Petri
Reged: 01/19/04
Posts: 1301
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
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Anyone have experience with this place?
http://www.grande-anse.com/
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Karibien
Reged: 04/23/05
Posts: 953
Loc: Sweden
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Not with the hotel, but I briefly stopped by in Deshaies. Unfortunatly it was on a day when the sky opened up to a downpour that lasted more or less the entire day:( Anyway, we had a creole lunch at a small restaurant by the beach - and the beach looked lovely even in the rain :) By many considered the best on the island, our teacher said. The small town looked cute, had some hotels and tourists, but not the big complex thing.
Staying in Deshaies will also put you fairly close to Le Parc National, and St Rose with Musée du Rhum and destilleries such as Domaine de Séverin, Le Jardin Créole de la Guadeloupe (be sure to try their hot cocoa, made with cocoa and spices that grows in the garden). Still you won't have more than 40 kilometers or so to visit Point a Pitre, and the right butterfly wing with the night life of Gosier and the beaches of Ste Anne is accessible too.
Hope this is of any help
/K
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Petri
Reged: 01/19/04
Posts: 1301
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
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Musee du Rhum and ther distillers sound very interesting. How was the creole lunch, comparable with the lunch places in St. Barth? (Food is the reason why we'd prefer french island and my girlfriend's first comment about Anguilla was that "there's no good food there" ;-).
For the first week we usually just lay on the beach, enjoy the sun and ocean, and try to get even a hint of colour on our pale skin. The contrast to the darkest time of year, typically without snow to brighten the world yet, is so huge. We want to stay away from the big resorts. How did you find the beaches on Guadeloupe compared to e.g. St. Barth (or Anguilla)?
Over the weekend I found an alternative for our plans -- flying through Stockholm. We're using British Airways Frequent Flyer Miles and not only they charge more miles when flying from "friendly place" like Helsinki (Finnair and BA are part of Oneworld) but they've also blocked the flights on the xmas week. The availability from Arlanda is much better as it's "enemy territory" (SAS and StarAlliance), BA even has four flights to London compared to two from Helsinki (plus four that are Finnair metal). Flying HEL-STO-HEL is cheap and the terminal used by AY/BA at Stockholm is small and efficient, so flying through Stockholm is not a big deal.
Petri
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Karibien
Reged: 04/23/05
Posts: 953
Loc: Sweden
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Hi Petri
I don't think I can be of much help when it comes to restaurants, as my friend and I mostly cooked for ourselves both at Guadeloupe and St Barth. I know, we missed out on a lot of good stuff, but it was the only way to make the trip affordable for us. Consequently, when we did eat out, we did not frequent the gourmet/upscale places. Still, from hanging out here I think I got an idea of what to expect on St Barth. We did not see that on Guadeloupe - although we did not look for it. There might very well be tip top dining restaurants for example in the hotel areas wich we did not visit.
What we did find, in the small towns and on the beaches, was simple, colourful, friendly restaurants that served good créole food. Spicy accras, juicy daurade in bright red court bouillon, delicious coconut pie, tasty colombos, tender beef swords with an assortment of sauces... the latter at http://www.zoorockcafe.com/index.php in Gosier. One of the rockin' places to hang out at night, btw.
A couple of links, maybe they can give you a better feel for what you can expect on Guadeloupe.
http://www.restoguadeloupe.com/
http://www.antillesresto.com/
As for the beaches - yes, I think there are beaches comparable to St Barths. But that depends of course on what you are looking for. The beaches we visited on Guadeloupe were calmer, the water more shallow, think St Jean and Grand Cul de Sac (but prettier) rather than Saline and Flamands. But then again, we didn't go to the eastern side where I think the water can be rougher.
I loooved the beach in Ste Anne. Long sweeps of silky soft sand (although somewhat hard packed as it rained every night when we were there), dotted with trees and palms, the water shallow, calm and warm between the piers and perfect for swimming outside them.
Secluded it's not. There is restaurants and car park right by. The beach is family friendly, at weekends families bring chairs, bbq and grandma and stays the whole day :) I think more or less the same goes for the beach at St Francois. At Gosier it's more crowded.
We didn't have the chance to try the beaches of Basse Terre. Grande Anse at Deshaies looks lovely, a long stretch of palmdotted golden sand. Driving around Basse Terre we also saw some smaller, less devoloped beaches, so there should be opportunities for sun bathing without having restaurants and car parks a few feet away.
We did a day trip to Les Saintes/Terre de Haut and loved Pompierre too. Lots of palmtrees. Soft sand. Calm water. Also found Baie de Marigot virtually deserted. One more couple. And a hen. All shades of tourqoise in the water.
If you want to relax, take a hike in the tropical nature, are looking for down-to-earth rather than down-the-nose, you'll be fine here :)
I can't compare with Anguilla, as I have never been there, maybe someone else have visited both?
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