stbartslover
Senior Insider
Post IRMA vacation album
We typically vacation this time of year.
Connecting through Princess Juliana (SXM) was different than in the past, but well organized.
After departing the aircraft and taking a bus, you identify your bags.....it's all done outside under large tents with lots of helpful staff.
After clearing immigration we were directed to our plane.
It was good to see Francis from St Barth Commuter and our bags made it over just fine.
Flying in over the harbor it was great to be here.
Arriving at our villa we found the place cleaned and painted top to bottom inside/out and ready for us, it was truly amazing that our staff was able to get the villa in such great condition. The teak furniture was refinished, along with reupholstered chairs and fresh flowers on the table.
First night, we had excellent pizza with friends on the villa terrace from our favorite place down the hill in Flamands, Chez Rolande. Some may remember the pizza maker from L'Entracte.
We were able to enjoy the beautiful beaches.
Gouverneur.
All were cleaned and pristine such as Saline.
The paddleboard and kayak place was open on St Jean and there was lots of construction activity at Hotel Tom Beach.
We spent some afternoons over at Shell Beach.
View attachment 44314
The first day friends invited us to the former PiPiri Palace for a lunch special which was very good.
Most days we had lunch on the upper villa terrace, typically from Maya's to Go.
For wine we like Le Gout Du Vin on the upper road in Gustavia, where the proprietor David is always friendly and knowledgeable.
Our neighbor made dinner for us one evening and joined Caroline and me later in the week at L'Isola, which was excellent.
We also dined at Tamarin where the restored gardens are as beautiful as ever.
Service and fare were superb.
For me, however, the top meal was at Black Ginger, and owner Patrick takes such pride in his establishment.
View attachment 44322
And the place is beautiful as well.
We also dined at Eddy's with Diana and Didier which was very good.
We checked out this new, hip place in the former Strand with gorgeous views of the harbor which is a nightclub as well.
View attachment 44325
We enjoyed a 1/2 day snorkeling trip on Jicky Marine's beautiful Catamarran, which was great as usual. We were joined by a group of ladies from NYC and San Francisco, all celebrating their 40th birthdays.
The sea off Colombier along with the plage was gorgeous.
We still had a few minor projects at the villa, here our electrician tweaking the garden & deck low voltage lighting. He'd replaced all the light fixtures in the home and exterior with LED and it looked nice in the evening.
On walks about the island we noticed the vegetation is returning with lots of butterflies and turtles, too.
Our last evening friends invited us out to a party at a villa up on the hillside overlooking St Jean. It was a fitting end to our trip. We sang happy birthday in our best French and lingered over this this view with a very nice local family.
The island is recovering and everyone we encountered was glad to have us.
A great vacation.
Note: returning though St Maarten on Winair was well organized, too.
We typically vacation this time of year.
Connecting through Princess Juliana (SXM) was different than in the past, but well organized.
After departing the aircraft and taking a bus, you identify your bags.....it's all done outside under large tents with lots of helpful staff.
After clearing immigration we were directed to our plane.
It was good to see Francis from St Barth Commuter and our bags made it over just fine.
Flying in over the harbor it was great to be here.
Arriving at our villa we found the place cleaned and painted top to bottom inside/out and ready for us, it was truly amazing that our staff was able to get the villa in such great condition. The teak furniture was refinished, along with reupholstered chairs and fresh flowers on the table.
First night, we had excellent pizza with friends on the villa terrace from our favorite place down the hill in Flamands, Chez Rolande. Some may remember the pizza maker from L'Entracte.
We were able to enjoy the beautiful beaches.
Gouverneur.
All were cleaned and pristine such as Saline.
The paddleboard and kayak place was open on St Jean and there was lots of construction activity at Hotel Tom Beach.
We spent some afternoons over at Shell Beach.
View attachment 44314
The first day friends invited us to the former PiPiri Palace for a lunch special which was very good.
Most days we had lunch on the upper villa terrace, typically from Maya's to Go.
For wine we like Le Gout Du Vin on the upper road in Gustavia, where the proprietor David is always friendly and knowledgeable.
Our neighbor made dinner for us one evening and joined Caroline and me later in the week at L'Isola, which was excellent.
We also dined at Tamarin where the restored gardens are as beautiful as ever.
Service and fare were superb.
For me, however, the top meal was at Black Ginger, and owner Patrick takes such pride in his establishment.
View attachment 44322
And the place is beautiful as well.
We also dined at Eddy's with Diana and Didier which was very good.
We checked out this new, hip place in the former Strand with gorgeous views of the harbor which is a nightclub as well.
View attachment 44325
We enjoyed a 1/2 day snorkeling trip on Jicky Marine's beautiful Catamarran, which was great as usual. We were joined by a group of ladies from NYC and San Francisco, all celebrating their 40th birthdays.
The sea off Colombier along with the plage was gorgeous.
We still had a few minor projects at the villa, here our electrician tweaking the garden & deck low voltage lighting. He'd replaced all the light fixtures in the home and exterior with LED and it looked nice in the evening.
On walks about the island we noticed the vegetation is returning with lots of butterflies and turtles, too.
Our last evening friends invited us out to a party at a villa up on the hillside overlooking St Jean. It was a fitting end to our trip. We sang happy birthday in our best French and lingered over this this view with a very nice local family.
The island is recovering and everyone we encountered was glad to have us.
A great vacation.
Note: returning though St Maarten on Winair was well organized, too.
