables perched on the sand just in front of the more formal and expensive restaurant). Think of it as Cocoloba minus the hordes of little children. The setting is right out of a Corona ad. In fact, Kara and I entertained ourselves for hours staring at the view of Grand Cul de Sac and staging pictures of beer bottles with limes.

Franck continues to innovate and improve on his already wildly successful menu at Wall House; Eddy and Brigette still offer some of the best food and best service on the island for a fair price at Eddy's; and Andy remains the one of the nicest and most hospitable restaurant owners on the planet and the very personification of joie de vivre. We actually choose travel dates so that we can begin and end every St. Barths trip with dinner Chez Andy (he is closed on Mondays). There are also stirrings of life at Au Port, the oldest restaurant on the island. The new owners are clearly pouring their hearts and souls into the place to return it to the popularity it enjoyed when it was owned by Georges and Anne.

There were only a few negatives on the food front. Kudeta was a big disappointment. The food was quite creative and inexpensive, but the service was abominable. We waited nearly an hour after apps for our pizza to arrive, and the manager, to whom we complained, couldn't have cared less. Entrees for a large table seated next to us were brought sporadically leaving some guests with no alternative than to watch their dining companions eat. There seems to be more emphasis on cultivating a vibe rather than good service. Lose the 'tude, dudes! We also had poor service at Le Piment and felt as though we had consumed a half pack of cigarettes by the time we had left. (The new anti-smoking laws do not apply to facilities deemed to be outdoors).

As noted above, we entertained ourselves simply with trips to our favorite beaches-- most notably Colombier. The improvements to the trail which leads to the beach are a big plus with stairs carved into rocks that used to be a challenge to navigate in flip flops and a final set of stairs down to the beach allowing for a much more graceful entrance than sliding on your fanny the for the last 10 or 15 feet.

A special shout out is also due to this forum as the most invaluable source of information about St. Barths. We had long layovers in San Juan both down and back and discovered a recommendation from KevinS in the forum archives that those with time on their hands hop a cab to the Ritz Carlton Hotel which is no more than five minutes from the airport. We followed his advice and, for a cab ride costing only $10, were whisked away to the Ritz where the concierge graciously offered to look after our luggage and ushered us to a seat in the open air restaurant on the hotel's beach. In no time at all, we were enjoying ice cold Medallas and pulled pork sandwiches, and the New England winter seemed like a thing of the distant past.

But, of course, the best was yet to come. Landing on St. Barths, brief stop at the Match for essentials (vodka, tonic, lime, Caribs, wine, bread and cheese), quick dip, sunset and warmest of greetings from Andy.

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