Thanks for this update. I appreciated Maud and Stephane so much as worthy successors to the style that Adam (with Manu, now of Santa Fe) set for so many years.
One of my fond memories, that illustrates how they were special friends, is of Easter week-end in 2008. I was on SBH for a short visit, helping Wendy -- the full time directoress of improvements -- with the big job we had undertaken to renovate the Normandie. Despite being a special holiday week-end, we hardly paused to appreciate it 'til late on Saturday evening when I had to make a "run" to Gustavia to drop a Hotel guest at a party of her friends. With no dinner plans, the open shutters of the windows at Le Sapotillier and its brightly lit sign beckoned me. I was sucked in to the warmth of this inviting scene and ordered dinner "to go."
Maud poured me a great glass of wine and made me feel like a special guest . . . not just a sweaty, dirty guy meekly trying to stand in the shadows! As I was leaving with a fabulous rack of lamb dinner with chocolate desserts, Stephane came over and asked, "Don't we have an Easter present for Wendy and Dennis?" To which Maud said, with an unforgettable twinkle in her eyes . . . "It's in the bag." And, yes . . . there was a bottle of a special Chateau Neuf du Pape there when I got back to the Hotel.
With a light rain falling, Wendy and I pulled a small cafe table under the branches of a Palm tree alongside the pool and sat, with a little votive candle flickering on the table, enjoying a meal in an ambiance that was nearly as great as if we had been seated at Le Sapotillier! Enjoying the heritage of a wine-loving Pope and the generosity of kind friends, it marked one of our times in SBH that never will pass from favored memories.
