St. Barths by Gray Guzzardo January 1994
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I just got back from our favorite paradise. Other than our first day, we had great weather with just a few storms at night and some brief showers during the day. Other than some wet seats in the Sazuki, rain was not a problem. Mosquitos were also not a problem.
Our villa, EDB, was everything we hoped for - beautiful view of Anse De Cayes, private, nicely laid out and even though we were perched on a hillside, we could hear the waves all day and night.
We landed in St Martin at 3:00PM and used the Transit Gate 8 (our luggage was checked through to St. Barths) and were offered seats on the 3:30 WINAIR flight. We gulped down a Rum Punch and got to St. Barths earlier than we expected. (Our luggage wasn't so lucky, it arrived on our schedule 5:00PM flight). Unfortunately, our trip back was a nightmare due to the AA strike, but that's another story!
It was quite windy while we were there especially on the west side of the island causing bigger than normal waves on Saline and Gouverneur that caused some significant erosion on Gournerneur. They are actually building a paved access road and parking lot at Saline! Again, we were able to use the Ille De France facilities during our visit to Flammands even though we weren't guests at the hotel. They have great lounge chairs on the beach and an excellent pool.
Here are some thought on restaurants:
Marigot Bay Club - Should be on everyone's short list for great food, service and atmosphere. Be sure and call ahead to request a table on the water for a very romantic evening. The lobster bisque and goat cheese salad are excellent appetizers. They will sweeten your capucino unless you ask them not to.
Le Gaiac - The restaurant at Le Toiny is arguably the best on the island for food quality and service excellent. Very elegant for lunch and dinner. The lunch experience here should not be missed. The view is spectacular and is matched by the food and service.(and the price!) The tomato stuffed with goat cheese in a creamy tomato sauce is unbelievable. Tables by the pool are mandatory for lunch and desirable for dinner unless it is real windy.
Castelets - Another must visit restaurant. Visit during the daytime on your way back from Gouverneur to make reservations and check out the views that are not available after dark. Impeccable service and food. They just switched from Italian cuisine (as "Sapore Di Mare") to their original french cuisine. There are so many great french restaurants on St. Barths I wish they would have stuck with the Italian menu we enjoyed so much in March. However, many (including the Maitre D') would disagree.
Vincent Adam - A pretty little restaurant with friendly service and excellent food. Great Creme Brulees.
Le Pelecan - A great spot on St. Jean Beach for lunch. We tried dinner this time and were not impressed, although the creme brulees was as good as I've had anywhere.
Le Select - You are required to have a "cheeseburger in paradise" while you are on the island. Great spot for people watching.
Santa Fe - Stopped for lunch after a morning at Gouverneur Beach. Great burgers and fries served with a spectacular view.
Oualalao - At Manapany. Had a nice lunch, excellent chicken salad and lobster club sandwich. Not cheap.
Ille De France - This new restaurant is only open for lunch. Nice location, but we were not excited about the food or service.
Bernard - No, not a restaurant, a chef! At our request SIBARTH arranged for Bernard to come to our villa and prepare a meal. We agreed on a menu and Bernard did the shopping, cooking, serving and cleaning. He even selected a great bottle of wine. It was a truly memorable experience. Bernard is an interesting character who has cooked for many celebrities who have visited St. Barths including Steve Martin, Diana Ross, Warren Moon and Quincy Jones. He also worked for Jimmy Buffet as a nightclub bouncer and still sees him occasionally. Bernard was not only interesting to talk to, he is an excellent chef who will welcome you into the kitchen and share his recipes.
Other great restaurants we didn't get to this time include L' Escale, Le Sapotillier and La Toque Lyonaise. Also, Bernard says that the restaurant at Hotel Chistopher is as good as any on the island.
Le Hibiscus has reopened, but if you want a view with your $9 drink, you'll have to stand and drink because they no longer have tables out by the pool. Carl Gustov is a great place for drinks with a view, but it doesn't come cheep at $11 per drink. We also had drinks at Manapany. It is very pretty by the pool but their drinks are also priced beyond belief.
We loved shopping at Black Swan. They have great clothes with St. Barths themes, especially T Shirts and sweatshirts. They also have lots of bathing suits to pick from. There is a store in Gustavia called Free Mousse that sells unique ceramic in gold jewelry. The pastries at the airport bakery are the best.
That's all I can think of for now. We had a wonderful time and are already planning our next trip to St. Barths.
St. Barths by Beverly Baridon February 1994
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Our flight out was BEAUTIFUL! Flying over the Bahamas was so very very pretty! I just kept my nose to the window looking at all the islands and the beautiful changing shades of blue in the waters below us. Flying over FLAT Anguilla we then saw the GORGEOUS mountains of S. Martin arise out of the water! It was really something! (Gush, gush) Anyway, I went in the bar and looked for Tony, but Judy was working. She made me a rum punch and of the very few drinks I had on this trip, I must say Judy's $3.50 rum punch was the best! (I could have had another, but didn't want to arrive too tipsy.)
Anyway, The flight in to St. Barths was totally uneventful. It was not scary. I guess I was just too busy looking around me and trying to see the island, but the view is obstructed by the cabin of the plane, so I never had the opportunity for any real thrill of a landing. I think I've had more thrilling landings with my husband in single engine planes!!
Catherine Charneau was waiting for us when we arrived at Village St. Jean. We were late getting in and Gaby, her Mom, took us to our cottage. Gaby and Catherine were very very nice and very very helpful to us. One nice touch they had at Village St. Jean was a notebook filled with most of the menus of the restaurants on the island so you could look through them and choose where you thought you would like to go! They also have a "commissary" there, which is a little shop which operates on the honor system -- you just get what you want, be it champagne, coke, wine, peanuts, whatever and just write it down. I thought the little touches like that were very very helpful!
When Gaby took us to our cottage we just could not believe our eyes! It was BEAUTIFUL! The outside terrace was approximately 19x32 feet. It had a big picnic table, a hammock and two lounge chairs. Then there was the kitchen which also had a small microwave, but no regular oven. Inside, the bedspread and curtains were in a "rainforest" print -- really exotic and the furniture was all wicker and very comfortable. We had a living room and our bedroom and a large bathroom.
One way to measure the level of service you are getting is by the quality of the toilet paper. Village St. Jean provided 2-ply soft toilet paper, which I thought was amazing!
When we awoke the next morning and pulled back the drapes from the french doors we nearly dropped our teeth at the breathtaking view! It HAD to be the best view VSJ had! We looked right out over beautiful blooming frangipani, hibiscus and bouganvilla plants onto the gorgeous St. Jean Bay! There were already sailboats meeting out there for the beginning of a regatta. It was so very very pretty! We only swam in the pool once as most of our time was on the beach, but we did take advantage of VSJ's jacuzzi which was great! It is a WONDERFUL place with WONDERFUL people!
Now for the island itself. I had read about St. Barths being "hilly," but was not initially prepared, nor was Phil, for just how "hilly" it really is! However, I will make a point of warning you all now that you probably should not vacation there while I'm there in the future as I learned to drive that Suzuki like the locals drive (fast and furious with no fear of crashing!). The bumpy, curving roads actually gave the island a unique kind of charm. It is hard to explain, but getting around was easy and there is a different "personality" to every different beach or area you visit on the island. For instance, we learned to snorkel from Nancy Galinas, who loaned us her equipment at Shell Beach.
I LOVED Shell Beach. It is not the most talked about beach, but, even without a mask, I could surface dive down and see how, as the water steeply dropped off, it changed its hue of blue. I really just loved that beach! The best snorkeling, by far, though, was at Petit Anse (thanks, Mark and Lori Weaver). There were so many varieties of tropical fish there and they were all shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns! It was just gorgeous. I know that when we go back we will spend more time at Petit Anse snorkeling!
For beaches, my two favorites were St. Jean and Saline. Gouverner had a wild surf and strong undertow, so, even though it was a beautiful beach to look at from high up, we could not really do much there in the water. I found St. Jean to be a narrower beach, but there was so much fun there for people who like beach-type fun on very calm water. Swimming was great there and then, of course, there were the windsurfing activities and other water sports going on there. It is a fun people watching beach, too. While we were eating lunch at Chez Francine a volleyball game was going on and windsurfers were breezing by us.
Saline Beach was great because it was so wide and expansive and because it was so European! I had heard and read about full nudity there, but being a firsttimer, that first look was a little shocking to me! But, no matter. I quickly adjusted and relaxed like everyone else because nobody cared. I found very interesting and friendly people on Saline as well. Actually, I found friendly and interesting people on the whole island.
We went to Flamands once, and although it is a beautiful beach, there wasn't a lot to do there so I found it a little boring. We never made it to Colombier. Since we only had 5 full days and 6 nights there, Colombier will have to wait until next time! I thought the beach at Guanahani left a lot to be desired (I am being extremely understated here.). There was hardly any sandy beach and the water was very shallow and full of plant life. You couldn't swim on the ocean side because it was so rough. I did climb the little mountain there at the end of the beach, though, and took some great pictures!
The only BIG mistake of any consequence I made was getting my film developed on St. Barths. Being concerned about getting some of the shots with partial nudity developed in the U.S., I went to Photo Fast in Gustavia. They do one-hour processing. I gave them 4 rolls of film and they told me it would be $22.00 per roll! Not only was I stupid to agree to do this, but I then told them that I wanted two prints of each picture and they upped the price to $44.00 a roll, which I stupidly paid!
Oh, well, one mistake -- one lesson learned (for all of you, as well!)
This is the restaurant review section of my trip report.
Maya's -- hands down was our favorite restaurant. I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone going to St. Barths make it a point to eat at Maya's. From the beautiful beachfront setting (with floodlights on the water lapping at the rocks) to exquisite cuisine and my favorite "garcon" of St. Barthelemy, Laurent Moller, it was a great experience to be there. We met some friends there and split one bottle of sauvignon blanc (65FF). Phil ordered a roquefort salad which he just raved about (45 FF). He also had Mahi Mahi which was an unbelievably enormous portion. It had a nice mild spice to it. Nancy, our friend, shared her Soup #2 (a poulet with some "spicy" sauce) and I became a fire-breathing dragon after a bit too much of the spice in my taste! Ron, our other friend, had a chicken dish which I did not write down the name of. I only remember it was FANTASTIC! While the waiters were very busy and occupied and I really wanted someone to take our group photo there at the beautiful setting, Laurent came by and was just so gracious about taking our picture. Laurent also came to the rescue when the regular waiter did not bring Phil's requested hot tea until nearly after dinner was over. So, I would say that between Laurent and the chef, Maya's was definitely our favorite and we will definitely eat there next trip.
We ate twice at Le Patio -- first was the night we flew in and second was our last night on the island. We found the quality and quantity of the food to be very very good and the atmosphere was especially relaxing -- nice music in the background. First night Phil had an antipasto 4 saisons (82 FF) and Filet mignon with green peppercorn sauce (148 FF). He liked it so much he ate the same thing the second night. I had salads which were very very good and the first night chicken parmigiana (95 FF) and the second night veal parmigiana (125 FF). Both were excellent!
Marigot Bay Club was also nice. The food was very very good. Phil & I both had the fish steak grilled with herbs and served with spicy creole sauce (that sauce was great!) which was 130 FF. The setting was nice too. We ate by the water at Table #7. For anyone planning a trip to Marigot Bay Club, there are 4 tables by the water -- nos. 4 - 7. Table #4 only seats 2 people, though. The employees had a good laugh at me and my very broken french as we drove down there to make the reservation and they came out telling us they were closed. I asked if they spoke English and they really didn't, so I pulled out my phrase book, which I had already circled the expression for making a reservation by the water and started reading to them. They just laughed so hard! (But, it was a friendly laugh!). They were very nice inside while we were eating, as well, and inside they did speak some English.
Le Select was nice but Gustavia was crowded and very busy. I saw a REAL Rastafarian when I went inside the bar to buy a "Cheeseburger In Paradise" tshirt. I've only seen them in movies before.
Chez Jo Jo Burger was great for inexpensive cheeseburgers, as well. We got burgers, fries and sodas for $13.00.
Chez Francine was great and served bountiful amounts of food -- too much to eat in one sitting for me. I even took photos of our plates! Back to Chez Francine: That is one other restaurant I would return to. It's casual "on the beach" atmosphere was great and it was great to sit down with fans blowing on you after being out on the beach all day. There was a volleyball game going on and lots of windsurfing and stuff. It was a great people watching place.
Other restaurants of note: Le Ouanalao was o.k., but we would not return there. Phil and I had Caesar salads and saltinbocca alla romana (small terderloin steak of veal with ham) and it was good, but not extraordinary. There was a nice setting by the pool and a sax player was playing from the middle of the pool. They played "Misty" and "Mack The Knife" among other songs I recognized. But, I thought the service was the poorest we received while we were there and for the money I would much rather have been at Maya's again.
We also ate at Vincent Adam. This too was a nice restaurant but it is not one I would return to. Lydia at Village St. Jean had recommended it as "the best" in her opinion because you get a large amount of food (appetizer, entree and dessert) for 190 FF. While we found that to be correct, the food was raw when it was served and I didn't find the setting (seemed like it was near a junkyard) to be all that great. The best thing about it was that Billy Joel's music started to play and it ended up being his new CD, and, being a VERY big Billy Joel fan I tipped the waiter who played the CD $3.00 for having good taste in music!
We did do some shopping, but didn't buy a lot. We visited a few shops in Gustavia, but I must say that Gustavia was my only disappointment on the island and that is only because it was so very very crowded and busy. I much preferred St. Jean. People were slower paced and more laid back there and not so "touristy."
One of the greatest highlights for me personally was taking the Suzuki (alone) to Corossol to try to find the ladies who make the straw hats. I had heard they were hard to find but I was determined. It wasn't hard at all. I came upon a small house with a straw (they aren't really straw, they're palm) hat and other things sitting out by the road, and so I pulled over. The lady came out and I bought a beautiful hat with blue ribbon for only $16.00. I got a "string of fish" with ribbons through them for about $8.00 and a basket for Mandy for $12.00.
I then drove on down to Public Beach and parked the Suzuki. I took a couple of pictures of the fishing boats and got back in the Suzuki. I looked up and there were two more ladies hanging in my window dangling their "straw" goods at me! These women don't speak French or English (a Norman dialect I have read) so we had to use sign language which worked. I ended up with a "straw" wine bottle holder and a "straw" string of birds which was very intricately woven. I was delighted, and I'm sure they were too, to have found a willing sap to buy their goods.
On the way to Corossol I stopped at the new wine store, Les Grands Vins De France. I ended up buying 3 bottles of wine there. One was a Chateau Gazin Pomerol 1983 for 223FF. The young man in the store was very knowledgeable and very friendly and spoke good English. I also bought a bottle of Cuvee Majorum 1989 which he said is served at Le Sapotillier.
This is my "wrap-up," of our trip but I feel I can now only summarize what I've already said. I have taken loads and loads of photographs, all of which have now been developed. (My U.S. photos only came to $32.00 -- still a sore spot). I also came back with several copies of the newspaper and a few copies of Ti Gourmet, a little booklet which is like a coupon book for going to different restaurants or staying at certain hotels. You don't get much, for instance, if you stay at Les Castelets you get a free bottle of champagne upon presentation of the coupon; if you stay at Village St. Jean you get a 10% discount on a 7 night stay between 6/1 and 10/30. The booklet also gives a summary of the island -- from the hotel/restaurant association view.
I would STRONGLY encourage anyone going to St. Barths to try snorkeling if you don't already. It is so much fun and Baie Petite Anse was fantastic. Additionally, I have an underwater photo that shows the steep drop off from underwater at Shell Beach. It is neat.
All in all, it is a lovely, lovely island. We found the people to be lovely and the food to be great! The water was great at every beach except Gouverneur, and I am hoping that this was an exception to the rule for that beach. It is a gorgeous beach to look at from up high, but the undertow was definitely scary.
Village St. Jean was better than I thought it would be and given the research I put into it, that is really saying something. There was daily maid service, which you pay for, by the way, when you check out -- it is 10% of your room fee, but I must say that when Lydia did our final accounting she was more fair than any of the other merchants on the island. She gave us an exchange rate of 5.9 FF to the dollar, when we had been given 5.5 and 5.6 everywhere else.
I never found Robert Danet (a local artist). His gallery is supposed to be at the Carneage at St. Jean, but I didn't see it. We did visit one local artist, her name was something like Hannah Moses, but her work was not my style. It was also $1,000.00 per painting. That was a bit more than I was ready to pay to even R. Danet.
We are definitely going back -- hopefully next year, but we also have to paint the house, etc. Whereas I was dragging Phil off on this trip, he has been the one asking when we can go back again. He also immediately adopted the "I don't want anyone to know about St. Barths" attitude -- a protective one which many people have who don't want others to know just how very special St. Barths is. For its small 8 square miles, St. Barths is as diverse geographically, culturally, and socially, as it could ever be. That's part of its charm. It has some of everything wonderful!
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