November 2020 Trip Report - 1st Full Day

lvbookworm

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Before I get into the details, I want to say that we had a GREAT trip November 18-25. As many others have said in their own reviews: if you’re sitting on the fence about going during all the covid uncertainties hop off now and just GO!

I was hoping to post daily reviews during our trip, but wi-fi and cell service at our location wasn’t very consistent so I eventually abandoned that idea. Most of this trip was spent either eating or reading on the beach. Therefore, subsequent posts will most likely be in the restaurant forum instead of the trip report forum.

Our first night’s dinner was at Les Bananiers (see "first night's dinner" post from last month), and we hit the sack quite early. We sadly missed a “first morning breakfast” at Le Petite Columbe due to multiple taps of the cell phone snooze button. But we eventually made it out the door on a quest to find some beach chairs and umbrella to rent for the week. Our first stop was at the home goods store in Public (I can never remember the name). I had read in a previous post that beach umbrellas could be purchased here, but alas they didn’t have any. That didn’t stop us from spending a good 30-40 minutes browsing around at all the fun, unique items for sale. A couple of things caught my eye.

The first wins the “Most Creative European-Style Sink” award. I’ve always been fascinated with the teeny-tiny sinks in European bathrooms and I feel they have truly nailed the concept of creative small spaces! This sink took it to another level by adding on a little towel holder. Brilliant!

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The second wins the “Okay…That Just Seems Wrong” award :laughing-cry:. When I saw this little egg holder I initially did a double-take when I realized that it was a duck/chicken foot. At 48 euros each, someone definitely has a great sense of humor. Sign me up for a set of 12!

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Our next stop was Ho’okipa Surf Shop in St. Jean where we found chairs for rent and umbrellas for purchase. There were two types of umbrellas available – a budget version for around 25 euros, and a more substantial tilt-able version for around 40 euros. (I highly recommend splurging on the tilt version.) The chairs were the Tommy Bahama backpack-style with recline and were quite comfy to sit in for extended lengths of beach time. At ~30 euros weekly rental for the pair we felt it was a bargain.

After consulting AndyNap’s daily restaurant specials post we decided to try Le Piment for lunch. The special was sold out by the time we arrived, but we managed to find a few tasty things on the menu. After trying les accras de morue the previous night at Les Bananiers we decided to see how Le Piment’s version compared. They were quite flavorful, but while the dipping sauce looked similar it was not as complex (or addictive) as the one at Les Bananiers. “Les jalapeno poppers” were pretty much as expected – ‘nuff said. We rounded out our appetizers with goat cheese salads and a second glass of their house white wine.

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It was nice to sit in the open air and watch all the traffic pass by without having any particular schedule or anyplace we absolutely needed to be. We had officially entered “vacation mode.”

After a quick trip to the pharmacie for sunscreen (and nail polish, and some hair accessories, and….) we headed back to relax and read by the pool. We were still a little tired from the previous two days of travel so we decided to go into town for dinner at Le Repaire. We enjoyed risotto - mushroom for me, and shrimp for Kelly. And for dessert we shared the profiteroles and the crème brulee. The profiteroles were classic with a wonderfully dark chocolate sauce, and the crème brulee was exceptional with a crispy, crystalized sugar top and a perfectly set crème underneath.

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We called it an early night and made sure to set our alarms for 8:00 the next morning. Sleeping in is not allowed when warm croissants and a sun-drenched beach are calling your name!
 
Great review and photos. Food porn shots made me drool, but found your photos from the little home goods shop in Public fun and interesting, too!

Thanks so much and looking forward to the next installments of your trip!!
 
Oooo....CCPF Arts Ménager! You are speaking my language. :blush-smile: I brought home some lovely linen pillow shams, reasonably priced.

I’m glad to hear you found what you were looking for at Hookipa. I never pass up an opportunity to rent from them and have a chat with Marion about island goings-on.

Thanks for sharing this report.
 
Oooo....CCPF Arts Ménager! You are speaking my language. :blush-smile: I brought home some lovely linen pillow shams, reasonably priced.

Thank you for posting the name! I knew it was something with a bunch of capital letters. Does anyone know what CCPF stands for?
 
Thank you for posting the name! I knew it was something with a bunch of capital letters. Does anyone know what CCPF stands for?

Thanks, Kevikins!

I will forever bring home something from here (preferably made in France); it’s a great memory of St Barth. And, Rosita is a great shopping buddy, FYI. ;)
 
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